Day 8-14
Carlile Adventures
Mark Carlile
Sun 15 Oct 2006 23:23
I have now done over 1000 nautical miles. Only 14000 to go.
It's been a very enjoyable week. This week has seen a good mix of weather. There has been some calm weather. Most of the time has been days of sailing over 100 miles a a day. The ride is a bit like a bucking bronco with the wind on the nose. It means I am heading into the waves. It is a little bit like going into the surf on a beach. Only, I have the conditions 24 hours a day.
The prevailing winds from the North haven't come. Most of the time the wind has been from the South. The days are warm at about 21 degrees. A couple of days there has been a spectacular cloud free sunrise and sunset. It is quite a sight to see the sun rise and fall over an ocean with nothing but water all around. At night stars are plenty. You can see thousands more than in any city.
I haven't seen many ships at all this week. It has been much better than last week.
There has been some rain. I took the opportunity to have a "shower" on deck. I have been through a couple of short squalls associated with fronts passing through. During the squalls the rain has been torrential for about 20 minutes and the wind increases significantly in speed.
I woke one morning to find that I had caught a fish, or rather, the fish had caught me. A very small flying fish had landed on deck. It was a very small fish and too small to eat. I couldn't save him. His flapping about had stopped quite some time ago I suspect from the way the little fishey looked.
This week I have been eating a mix of food so there is some variety. The self heating meals are fine. These are prepared by adding water to a large sachet. The sealed meal is put into the sachet. 12 minutes later, after a chemical reaction has taken place, the sachet has cooked (or rather boiled) the meal. One easily prepared meal. I have had British Army rations also. I'll explain what is included in these in a future blog. It is definitely not designed with diabetics in mind. And lastly, I have had normal tinned food. I'll outline a typical food week in a few weeks time.
I am almost at the bottom of Portugal now. I am trying to avoid some nasty weather heading this way. The weather is forecast to deteriorate in the next 24-48 hours if I don't get a move on. It looks like the pounding in uncomfortable seas will continue for a little while longer yet. My course will take me to a point west of Madeira Island in a few days time, and then I will head for a point west of the Canary Islands by the end of this coming week.
That's a very good evening from Ingrid
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