Day 17
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35:04.111n
54:16.735w Distance to home:
2541 miles Distance run
today: 118 miles Course
100 Today we have chosen to
reflect on what this trip means for some of us. With the recent passing of my
Dad and Tim’s brother, Chris, this trip is quite significant. He was always a
huge fan of the high seas. Throughout his childhood,
along with Tim and Sue, Chris spent a huge amount of time on or by the sea
mainly at Beer in During the planning for
this trip it was always hoped that Chris would have been able to join Tim on the
crossing to In a way we are
dedicating this trip to Chris and remember all the great times we had with him
in general but in particular around boats. There have already been
so many generous donations to St Helena Hospice to which we are all so grateful
for. The hospice was a great support network not only for Dad but also for all
the family and particularly my Mum. If anyone would like to
make a donation in memory of Chris then please go to memorygiving.com and search
for Christopher Wood, he passed on the 4th April and the picture
displayed is of him, ‘the bald git’ in a hot air balloon over the Alps. Thank
You ~ Fly with the Wind, Ride
with the Waves, Live Life to the Full ~ Now to continue with our
usual blog… Domestic
The chicken curry last
night with rice and a parata was bliss and we have left enough to have some
later in the week! Cards again last night,
we are keeping a record of all the scores for Rummy and have even decided to
make a spread sheet of the scores to keep up to date on the standings (Very Sad
I know). After 26 games so far, Jez is in front by only 20 points though closely
followed by Wills, we won’t mention Tim’s score at the moment, lets just say
it’s a good job we have a few weeks to go… Tim found a tear in one
of his wellies this morning and so has been set about repairing that with a
dinghy repair patch, always something to fix, repair or keep yourself busy with
on Sadie! Wills made the loaf at
Jez and Tim shaved beards
and heads yesterday leaving Wills to hold out the hair contingent for the trip
on both top and bottom of his head! Wills has also just enjoyed a salt water
shower on the bow of the boat, hoping not too much wildlife was shocked at the
view! Sailing
The wind held through the
night with a poled out headsail but it has fallen away this morning so we have
flown two headsails for a while before settling on main and genny in about 10
knots of wind. It is now beginning
to pick up again and so is the boatspeed Quiet overnight on the
shipping front which was just as well as it was raining and we didn’t want to
spend too much time in the cockpit whilst on watch. As we go to press we are watching a 228m
long tanker named the Aurora N on AIS.
She is due to pass within a mile of us in about an hour but for now she
is 12 miles away and we are safe.
Our towed generator was
producing so much power overnight that we had the batteries charged to 13.4
volts and the smart regulator started dumping the amps to its’ heatsink. (Jenny and Shaun, I can feel you
reviewing the placing of the apostrophe even now – but I think that’s right
!) Jez is very aware of this
because this kit was just above his head as he was trying to sleep and it was
causing him trouble nodding off.
Partly because of the noise and heat and mostly because he had worked out
that he was sleeping on top of the
battery bank and should anything get overcooked then this might not be a great
idea. Tim solved the immediate
problem by turning on cabin lights and Jez went on watch, choosing another bunk
to go back to once he later handed over to Will. Natural
History Dolphins! Finally! Our
patience paid off as we were visited twice yesterday afternoon, the first was
brief, perhaps a recce by the dolphins and a few hours later there must have
been fifty or sixty of the beautiful Atlantic Spotted Dolphins jumping diving
and playing around the boat! We managed to rig the Go Pro camera on the boat
hook to try and get some under water shots but trying to hold it steady at 6-7
knots is tricky… Not that we can view our
results until we get home to download the video to the computer as the computer
on board seems to want to format the Go Pro’s memory card before allowing
access, if anyone has any idea of getting around this, send us a text, cheers!
Fishing rod has been out
but no action as of yet… Plenty of Portuguese Men
of War jelly fish as ever, or ‘pasties’ which we shout whenever we see
some… Update – Just recovered a
floating yacht fender at 35 03.849 N , 054 20 .812 W. If you think it may be yours (and you
can describe it ) we will give you it back on our return. The roles were spotted with shellfish
and there were several different types of small crabs living on it. We hoped for bigger prey below but the
lures were left untouched. Today’s responses Emma – All good
here. Have a good time with Katie
and all. Rowles Kids – Indoor
skydiving ! I’m jealous and that
sounds like a great way to start half-term. I’m told there was an
earthquake last night, bet you all slept through it. Gran (Jen) – An
Earthquake!! Wow that’s nuts! Good job your flat is on the ground floor eh! I
knew there was a reason for choosing it! Thanks for the updates!
Emily- Have a good swim
at the tri farm tonight Cathy – going for some
more pain at Indoor revolution “
get in “ Bye for now
Sadie |