Day 22
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39:32.000n
45:49.000w Distance to home:
2058 miles Distance run
today: 116 miles Course
055 Nothing to see here –
move on please … Edited at
Domestic
We try not to focus on
food but it does form the highlight of our day sometimes. In yesterday’s case, Tim
decided that in the absence of fresh fish it was time for Chilli Con Carne using
a tin of minced beef in order to preserve our fresh food. He added a little of “this and that” to
give it a bit of bite. Somewhere down the
creative process this resulted in 3 chilli peppers bought in the market at
A hurried discussion
agreed that 1 chilli pepper was going to do the trick and the others were fished
out before they could do lasting damage and we could still see and breathe. The resulting Chilli was
great and in fairness to Tim, it’s a bit of a lottery as we have mixed the
outright chilli’s with the flav A rare treat this
morning. As we cane off the night
watches a large cloud drifted overhead, the wind died and the heavens
opened. The mainsail funnels water
down to the gooseneck where, following William’s lead from yesterday, Jez and
Tim have the luxury of a freshwater shower to wash away 3 weeks accumulation of
grime. It’s hard to describe
just how good it is not to have everything tasting of salt.
The sunshine has returned
but not the wind to date. Sailing
We limped through the
night making 3 to 4 knots in about 8 knots of wind. The ability of our monitor windvane to
hold a course in such conditions is frankly amazing. At various points through the night, the
wind died to next to nothing but it was just enough for the vane to hold our
course of about 040 degrees and each time it returned (usually after 10 minutes
or so) the sails would fill, the windmill would start turning with a high
pitched whine and we would bound on into the night. William has just set the
genoa and the engine is going off – peace and quiet returns.
We have come across a
buoy and made a close pass this afternoon – no fish. Our theory on where to catch Dorado is
now in tatters. Natural
History More dolphins, large
groups and small, spotted and otherwise (our key Natural History contact is away
on a jolly (sorry, important business meeting) so we are unable to name the
second type at present. No fish caught for
further study which remains a frustration. Update at 17.00 hrs
BST. We just got the one we
have been waiting for. The three of
us were in the cockpit having just finished lunch when Tim saw a whale spouting
about 150m astern of us.
And there it was, we saw
it spout 4 times in quick succession and saw the length of it’s
back. We have no idea on what
sort of whale it was but it was at least 10m in length, had a horizontal tail
(is this the case for all whales ?) and there was no dorsal fin. Fantastic
! On the basis that “cosmic
ordering” is clearly working for us, we would like 15 knots of South Westerly
wind for the next 3 weeks please.
And a Tuna
! And a further update –
about 20 dolphins just joined us and stayed with us on the bow for 5
minutes. They were fantastic and we
have some excellent video both from the bow and from underwater using Will’s Go
Pro. Today’s responses Em – I was surprised to
see a response from your gmail address and guessed you had mastered the
phone. Good to see that Lizzie’s
ICT skills helped along the way. I’ll wait till you are
home before sending you any personal email. Rowles Kids – you seem to
be having a big adventure of your own there. Granny Samways will probably be very
happy to hand you on to Granny Rowles today. Harvey / Joe – The
climbing wall sounds great. How high did you go ? I didn’t think you liked
heights. Do you owe Granny some new
Bluebells and has she now confiscated the football ? Lizzie – I know what a
“high-fly” is. William has been to
the indoor skydiving centre too so he described it to me. Well
done. Dave Payne – thanks for
Ampair update. We are limited to
guardrail for height but have worked out that it needs a high quality rope that
is stiff enough to resist the rotational movement. Our mainsheet has been pressed into
service. Barry – thanks for GP
standings and update. Richard – You and Dave
agreed on Great Shearwater. Some
question over size but we have not seen another to
confirm. Bye for now
Sadie |