31 55N 48 32W
Osprey
John Bowering
Fri 29 May 2009 21:06
"Notes from a Small Boat with a Big Blue Sail" - after the adventurous seas and winds of yesterday, today has been the opposite with beautfiul sunshine and gentle winds. The Boss decreed the boat needed its weekly washdown, so out came the hose, the bucket, the brushes etc and on to her bunk went Kuki in her supervisory role. Anyway, the boys made short work of cleaning the deck and the cockpit, after this there was some dithering whilst they decided whether it was worth putting the spinnaker up or not.
Anyway, the wind continued to drop so it was into the bowels of the for'd cabin for Charles to get the spinnaker out - usually an easy exercise as it goes straight up through the for'd hatch but there is the small issue of the dinghy being strapped on top of the hatch. So the bunk was disassembled and the bag pulled into the saloon, then it was passed up to John on the deck. Anyway, John & Charles remembered all the fun they had last year sorting it out, so after a few minutes to check out the new snuffer up she went -and very pretty she is too!
Generally, everyone has been a little subdued today catching up after the somewhat busy day yesterday, however, Kuki has been on fine culinary form and therefore the calorific intake has vastly increased - not good when it has been a lazy loafing type of day. Bacon & egg butties for breakfast, cheese sandwiches for lunch, tea & chocolate biscuits mid afternoon, chicken tikka marsala with rice & daal tonight and she has even made sandwiches for the boys during their watches tonight.
The choice of biscuits at tea time was Kuki's, who turned her nose up at the chocolate chip ones originally selected by Charles. This from the lady who stated whilst in Antigua "I don't eat biscuits or drink Hot Chocolate, so why are you two buying so much." Needless to say Kuki has singly handedly drunk all the Hot Chocolate and eaten her fair share of the biscuits! It must be stated that Kuki has had the good grace to concede that the majority of the items Charles & John added to her shopping cart are vital necessities. Now it should also be noted that there has been more re-naming of parts/items on the yacht - so tea today was taken on the Terrace, formerly refered to as the Cockpit.
Recently there has been another addition to the motley crew, although the individual in question has yet to be actually spotted - he is merely heard with some frequency. Those readers familiar with Jim Henson's creation "The Muppets" will know him as the Swedish Cook, and as stated we have yet to see him but do hear him saying "herte gerte gerte herte" on a regular basis.
There is one aspect of life aboard SY Osprey that has yet to be mentioned in this blog, and that is the choice of dinnerware - contrary to all norms the crew don't eat of plates but instead from dog bowls! Now this may sound somewhat primeval but rest assured cutlery is still used, one must maintain British Decorum! The reason is that dog bowls, with a rubber edge, are deep enough to hold a meal without slopping and also don't slide across the deck.
So until next time, I am off to dip my nose in the dog bowl so to speak - and as it is friday night have a nice curry!