Day 16 - Wind and Seas abate

Sawsealady
David Moore
Mon 11 Dec 2006 12:52

"16:00N 51:11W "

Day 16 - The Wind and Sea Abate

Normal service has now been resumed on SSL. With the wind and seas abating, the crew have had time to catch up on sleep and refuel with porridge and pasta carbonara (courtesey of Oscar). Watches have been comparatively quiet and so we spent the morning discussing the pros and cons of gybing to change our course and the potential effects this may have on the angle of the sun, the crews sun tan and the risk of sunburn. After may hours of deliberation we broke off for lunch, which was followed by more discussions on the same theme then a commited decision. After 5 hours preparation you would expect a cool, untroubled manoever. Sadly not. The calm of the day was yet again punctuated by the unique expletives of the foredeck as spinaker poles trapped said fingers against rigging. Happily no damage done. Having said all that, we are effectively one crew member down as Phillipa has a nasty sore throat and is feeling pretty rough. Fortunately the Doctor's surgery wasn't busy this morning and so she managed to get a prompt appointment without even having to speak to the receptionist! Typically the Doctor said that the likely cause was viral and should get better in the next few days (although Donald thinks she has recurrent Glandular Fever, because the ships medical manual says so). Time will tell. But for now the antibiotics remain poised for action for if "things get worse" and we all wish Phillipa a speedy recovery. Meanwhile the miles tick away. Our Hungarian cyclist Peter has calculated to the nearest minute our arrival in St Lucia depending on our current speed. So for now its Thursday 8am......hold on......there's a big gust.....so big, it looks like we'll be in by tomorrow lunchtime!!..........        Rick

 

 

"Run for cover!!! There's a squall coming!!"