Lilli Mae, On the way home - Leg 4 - The Big One - Update 11th December 19
Lilli Mae
Linton
Wed 11 Dec 2019 14:33
|
Hi Everyone, are you all still there? We think it is
Wednesday today? Is that right?
As we speak we are speeding along at 7 knots steering a course heading
of 276 degrees which is as direct as Lilli Mae will take us to St Lucia. We
have 2,365 miles under our belt and the straight line path to St Lucia is
about 575 miles. So we have about 4 days of sailing to go. We are
estimating our arrival on Sunday 15th December.
We crossed the 45 Deg longitude a couple of days ago so
Lilli Mae time is now 3 hours behind the UK.
Most of the evenings end with a beautiful sunset. After
our normal alfresco dining we have a "tot" and then those not on watch go to bed
leaving the one person who is (on watch) to it. Over the past 5 days or so these
squalls have been a real nightmare. Last night all 3 of us were up
outside of their normal watch pattern. We must have added another 50 to the "oh
Sh1t moment" count. Although there are times when we can try to get some sleep
the boat is rolling and tumbling around in a manner similar to that observed by
watching your underwear in a tumble dryer. We were preparing ourselves for the
squalls but we still went into them with too much sail. Yes...we admit it; to
most of our sailor colleagues we have committed a cardinal sin. Yesterday
and today we modified our procedure reefed the sail even more. When the next 3
squalls came we were ready! We "whooped" and "joked" our way through the 3
squalls we had today. We even had time to take pictures and videos of the whole
event.
We may have already mentioned our friendly weather man Chris who sends us
updates on the weather and the route we are taking. Actually Chris Tibbs is more
than just a friendly weatherman; he is a very accomplished sailor, author and
meteorologist so he gives guidance on everything to do with our sailing. It is
amazing what we have learned about ocean weather just from his daily
communications. Yesterday Chris asked "Two weeks into the crossing and I
hope you are enjoying it; just 1000 miles to go". Team Lilli Mae has had a
fantastic time. We have learned an enormous amount. With now only 575 miles
to go we are looking forward to finish only so as we can start talking
about our adventure. So for those family and friends reading this note
be forewarned  .
Food wise the choices are getting much more limited. All the vegetable kept
well up to week 3. In fact there are still a few fresh items that are in the
fridge and which have lasted really well. However despite the reduction in
choices we are still eating well and in a disciplined manner. We are now having
more showers; we did have trouble with the water-maker in week 1 but since then
we Mike in his normal handy fashion fixed the water-maker and we have been
able to shower (and wash our stuff) more frequently (Phew we hear you say
 ).So what is the plan for the net couple of days? Well Mike and me have to
finish our celestial navigation work before we make land. In fact Mike is
sitting right in front looking as though he is studying for one of his school
exams (I know he hates this stuff!). Pete is reading and topping up his
suntan.
We will probably send one more update before we land so you will probably
here from us on Friday or so.
In the meantime everyone take care. Will catch-up with you soon.
Best regards, Team Lilli Mae.
|
