28 30N 50 48W
Osprey
John Bowering
Mon 25 May 2009 21:24
in the cockpit at 0430 and spending the rest of the 4 to 8 watch chatting
away. Kuki changed over to the port tack at about 0715 which got Charles up
as he was thrown across his bunk by the reversing of the boats angle of
heel.
We have a whole new dictionary of marine terms here courtesy of Kuki and
have almost completely abandoned standard terminology. Some examples: we no
longer have primary and secondary winches in the cockpit they are now big
winch and little winch, the mast has become the pole, the Genoa is the
genola and the staysail is the little front sail. We don't furl our
foresails any more - we roll them up - perfectly logical really although
some of the old marine instructors would cringe.
We thought we would be able to turn east this morning when we tacked and for
a couple of hours the wind stayed NNE but then moved back to the east and we
were forced to head north again - very frustrating. Our generator also
developed a fault - it became apparent yesterday and when we tested it again
this morning it would not run evenly nor pick up a load. We concluded that
the fuel lift pump was faulty and about 1200 set about changing it for the
spare on board. The job was done in a couple of hours and whilst at it and
under the engine again we changed the inline fuel filters as well although
there was no indication of trouble in the old ones when we examined them.
The lift pump change out was a great piece of teamwork with all hands
working together. Fortunately the weather was relatively benign and we were
not rocking and rolling much. We left the autopilot in charge whilst we did
the work so did not loose any sailing time and the generator now tests out
fine under full load.
"Notes from a Small Boat - with 1500 miles To Go" - as they say you should
never ask a question you don't want the answer to. Having now covered
nearly 1000 miles, of what was hoped was a 2100 mile routing it is somewhat
frustrating to know that we still remain 1500 miles from the Azores. This
state of affairs, with minimal wind and in the wrong direction has led Kuki
& Charles to experience a new side of Mini Budda - Cranky Mini Budda or CMB
for short. He spent this morning in a decidely cranky mood, and this was
exhibited by his stern conversations with the Auto Pilot - this being an
inanimate object, he won the arguement.
Kuki & John, having tired of waking Charles up by means of the Carpenters or
rousing "Last Night at the Proms" reverted to pure cruelty this morning,
when at 0700 hrs they tacked the boat, putting it on a starboard heel and
leading Charles to roll from his nice sleeping position into the saloon
table. John's comment "well it keeps you in" was met by a stony silence
from Charles, and repeated references to the fact that there is no point
talking to Charles before 10am ensured that this was certainly the case this
morning. To add insult to injury there are far too many references to the
lack of progress being made on the 12 to 4 watch - which I can categorically
state is due to a regular loss of wind between 0100-0300 hrs.
However, as has been said many a time "those in glasshouses should not throw
stones" - and this wise saying, which SC Ted attirbutes to Yoda although the
remainder of the crew disagree, was perfectly apt for today. Because having
made less progress than our speed through the water should dictate over the
past 18 hrs CMB consulted the tide tables, discovering that the southerly
tide that we are in would certianly reduce are progress - Charles was
gracious in victory!
As the crew settles in for a longer than planned crossing we remain
philisophical, although bracing ourselves to face the very real possibility
that we will run out of chocolate biscuits and cheese. Obviously this is a
serious issue, and Kuki is strictly controlling the cheese intake - and woe
betide any crew member who attempts to snaffle any extra cheese. But
generally the crew, with the exception of CMB this morning, are stoically
accepting the state of affairs and looking at the world from a Confucious
view point, wherever that may be - currently lost along with the wind!