25 30N 54 30W
Osprey
John Bowering
Sat 23 May 2009 20:54
wind and were partially successful. Most of the day we have been under sail
making the occasional 6 knots but mostly 3 to 4. We have had to motor for a
couple of hours and each time we have done so we have headed east. We really
need to be east of 50 west but even then there is no certainty as we have a
trough more or less following us east. We want to try and stay south of it
so we retain any southerly component in the wind. If the met boys are
anywhere near on the ball we should start to have some wind late tomorrow.
The boat is now in a pretty well oiled routine with most of the work being
completed by late morning and everyone catching up on their sleep later in
the day. This works well in the calm conditions but will no doubt change as
and when the winds pick up. At the time of writing this Charles and Kuki are
having a chuckle making banana bread for our evening meal. We had a huge
Kuki style lunch and decided (convinced her) that food would not be required
in the evening. Charles has been taking up the sextant today and we will
post a picture of his ancient mariner profile later today. We had contact
with our network of boats this morning though there were as many ideas on
where to go for wind as there were boats! John held a post-mortem on the generator rotor that failed a few days ago and found that it was a Johnson made unit rather than one from the OEM - Westerbeke. May explain its early failure and we will have to let our support team in Maine know.
"Notes from a Small Boat in a Big Ocean with minimal Wind" - Day 8, and there is definitely a change in the weather. As Mini Budda related above we have finally managed some sailing, and all are glad for the peace after the noise of the engine fairly constantly for the past 2-3 days.
Crazy Kuki finally had some wildlife to look at - although not the desired Dolphins or Whales. For the past few days we have been regularly visited by a pair of sea birds, either individually or as a pair. This morning, they bought their friends - so that we had 10 sea birds bobbing in our wake. Crazy Kuki then decided that dictating the food intake for John & Charles was not enough - she would also feed the birds. She had attempted this previously, but was thwarted by Budda (as he was then) picking up the bread and eating it himself. Well today she gave them a veritable feast - the left over mushroom pasta from last night, tuna mayo and bread, all of which they promptly ignored. If only John & Charles could be so strong willed!
Kuki & Charles are not sure that they are so convinced by Mini Budda's credentials anymore - obviously the eating of meat has continued, and the amount of vegetables is not great. However, what is more worrying is the manner in which he treats the other creatures of the world - anyone familiar with Buddhism knows one cannot kill another living creature, so it was with surprise that Mini Budda was observed, with a maniacal grin on his face, squashing the poor defenceless ants that had invaded his chart table this morning. After this bizzare incident he retired to the Aft cabin, for what can only be supposed was a period of deep reflection and meditation.
As for SC Ted, he continues to direct operations from the Pilothouse but has decided that a full inspection of the boat is requried prior to supposed arrival of the wind tomorrow. To that end the crew are to stand too tomorrow for his inspection. On his philisophical meanderings he has moved onto one of his favourite wise sages, and one can understand why due to the physical similarities, and that is Yoda. He has spent today repeating:
"Patience you must, Wind it will come"
as well as
"Frustration Dark Side it is"
So, as another day draws to a close with the hopes of another beautiful sunset (last evenings was truely amazing) the SY Osprey and her motley crew continue their meandering path to the Azores.