Saturday 28th October
Everyone is sitting here sunning themselves this afternoon (scorching hot),
quite contented after drinking one of the few beers we took with us on the
crossing - after the events that took place this morning we felt like we had
deserved it!
The decision was made yesterday that we would transfer the spare Genoa that
Tranquilizer was carrying onto Phoebe. We followed a course through the
night that allowed us to converge with them this morning. Through the night
we watched their lights grow brighter and brighter, and by the time the sun
came up we were only a couple of miles away. It was all hands on deck as
both boats started to prepare for the transfer and move closer to each
other. The sail bag was to be transferred via a Hi-line - a rope was to be
thrown from Tranquilizer and caught on Phoebe, with the sail in its bag
being sent across the rope. Not an easy task in the Atlantic, with the
waves rolling and pitching both boats around. The tension was mounting as
Dan and Marc went up to the Bow to catch the rope and we began to inch our
way towards the stern of Tranquilizer...with only ten metres of rope
available to throw, we were going to have to get in pretty close...would we
succeed...?
Of course we would! It was exciting stuff, with the boats having to get
remarkably close together to do the transfer. Everyone on deck worked
quickly to get the sail across and Matt's skill on the helm kept us at the
perfect distance the entire time. Not to say it wasn't a little hairy
though as the waves rolled us around and we surfed down them some ten metres
away from Tranquilizer!
So, sail successfully sent across - enough excitement for one morning you
might think. Not quite...as might have been reported in a previous post,
everyone has been keen to eat fresh fish, and Barry and Tom have been
dangling lines over the side every day in the hope of catching one. Up
until today we hadn't had any luck...but today our luck turned. Scarcely
ten minutes after the boats had parted company after the transfer the lines
were in the water, and a further ten minutes after that they had managed to
get caught up together and twisted. Reluctant to cut the lines away they
painstakingly began to unravel them - and halfway through had to start
hauling in together as a cheeky Dorado had decided it liked the look of one
of the lures! A very welcome fish indeed as our fresh food is starting to
run out.
A lot of excitement in one day, and all before 9 o'clock in the morning.
Who knows what the following days will bring? (aside from a few more fish
hopefully!)
|
