Ship's Log

Rebel T
Tim Walsh
Fri 6 Jun 2008 06:41

Dear One and all

Ship's Time 03.56 06/06/2008

Ship's log reads 1459nm since our departure from Horta, Azores

A rather hectic 48 hrs , with numerous sail changes due to the up's and
downs of the weather patterns currently experiencing. Rebel and ship's
company have come through some challenging times.with some fresh and strong
winds over the past two/three days. It has meant however that we are all
thinking of home and what's new there. We have as a result now passed
Lizards Point, a very well known point of reference . The lizard is now
astern of us as we head up channel towards our next point of reference,
Start Pt, a headland for me, that has been the commencing point of many
crossings of the Bay of Biscay and even down the Atlantic to Islands of the
coast of Africa, This morning the dawn shone bright and early at around
2.45am , and I saw my first peak of England nearly 12nm of on Rebel's port
side in the bright sunshine, still very cool here however.

Our progress has been assisted by the number of low pressure weather
systems that has made the country so wet, The crew had elected for a quick
dash into Falmouth for provisions, but such is the positive weather window
for progress up the channel we are going to press on and when necessary,
divert to another port/marina for what may be required. We are now
attempting to dry the boat out during daylight hours, as the last few days
has been both very wet and very windy, conditions that make it difficult to
keep things just dry, let alone keep the damp out that seeps in every
where. That apart Rebel is performing very well, and crew our I think
delighted with their and the boats performance. Jon apart who always wants
more, no matter what boat he's on, always in a rush to get to port. That for
him is the real achievement. He is though one of the most steadfast members
of the crew when the going gets rough.

As I am putting this log together I am monitoring the shipping channels,
both on the VHF/Radar and visually , right now I can see three ships on the
same heading as Rebel, they will eventually overtake us, but not that fast,
as we are making 9.5 knots, and now and then 10.9 knots. It gets a little
interesting as vessels coming down channel come along , three on the up, two
on the down, and Rebel somewhere in between this lot. As you can imagine it
gets very interesting at night.A rather large ocean liner with all lights a
blaze past us during the darker hours of the night. She looked stunning, as
she passed along our port side about miles away.Two miles I hasten to add
her size looks close , especially to a Rebel and crew.

As we pass the next headland expect the Text messaging to begin as mobile
phones are at the ready.

All are begininng to lose their W. Indies tan,(even Rebel) as the English
weather, the summer washes it all away. Hard to believe that just over a
week ago the whole company was experiencing the heat of the Azores High.Jon
had the devil in him to text a friend of ours (Charles) who responded in no
uncertain terms when the sun and heat was mentioned. His response was
something about being washed away.Jon I believe has being getting a bit of
his own back over the past days. He certainly does not look as brown.

Ok to the serous stuff Tim,I will shortly update you on expected eta's etc.
And those other good people who have kept in touch will advise also.
Life for those aboard now truly revolves around their watch system, and as
all have remarked about the passage length, they will I think find it
difficult to adjust to a more normal shore timetable.

We will be keeping the updates going until our final day into Rebel's home
port, as also her position fix.

For now all very best wishes to family, friends old and new

Regards David.