Day 7

Ripples2
Mon 1 Dec 2014 08:19
We found a fish in the folds of the sail today. So far the sail has caught one more thing than Simon. To be fair to the sail it is not trying as hard as Simon, to be fair to Simon he hasn't been using his enticing lure since the Dorado, which John cooked expertly and was delicious.
There are a lot of flying fish around here but our dolphin friends seem to have deserted us. The sea is calmer now, the wind is very skittish, a bit like Windermere sailing and it makes for a frustrating dawn watch with sails flogging in the rolling sea.
It's much easier to get around the boat in this kind of swell so hopefully our bruised hips will get a chance to heal.
We are hunting down Wiki, a similar boat some ten miles in front. Our progress is good as the wind has picked up and expect to catch them in the next few hours. It is suggested we moon as we glide by.
We had a great day off yesterday and I am told we have another one tomorrow. We normally pass in the gangway as each shift changes over, so everyone is either on their way to bed or on their way to watch which means apart from mid afternoon no one is socialising. I don't think any of us are at our best at change over and we all assume a look of the hungover, chance would be a fine thing.
Considering we are all strangers, we are getting on famously, Luchi has a great sense of humour not unlike our own and has fitted in well despite having to learn terms in English like 'reef' or 'halyard'.
STOP PRESS
DRAMA AT SEA
We get a call from Wiki, asking if we have a fuel filter for their boat their engine won't start. It's the same model and yes, we had the required part. What are the chances of that a thousand miles from land?
We arranged to meet ten miles in front of us and were greeted by the Danes with a great deal of enthusiasm.
Simon deployed a floating line with a dry bag and fender attached with the parts and they grabbed it as we passed. Deep respect for John's helming as we were pretty close on a rolling sea now effectively tied to their boat as they retrieved the parts.
All went well and they shouted across there will be a bottle of wine for us in St Lucia, I requested dinner.
We are all sat on deck congratulating ourselves on a job well done listening to Reggae with a beer as the sun goes to bed.

Nick
21:11.3N 31:33.5W