18:52.160N 46:14.020W Deep Blue Day
Irene IV - World Adventure
Louis Goor
Sat 20 Nov 2021 02:41
Friday
Today found us in calm, hot conditions once more, with a shifting wind of 10
knots making it difficult to make way under sail. The wind direction gauge
keeps spinning around as we lurch side to side over the rollers.
We went under engine with the staysail hoisted, and cruised through the
glistening water as the mercury rose. Stuart did some more work to the mast,
but the soporific heat prevented many more tasks being carried out.
After lunch, the Good Cap'n decided to stop Irene IV for a short
mid-Atlantic swim for all crew.
Ian jumped in with his gopro camera to get some underwater footage of the
propellor, now free of all obstacles, and a fender with rope was duly thrown
out the back for recovery of crew swimmers. A great dip was had by all, to
the throbbing beat of 60's electro from Stuart's newly recovered iphone,
full of classic grooves.
As evening drew in, Stuart called the crew to the deck - a pod of 8 or so
dolphins seemed to have heard our splashing around and had decided to
accompany us for a short while. This was the first real wildlife we had
observed so far, beyond flying fish and some birds (a prior draft of this
blog was named "where have all the mammals gone"). In high spirits, the crew
retired to a lentil and sausage dinner prepared by Sarah, and to the night
watches.
We are now approximately 890 NM from Antigua, and despite weather forecasts
to the contrary, are hoping to find more wind tomorrow.