An onion a day ...
Rhapsode
Sat 30 Oct 2010 13:06
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18 19 N 23 54 W
... keeps scurvey at bay.
Our supplies of fresh fruit and veg will just make
it to Mindelo. We stocked up in Gran Tarajal 8 days ago and we now have spuds,
onions, garlic, a lemon, tomatoes, an aubergine, one and half cannon balls, some
apples and a couple of chillis. We ate the last of the bananas at breakfast this
morning.
There are two big supermarkets in Gran Tarajal -
bigger, better and nicer than any we visited in Lanzarote. The fruit and veg
were positively glowing with freshness. The bananas looked as tho' they had been
picked from the tree that day - green and just waiting to be put on a boat where
they could gently ripen.
And all that fruit and veg meant that we didn't
have to eat textured vegetable protein every day!!! Alright for the vegetarian
crew but for a carniverous skipper ... It looks like sawdust and tastes
remarkably similar to what you would expect sawdust to taste!
Our constant companions for the last few days have
been Storm Petrels. Always busy fishing; their name does not seem to be a
harbinger of bad weather (so far!).
Today is a real Trade Wind day - warm with a
pleasant breeze blowing us along at a gentle four and a bit knots. Michael
is in the cockpit seranading us with the guitar. Andrew is off watch and
snoozing in the forward cabin. A great day to be at sea.
No porpoises today so far. Based on observations so
far they appear to come up on the lee side rather then the weather side.
No idea why. More data needed.
The flying fish tend to land on the starboard side
and only at night. Does this mean that they need to eat carrots?
These are the imponderables upon which we ponder,
mostly during our night watches.
We saw a ship this morning! I called it on the VHF
for a chat and to get a check on our new active radar reflector but,
disappointingly, they didn't respond.
We are bobbing (no, won't bother looking that up)
along very nicely in a gentle two meter swell and a force 4 from the north east.
Looks reasonably certain that we'll arrive tomorrow.
Happy sailing,
P, M & A.
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