day 5b
Sadie
Wed 27 Nov 2013 19:55
|
23:54.630n 21:06.836w
Distance to
Antigua 2325 miles
Distance
Run today 135 miles
Got a few iridim problems today - someone let us know this gets through
please
Sailing update
Trying to get past a big low pressure NW of Cape
Verde and we have been beating throughtout last night and today into 15 -
20 knots from SSW. Direction of travel is OK but we want to get
through it and down to the trades having had a taste of fast and easy downwind
sailing a cople of nights ago. Weather forecast gets downloaded to us
as we upload the blog and if it shows what we expect we will be off to
the SW again tomorrow.
No ships all day today in daylight but we did
manage to get the only 3 boats in this part of the Atlantic (us, another yacht
and a big Chinese freighter) within 1/4 mile at 4 am. Jez had
been watching things come together like a slow speed collision on the radar
for 2 hours as our relative speeds were low with the 2 yachts doing 6 kt and the
freighter overtaking at 12 kts. Such things pass for excitement in
mid atlantic and Tim got a shake 10 minutes early for his watch so that he
could have a look. We excused Ricky this time but if we have to make or
own entertainment then he may have to join in in future. For
all this - the sea was clear again a cople of hours later and its been a bit
like sailing through a desert.
While I think of it. It was really, really
dark last night. We had full cloud cover and there was nothing at all
except the glow of the cockpit instruments - you probably had to be there but it
felt like you could reach out and touch it. Being real men of course we weren't
impressed or worried by this and dealt with it by putting in some
headphones and letting AC/DC take the strain.
Domestic
Ricky woke up today ! He has been feeling
pretty ropey with sea sickness (although he hasn't actually been ill) for 2 days
but bounced out of bed this morning ready to go. This was just as well as
he and Jez had to strip down the wind generator in the cockpit after it
swallowed 3 metres of 50lb fishing line. The lure is still out but, to
date, a wind generator remains all that we have caught.
Jez remains top of the pile at Gin but Tim is still
threatening to change the game to scrabble. Now Ricky is up and running he
will get the deciding vote.
All Jez's luck is focussed on the cards as so far
he has lost a halliard up the mast , broken a cup ( one of the big ones for
drinking tea by the bucket so he's not popular with the skipper or we think with
Cathy) and snapped a pair of glasses at the bridge. In biblical times he'd
be thrown off to be eaten by a whale but a comprehensive survey has shown there
to be no whales in this part of the Atlantic so he's OK for now.
Anyway, thats 3 so he should be allright.
Tim is producing curry as we "go to press" and we
continue to think that if you are going to go to sea for 3 weeks then it's
best to do so with an ex-chef. We had another excellent Tapas lunch in the
cockpit - here is a picture.
Todays responses (and a question)
Question first - Aimed at Dave Smart but anyone can
have a go. What is the bird we keep seeing ? It's the only one (and
the only thing) out here. About 10 inch wingspan, flies low over the water
and lands occasionally. Looks a bit like a swift on steroids and has a
white flash on the top of it's traingular tail. We realise that this makes
us sound elderly but we have to relate to what we are seeing and this is
it.
Em / Cathy - synchronised hair appointments?.
You both reported these yesterday.
Rowles kids - Granny says she is back home now and
that you have worn her out ! (Hi mum). And I hear that Chelsea lost - it's
not too late to switch to Ipswich town.
Alex - All our sports reports are coming from
Gooners (including Granny Jen) - we need a balanced
view.
Sadie |