On the domestic front. We need to eat and we need to wash; items and ourselves. This presents various challenges at sea! Our fruit and vegetables variously hang in two nets in the saloon and sit in crates. Both need inspecting regularly for bruising or worse rotting and individually require turning. Ali did a sterling job procuring fresh produce twice before we set sail. Because of our delayed departure we had to re think things a bit and eat from our existing stores to make way for new produce. Eggs sit in cardboard trays and the entire tray is turned daily. The cardboard is encased in cling film to deter any pesky cockroach eggs that may have boarded at Las Palmas. Washing sheets on day 4 (we’d lived on the boat 10 days in port before departure), we used the power of the sea by clipping on with our harnesses, holding the sheets by a corner and dragging them through our wake from the aft quarter of the boat. A quick rinse in fresh water and presto, clean bedding and towels. The sun dries and bleaches. Daily ablutions are restricted to minimum water usage; sea shower = wet- soap- rinse. If the engine is on then so is the water maker and restrictions are lifted…a bit!

Skipper’s job (amongst other things!) is to monitor water usage. Tricky to do this without becoming a shower monitor, but everyone on board understands the importance of water conservation, so skipper’s responsibility is more deciding when and how often to run the water maker and when to transfer water from the main tank to the reserve, which is for every day use. As the engine is noisy and the water maker is too, we try to avoid doing this at night, unless we need the engine to move the boat when there’s insufficient wind. An additional complication is that the water maker is located close to Sven’s head in his bunk. After a few hours’ running, both unit and head get hot, the latter too much so.