Ahoy Sailors

Before i start i just wanted to get this out of the way: This time next month it will be Xmas!!!

Ok Done.

As this is our 3rd week crossing the Atlantic i think its probably time to introduce the crew before i let you know what happened these past few days.

First there is Skipper Tim; a nice guy who leaves and breathe sailing and the seas. He is what i like to call a RonSeal guy: It does exactly what it says on the tin. For him crossing the ocean is just a series of shifts between cleaning, watch, cooking and fixing stuff. I have never seen anyone that can manage to do all these tasks while standing at angles that defies gravity itself.

Next is Kate: again a nice girl who will try to help when ever she can but wit little experience in sailing until now. She is probably like me wondering why on earth she said yes when Tim asked her if she would be interested in crewing on Stardust for this trip as we both have been struggling with the heavy seas.

Another interested aspect of Kate is that out of all the people Tim could have found for this journey he managed to pick one that has the same cooking talent as my wife Janette ie none!

One think that is interesting with people that don’t cook is the approach to portion size: you either get a few grain of rice on a plate or enough couscous to feed an army for 5 days!!! But we can’t complain as she makes the effort.

Lastly there is MOI or me for the non French speaking; not much to say except with plenty of time on my hand i have come to realise that if you take the 2 jobs that i have, sorry i should say hobbies rather than jobs we don’t want people to think that i work for a leaving now do we? Anyway if you take the 2 activities IT and Building and you put them together you get DIY as in Do I.T. Yourself funny?!

As we have no photo today i will tell of our adventure these past few days.

The heavy seas have calm down we are now only around force 5 still enough to keep you awake at night or day. We have spotted a few whales and a few dolphins although they could be sharks not sure as this was a distance away.

We also have developed a number of problems which is forcing us to really look at our resources consumptions mainly fresh water. Our water maker as stopped working a couple of days ago an despite talking to the supplier and some hard work from Tim we still no better. This has forced us to start restricting the use of water mainly for washing up and stop all showers which is not great!!! but we have enough water for drinking and food prep to last us until we get to the BVI (by the end of this week).

We also have an issue with the steering wheels as the chain broke and we lost steering on both wheels but fortunately the auto pilot is still working and after some inventive use of some Spectra line (very strong line!) we have managed to fix the chain and the steering is back online and should be ok until we make land.

We are now looking forward to arrive at the BVI (or anywhere) so that we can have a few days rest before the final leg to Florida.

Thank you all for your support and i will keep you informed of our progress in a few days again.

Till Next Time

Captain Ben signing off Rrrrrrr!