15:30.046N 39:58.358W

Heading West Third Blog, A view from the Bosons chair

1^st December 2014

Before we dive straight into Steve’s contribution once again here is the boring bit for all you accountants out there. Day seven and all going well, the winds have dropped and with them our daily averages have gone down but we are very close to the half way point now and way ahead of even our most optimistic schedule. We are keeping ahead of the maintenance and Spectra is in better shape now than when we left Mindello which can’t be bad. So without further adieu here are the stats so far:

Day 1 17.5 hours    84 miles            Average 4.8 Knots

Day 2 24 hours       173 miles          Average 7.2 Knots

Day 3 24 hours       187 miles          Average 7.8 Knots

Day 4 24 hours       168 miles          Average 7.0 Knots

Day 5 24 hours       159 miles          Average 6.6 Knots

Day 6 24 hours       149 miles          Average 6.2 Knots

That’s it from me, over to Steve.

A view from the Bosons chair.

Today our thoughts are with Martin and his family, Rest in Peace Joanne.

Our life is a 15 mile circle within which everything concerns us and outside there could be nothing else.  As our first week comes to an end, life on board has settled into a series of routines. Watch keeping which entails sailing, sleeping, relaxing and eating with long periods of inactivity. The sail configuration doesn’t change much, the main is set over the port beam with 1 or 2 reefs depending on the conditions and a preventer to keep it under control in the bouncy seas.  The little staysail is set just in front of that on the same side and the Fore sail is poled out to starboard providing a lot of the drive, again this is reefed as per the conditions.  We seem to maintain good speed and direction during the daytime with less predictable conditions thru the night.

Being Sunday, today was a day for rest and recuperation, the fishing rods were set and the men folk were on deck discussing finer points of life. Today was also shower day so Spectra and here crew are smelling delightful. Paul & Peter decided it was time make them selves more presentable and have hair cuts (I hope there’s a good barber in Barbados!!) Norma needed to step in to finish Paul’s. Half way through Paul’s haircut one of the fishing lines started streaming line just as a large Dorado took the lure, after 10 mins of excitement and battling with the fish it took a final leap out of the water, shook its head and was gone.

So things then settled into the daily routine again, maintenance, cooking and general chit chat. Peter was obviously content with all that was going on and quietly supervised all the activities (at least that’s what I think he’s doing with his eyes closed and chin on his chest!!

At lunchtime we all gathered in the cockpit to have lunch which was a lovely bowl of pasta with pesto prepared by Paul. Not 2 mouthfuls in and one of the fishing rods bursts into life again, Tony grabs the rod and after a briefer battle than before another Dorado escapes the frying pan.

Mother watch entails cooking, sleeping, eating, cleaning, reading watching movies. In the afternoon fell to Norma. She took breaks through the day from doing laundry and cooking Sunday Roast, to practise her Ukulele in her bedroom, she’s not brave enough to go public just yet!

Things continued with the routine, this time it was my turn to do some supervising with Paul Norma & Tony having a chat on the deck when for the third time today the same fishing rod sprung into life with line streaming and lots of excited chatter. Tony managed to get this fish along side it appeared to be a small Wahoo! It was time to deploy the home made gaff.  I’m sure that Mr Heath & Mr Robinson would have been very proud of our engineering skills sadly the gaff operator wasn’t up to the task and once again the fish was gone. There then followed a lengthy debate and Gaff Mk 2 has been constructed we shall report on its progress in later blogs.

Shortly after that we slipped into night time routines, a quick walk around the decks to make sure that nothing was in need of immediate repair. The harnesses were attached to the safety points, the steam scarer brought on deck and tested and the navigation lights were on. Then Sunday Lunch was ready, a superb meal of roast lamb with Potatoes and Vegetables, no mean feat is the swelling seas.

So ahead of us the sun dips below the horizon, just as it does a small cloud blocks it from view but a fan of light streams from behind and we have a wonderful golden sunset. No sooner has the sun gone down then the moon which is overhead is swathing us in its milky light, there is a the proverbial velvet blanket of stars above our heads.  Orion is the most obvious constellation to make a showing and the pole star is out on our starboard beam but the plough is reluctant to show itself.

The night then proceeds without any more excitement, apart from the watch keeper every one takes themselves to their beds. At about 3 o’clock the moon has now set and the sky really comes alive with horizon to horizon stars with only the occasional cloud. Even the Plough has finally decided to put in an appearance. Then slowly the sky begins to lighten from the east behind us and the dawn of another day is here.  Then within a brief period we get hit by a squall, the wind picks up from its fairly steady mid teens to 35knots so again lots of frantic activity then just when everything is set it has gone as quick as it arrived and the wind has settled into single figures.

For those that don’t know, a Bosons Chair is a very uncomfortable seat that you strap your self into to be hoisted up the mast. From there you have a Birdseye view of the boat.