36 28N 14 03W
Osprey
John Bowering
Fri 19 Jun 2009 17:53
remarkably quiet very much in the fashion of a squaddie at Verdun and John
offering to sell the boat for a dollar to the first person to provide him an
air ticket out before noon. Nevertheless the wind started to die down at
about 0800 and with a bit of trial and error we found that we could motor
sail with only the main up on a course which approximated the general
direction of Europe. It was an effort to stretch to wheetabix for breakfast
but something was essential. John then decided that the water pump was going
to get changed regardless of the boats motion so that we could shower in the
hope of a general physiological recovery. A country and Western CD was
inserted and played at high volume as an accompniment and to focus the
minds. The job went smoothly for two reasons - Charles has small hands and
doesn't wear glasses so was able to get the mounting screws in first time -
it would have taken John forever looking through the wrong side of his
varifocals - secondly when the pump was previously changed (upgraded) John
had installed long tails on the wiring so it could be pulled out with the
pump and re-assembled before inserting it into the mounting space (which is
under the tumble drier).. From start to finish it took an hour and a half
and
once we had bled the system water sprouted from all the necessary orifices
and Charles started to talk again - a questionable benefit! Long showers
were then had, the damp and
dirty clothing dumped in a laundry bag and all of a sudden the world looked
a better place (and the boat smelt reasonable too).
"Notes from a Small Boat after a Beating" - on this passage mother nature has really put her oar in. Firstly, as has been lamented many a time on this blog we didn't have enough wind to Horta, and now on this leg for the past 46hrs we have been figting strong winds and big seas.
John, takes this in is "Old Salty Sea Dog" way, whilst Charles who was still not feeling 100% decided "it was just not cricket." However, he is definitely on the road to recovery, being heard at regular intervals to use Smiler's famous saying from "On The Buses" - "I hate you Bowering!"
The crew remains in good spirits but is definitely beginning to feel the time spent on board. Since arrival in Anitgua John has been onboard 8 weeks and Charles 6 weeks. The cumulative effects of watches and the recent seas have us both hankering after Smir Quayside.
The past 48 hrs are difficult to describe, suffice to say we have been like the proverbial cork being tossed all over the place and battered by winds racing from 0 to 38 knots instantaneously and from all directions. The seas have been confused with waves upto 35-40 ft crashing at us from all directions. This led to a very uncomfortable period, to say the least.
Our destination seems tantalisingly close, but still actually remains over 3 days away and we have provisionally put our arrival sometime on Tuesday. Now, it is time to rustle up some food and settling in for another night beating to windward!