Day 6.5 - Where did the sun go?

Jacana
David Munro
Fri 16 Jan 2009 18:57
The sun seems to have disappeared on us for the past three days, the temperatures are pleasant and the wind is consistant blowing almost directly to Salvador. There within lies the problem, do we wish to be on the northly gybe where the wind looks a little stronger or on the westerly gybe which is more direct but takes us closer  to the lighter winds? At present we continue west under the big grey runner but are keeping a close eye on the baromatic pressure.
 
The lack of sun has allowed all of our complexions to recover, Paul & Chris in particular suffered from arriving from a frozen winter in England to a hot sunny Cape Town. Chris looks like he has been in a nuclear accident. (Don't worry Charlotte - he will have re-growm his face by the time he returns! maybe a better one :) As I write, the sun has made a re-appearance and the winds have shifted into the East putting us officially in the trade winds for the first time. At around 6pm we should be crossing the Greenwich Meridian line, our version of the equator for this passage. As such, various celebrations are planned, offerings will be made to various sea gods  and Chris has an old salty sea shanty dance he will be performing on the foredeck - we are all much looking forward to this ... not!!!!!
 
Tonight is curry night onboard - another event eagerly anticipated. Meal times as everyone predicted have become a focal point, last night as we sat down in the cockpit, a flying fish hit John in the face, glanced off straight into the deck - see attached photograph. (Fish didn't survive - sorry Laura)
 
We have not achieved the mileage we would have liked in the last few days and our position in the fleet probably reflects that. Knowing where we are in the order of merit is made somewhat diffcult by some apparent confusion around whether some competitors are actually east or west of the meridian at this stage. If todays positions are to be believed there have been some breathtaking daily runs of many hundreds of miles. No doubt things will become clearer tomorrow. We have had to make a few painful performance decisions since our early equipment misfortunes. Although in the past 48 hours the weather moderated to a steady 20 - 24 knots, we have struggled to keep the boat stable after dark with a large confused quartering seas. Each of us broached the boat in the dark which puts enormous strain on the goose neck. The cheeks on the boom end which attach the boom to the goose neck on the mast became splayed out when the boom fell off first night out. We have a jury rig holding it altogether which comes under massive pressure when the boat broaches and the sails flog. As a result, the past two nights we have been very conservative. The conditions have moderated again and we feel we have the confidence to push the boat a little harder, the next three days will tell if we are able to start to regain some of the lost ground.
 
Chris's recipe of the day.
 
Boeuf Argentinienne presented with a Potato and Onion Slurry
 
Take 6 potatoes (or packet of Smash if no potatoes available), peel, chop finely and boil for 10 mins.
Ask someone how long "potatoes take"
Ignore them and boil for further 30 minutes
As potatoes approach the consistency of semolina ask how long "onions take"
Trim sails & cut up one onion.
Remove (as far as possible while bringing spinnaker on deck) fragments of fingers, nails etc.
Fry the onion in a frying pan with 1/2 litre olive oil for 3 minutes.
Add what is left of potatoes to onion and fry for a further 20 minutes or until the colour of custard.
Check consistency and add additional oil to taste.
Meanwhile open one tin of corned beef and carefully slice.
Serve potato and onion slurry & corned beef with a drizzle of mayonaise and tomato to garnish.
Serves 4
 
 
Nature watch
 
An Albatross on dawn patrol
Shoals of flying fish everywhere.
 
One tanker spotted on the way to Singapore (this news bought to you by AIS)

JPEG image

JPEG image