Spelling
Panatlantic
Sat 5 Jan 2008 15:33
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Dear All,
I hope that the first few days back at work were
not too traumatic for you all and that the memories of the festive season are
still fresh in your minds.
Thank you to those of you who kindly answered my
moon question! The answer was as simple as i had expected: of course the earth's
shadow only passes over the moon during a lunar eclipse, very simple really, but
one of those things it is hard to get one's mind around when out here. When i
told this to James he called me an idiot, and said that that's exactly what he'd
been thinking.
Several of you have also pointed out with a certain
relish that there were 2 spelling mistakes in my last blog! Dear friends, i fear
that this is the first sign that my sanity is being slowly but surely eroded
with the passing of the days out here, what will happen to my poor mind over the
coming 3 or 4 weeks we will just have to see. Be, tree, pee, me, lee, flea,
teepee. Wigwam.
Well, i can report that we are barely moving!
Yesterday evening the wind swung to the South West and although it was very
light we found that we were making less than 1kt and generally being pushed
further North than i am willing to let us go (Captain Burge naturally has the
final say on all matters of navigation) so at midnight we decided to put out the
sea anchor and get some head down. We both set our alarms for 03:50 for me to
get up and check on conditions, but that was really rather pointless: the three
riders of the apocalypse could have ridden through the cabin screaming my name
and i wouldn't have woken up; for that matter a band of wandering minstrels
could have alighted on komale and struck up a tune:
Wakey Ho!
Niall-O
Don't you know
It's time to Row?
Dum-de-dum and dosey-doe
Wakey now for we must go!
Then they could have danced a merry jig, the bells
on their ankles and hats jingling away in the night, and still i wouldn't have
awakened! As it was i awoke in time to get on the oars at 6am and we have been
making a steady 1kt since then!
Here i must say that morale is actually probably as
high as it has been for the entire trip, for although we have made terribly
laboured progress the conditions of the sea are so outstandingly beautiful that
James and i have both been awestruck and remain most jolly. This morning, as the
sun rose in the eastern sky, the sea appeared velvet as it shimmered silver and
gold and not a ripple could be seen on its glass-surface. The landscape was that
of a perfect blue fairway, ever so slightly undulating, and the sound, the
silence, was truly wonderful.
We have had some massive dorado (dolphin fish)
around the boat today, and our boat fish Dory has returned! James will
tell Dory's story tomorrow, (he insists on calling him Dora but i
assure you that Dory is a dude), but i just wanted to say how amused i
was at my own reaction to seeing him again for the first time in 2 days (he's
been following us for about a week now); i may as well have sighted Antigua i
was so pleased to see him! And i immediately broke off a bit of Go Bar for him!
The course we are taking, from San Sebastien de La
Gomera via the trade winds (which apparently do exist) to English Harbour
in Antigua follows the same course taken by Christopher Columbus in 1492
when he embarked on his great quest to circumcise the world with a 50ft clipper.
Columbus sailed for just over 30 days (if my memory serves me correctly) in
order to bring Christianity and Syphillis to the lands over the water;
to teach the heathen about the love and forgiveness of Jesus and to
slaughter (in the name of God) any of they who didn't immediately accept the
blessed and merciful teachings of the Gospel. It appears that
he set in motion a highly successful mission, for Central
America remains one of the world's most pious, and riddled, parts of the
world to this very day.
The temperature outside must be over 35 now, which
is really rather steamy so we are being very careful to regulate our water
consumption to compensate for the increase in sweat production. We probably
drink around 15l of water between us per day, most of which is taken with
electrolytes or protein drinks. Our diet is so incredibly high in protein
(probably around 300g) that we aren't losing much weight at all, at least
not from our upper bodies, which are in constant use; both of us have lost
weight from our legs but hope not to be too much lighter when we arrive than
when we left.
Each of the area of the boat now has its own
distinct smell, which is quite interesting: The cabin smells very strongly of
urine; the deck smells very strongly of urine; and the front hatch smells very
strongly of urine.
Right, i shall leave you all there, i hope my
spelling was better in this blog, please don't hesitate to correct me if i err
again.
Until monday,
Niall
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