Day 37
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49:43.413n
19:11.140w Distance to home:
767 miles Distance run
today: 103 miles Course
075 Huuuuuge whale right
alongside the boat this morning. And how do you wake a
sleeping student … Domestic Today we have reached
another milestone on our trip as it is six weeks since we left the
Tim and Wills have been
defeated by the sudoku book with only 20 remaining, after you’ve spent nearly an
hour looking for just one number you know it’s time to give up. Luckily another
sudoku book has been found, bring it on! The weather is cold to
say the least at the moment, with or without wind we have the wash boards in
overnight to save those asleep from waking with frost on their nose. Socks,
jumpers and coats are a must now, it is June after all. Rummy, yes we are still
going, after 138 games Jez is in the lead but only by 34 points with a score of
4313, Wills is catching and Tim is last by 143 points. If anyone has any
suggestions as to what should be the prize for the overall winner of the Rummy
Championships, send us a text! Sailing A good day yesterday
under spinnaker heading for home and a great day today under full white sail
blasting through a smooth sea with a fresh breeze. The less said about last
night the better but we were clearly in an “interim state”. Hand steering and with constant changes
to sail trim to keep moving on. We had a couple of ships
go by but when Jez tried to chat it became obvious that English was not the
watch-keepers first language so he gave up. Natural
History It all started well last
night when we had our first close visit for a while from some Common Dolphins
who played in he bow wave We have
also seen a couple of groups in the near distance circling and jumping. We think that they have cornered a
school of fish when they do this and it’s feeding time. This morning at about
We had been expecting the
wind to increase and for those off watch to be called for a quick sail change
from the spinnaker to prevent damage to it, so Jez tumbled out of bed, threw on
a lifejacket to harness up and appeared on deck ready to
go. At this point Jez met Tim
pointing at a mirror calm sea and muttering something about “big whales”. Tim had heard it blowing nearby as there
was so little wind at the time and actually gone on deck thinking that something
was rubbing on the sprayhood over the cockpit. At this point our whale
surfaces once more and blows. All
sensible conversation stops as this is right next to the boat. Sadie is 34 feet long (10.36m for those
of a decimal persuasion) and our new companion is clearly bigger than us. It had Long, black,sleek
back that ran for about 25 feet then a small stubby dorsal fin. We never saw the head or
tail. We thought that would be
that but were lucky enough to have the same whale surface and blow 4 times with
intervals of a couple of minutes, each time close to starboard which gave us the
opportunity to grab cameras and get some great video. This soundtrack to the
video is a little bit sweary because of the excitement (sorry kids, Jez will to
edit that bit out when home) but the underlying theme to this is a constant
stream from Tim and Jez along the lines of: “Will, Will, Will. Get up Will. Whale ! Will, Will, get up.” Jez is also rapping with
his fist on the fibreglass roof of the cabin in which Will is sleeping which is
like banging a drum in his ear.
Those who know Will well
will probably recognise that his love of sleep is second only to his liking for
a good meal. No-one could possibly
have slept through the excitement and racket that we were producing but it did
for a while look like Will was going to achieve this. Eventually though he
appeared. He later said that he had
thought he boat must be sinking given the fuss which galvanised him to get out
of his pit. And our very
accommodating whale proceeded to surface twice more giving Will the chance to
join in and be amazed. And then it was
over. So we went back to bed and
left Tim to it …
Today’s
Responses Laura – Caveman beard is
looking ace! How’s the cooking going? I’ve given up on Bryson, too many facts,
names and dates to actually remember any, seems more of a reference book than
one to keep you entertained on a yacht, very dull… I’ve moved on to ‘Nothing to
Envy’ about real lives in Richard – Yes 12,000
words my mistake, I guess it may depend how long you are down in Beer for…thanks
for the praise. Any more celebrities dead yet? Gran – The thunderstorms
will make a nice change from all that sun you have been having, maybe it’s our
turn next! Em – Glad you have the
summer still. Try to hold on to it for us.
Perrywoods has the potential to be expensive but think you have earned
it. Bye for now
Sadie |