Specticles, testicles, wallet and watch...

Global Yacht Racing's P42
Global Yacht Racing
Sat 1 Nov 2008 10:07
38:21.6N 006:49.6E

[This one's written by Paul - I never knew I had a philosopher on board! - Ric]

If we were Vikings, we may say a prayer to Thor for our weather... or
prehaps if we were ancient Greeks an offering to Neptune for a better
passage would be more appropriate... but we are sailors, and so we put our
faith in the Mystical entities known as grib files!

Having spent most of the night close hauled on starboard tack with 30 knots
across the deck, heading south by south west, instead of a leisurly, port
tack, beam reach heading more just south of west, we suffered a small crisis
of faith. Ric wryly obsereved that the good news was, at this rate we would
not get south of the Balearics in time to have to deal with the stronger
winds forcast there... though we both agreed that with weather forcasting
this accurate, we could get nailed anywhere.

The three of us now sailing P42 are always prepared for bad weather, though
its somehow easier to deal with a sudden over abundance of it when its
caused a more localised phenomenon, say a wandering thunderstorm, than it is
beacause the weather forcast was totally wrong. Especially if those
phenomenon keep occurring on the same persons watch (as Ric points out
happily, they always come for me)! But dawn has brought us clear blue skys
and wind from the south, and has restored some measure of faith in computer
modeled weather patterns.

So as we continue through the med, and creep closer to the Atlantic, and
more generally stable and forcastable weather, I would like to offer a
specially adapted ancient Egyptian blessing, to all our friends, followers,
and fellow sailors: May your god stand between you and harm, in all the
distant places that you float!

Paul, first mate, P42