good evening

tonight at 20.40 our position is

21 22 37N 23 10 30 W


everyone is well following a much calmer day at sea and winds much more in keeping with normality- about 15/20 kts enough to propel us along towards our desdtination but with little fuss and commotion.
because the motion of the boat has been serene we have all slept and eaten well and Jason is back on fine form. his chicken wrapped in pancetta with boiled potato and pea was a real class act-- difficult to follow, i may have to bring out the pesto sauce Sheila made from italian basil which is hidden in my cabin!


In the last six months of working together skip and I have only fallen out twice -- once which was his fault and the other obviously was his fault as well. one discussion was regarding my pole dancing exploits on the crossing from the uk to italy. let me explain.. it gets lonely on watch alone not to say a little boring so to while away the hours i devised a type of step aerobic regime which involved doing my exercises at daybreak at the aft of the boat holding onto the backstay. One morning nearing sardinia it was very hot as day broke and i was on watch so i was doing my exercises with only my ipod and headphones and underpants on ( there was only me and him on the boat)on awakening he popped his head up to the outside and saw me doing one of my best moves to a beyonce classic with a lot of hip and tummy wobbling. It was too much for him and at his 6 month appraisal he asked if i could refrain from pole dancing on the transatlantic passage. Naturally i said its my boat and ill do what i like but saw a hurt look in his eye so decided to relent..last night I was on watch 12-3. at about 2 i decided to listen to a little music. First track up florence and the machine-- i felt sea sick immediatley-- shuffle on out came adele easy listening but only a little jigging and jogging from me especially remembering old skips hurt expression. next up Cee Lo Green-- a real gem to sing along to then it came to me in a flash no more aerobics ill do karaoke instead. headphones on i had a boat hook as a guitar and the roof of the spray hood was an excellent drum kit as cee lo got louder so did i- in fact if id been born black i would have been cee lo! last track of the album" f you "was going great guns -- full drum work and singing at the top of my voice ,every breaking wave was a section of my audienec-- until i saw skips head poking through the door hatch with the same scornful expression as he had during my pole dancing phase -- oh well it will make good discussion at his yearly review!

while golly was sleeping we three discussed the cucumber relish starter at length and decided that he must be taking the mickey and that we should give golly another go at cooking. We all have had a year to come up with 6 dishes we had to cook on the boat jorney for dinner-- if golly had started with what can only be described as a banaal dish he was either trying to make us laugh or had a special special dish up his sleeve. Jason and skip thought it was a double bluff but having worked with him for a long time i knew different. Anyway he offered to make lunch--
great we said what are you cooking
egg fried rice
with what said skip
egg fried rice said golly
what double egg fried rice said Jason
no just egg fried rice said golly indignantly

ok i said well how about if skip makes seared fish and you make egg fried rice is that ok

good said golly ill get on

we watched with interest as he worked away . all seemed to be going well until the stirring part of the recipe. as the boat wobbled more and more rice flew out of the pan onto the floor and i could see golly getting agitated.
skip pan fried his fish beside golly but there was not enough room for 2 so golly finished his rice hurriedly ( what was left of it anyway) and waited impatiently to reheat it before serving. skip climbed up the stairs and put his dish on the table- pan fried dorado on skewers with steamed ginger and pineapple and we shouted for golly.

wont be a second he said slamming his pan back on the cooker

at that moment and at same time skip and i said

whats on fire---
now on board a boat in the middle of the ocean we can cope with most things but fire is my real fear. it can spread through a yacht in minutes and often lead to abandoning ship.not good in fact very very bad

i can smell rubber burning said jason

i rushed down to the galley to see golly holding a frying pan with balck smoke pouring from the bottom

whats on fire i shouted

oh heck ive forgotten to remove the rubber matting from under the pan i was resting it on said golly quickly turning off the gas

10 seconds later all was under control again with just a little mess and a lot of relief-- gollys banned from cooking again-- although the egg fried rice tasted very good

i think everthing is settleng down into a routine now and everyone is realising that its a very big undertaking to travel across an ocean in a little boat for so long with close company and has adapted really well, there is a long way to go but its all looking under control.

tonights special mention is to my sisters and brother. look after everyone at home and see you soon

sleep tight

MG