Nearly There!!
Christine's Atlantic Circuit
Peter Lansdale
Fri 9 Dec 2016 07:58
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13:35N 53:17W
It's Peter here (crew, not Skipper) and it's Friday
0330.
We now have just under
500 miles to go and so we are nearly there! Well maybe not - I guess it's
the same distance as crossing Biscay. However, all yesterday we sailed
through vast quantities of seaweed so surely we must be near land (even if the
current is running West!). Perhaps more important is that we now have well
established winds (F5/6) in the right direction and predicted to hold up for the
rest of the journey.
For nearly three weeks now we have been sailing in a
world suspended in time, in a pleasant routine of watches and meals, with
no news except about the other ARC boats. St Lucia was just a distant
dream whereas now it has a ETA (overnight Sunday/Monday) and family waiting for
my arrival.
So I guess we are now more focused on arriving than
travelling. Also with the stronger winds and larger swell sleeping has not
been so easy with the boat rolling and, up in the bow where I rest my head, you
can really feel the acceleration as the boat lurches from side to side - it's
like sleeping in a rollercoaster.
Our food has lasted well - we ate the last of the fresh
meat two nights ago (actually, fresh, vacuum packed, frozen by the butcher, and
kept in our icebox) and most of the vegetables have held up well - the main
exception were the leeks, the last of which went overboard as a foul-smelling
liquid yesterday. The surprising successes have been the iceberg lettuce
and cucumber, both kept in the fridge and still going strong after 3
weeks. And we have not needed many tins - a tin of
mushroom, a couple of tins of sweet corn, tomatoes for cooking, and chick peas
to make hummus. Our concern about how and where to store the
rubbish has not turned out to be a problem, with all biodegradables
overboard there really is very little else left to store.
As for cooking, that has been a lot easier and more
enjoyable than I expected. I have cooked most of the evening meal and now
feel completely at home cooking at sea. When I met Peter a year ago I had
never cooked on a moving boat and the prospect was a little
intimidating.
So although there are still 500 miles to go, I have this
emerging feeling of: OK, done that, what next? Easy to answer tha:t enjoy
dry land for a bit - St Lucia's beaches and rain forest (umm... dry
land?).
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