Almost there...
Lowena
Michael & Amanda Dyer
Tue 11 Dec 2007 12:50
How could I have forgotten to tell you about the dolphins? The day before yesterday we had a large number of Atlantic spotted dolphins dancing around our bow. They are smaller and seemingly more agile even than their bigger common or bottle-nosed cousins. A couple of the most extrovert characters took turns at jumping almost vertically out of the steepest waves, covering impossibly large distances, certainly high enough to dwarf the abilities of any human high-jumper. Probably even a pole vaulter in fact.
Yesterday saw a wind shift that enabled us to reach, in comparative comfort, for the majority of the day. Reaching, as opposed to running, adds a transverse force along the boat, which tends to stabilise it. Nevertheless, to confound us at the last moment, as soon as dusk descended the wind backed by 45 degrees. This meant we had to drop the main in the dark and pole out the yankee. Unfortunately, neither of these operations are that straightforward on the boat as the main needs assistance from the foot of the mast in order to drop into the lazy-jacks. Dad was sent forward, and had the misfortune to be thrown by a large wave en route to the mast. It wasn't until after we had sorted out all the sails and had retreated into the shelter of the cabin that we saw the damage. A nasty cut along the shinbone and an already swollen leg was coated in a layer of blackening blood. I was surprised that he had not broken it, given that severity of the fall; more surprising still was the fact that he had not even complained about the pain during the incident. Old farmers don't seem to feel pain.
Oh, and we are almost there. Only another 24 hours at most, we hope! 138 miles to go to Antigua, and a well deserved rum punch or two.