13:30.46N 43:38.727W

Heading West Fourth Blog, Peter has his say

3rd December 2014

Fourth edition of the going west blogs and it is Peters turn to wax lyrical. We crossed the half way point yesterday and although a great personal achievement for all on board it was tempered by the knowledge that it was Joes funeral on the same day. As always our thoughts were and are with Martin and those supporting him back at home. Although Spectra is normally a dry boat on passage we gathered together in the cockpit and had a drink in memory of Joe as the sun went down. We also launched a Chinese lantern from the stern as the sun disappeared below the horizon, as it dipped and then rose on its passage out across the empty water we were 5 people, isolated by thousands of miles of ocean thinking of loved ones at home.

That’s it from me, as of this morning just under 1000 miles to go.

 Here are the stats so far:

Day 0.5 17.5 hours 84 miles           Average 4.8 Knots

Day 1 24 hours       173 miles          Average 7.2 Knots

Day 2 24 hours       187 miles          Average 7.8 Knots

Day 3 24 hours       168 miles          Average 7.0 Knots

Day 4 24 hours       159 miles          Average 6.6 Knots

Day 5 24 hours       149 miles          Average 6.2 Knots

Day 6 24 hours       147 miles          Average 6.1 Knots

Day 7 24 hours       156 miles          Average 6.5 Knots

Time taken to half way point: 7 days 1 hour and 30 minutes

And some extra ones:

Generator hours                  44

Water maker Hours            20 1,000 litres of fresh water produced at 50 litres ph

Washing machine loads       3

Crew showers                    3 x 5 crew = 15 showers                    

That’s it from me, over to Peter.

My apologies to all you Blue Water Sailors but I thought that I would describe perhaps to the non initiated (particularly my grandchildren) some of the basic living challenges that crossing the lumpy Atlantic Ocean are presenting the crew of Spectra.

Many factors affect the living conditions on board Spectra not least the direction and strength of the wind, however, one factor that may not be so well known is the sea state, for example for most of the trip thus far we have experienced 3 m waves with the wind directly behind us and this means that we rise and fall 3 m each time a wave passes. Spectra will also speed up as we surf a wave and slow down as we come of a wave. This causes Spectra to move violently left, right, up or down without warning which makes life interesting – making even the most mundane tasks such as cooking, sleeping and bathing a significant challenge. In a previous Blog Paul described making a simple cup of coffee I hope the following will give a more complete description of the simple life on board.

Cooking

(I hate people who take sugar in their tea)

The kitchen or galley (I call it the torture chamber) on board Spectra is well equipped with a freezer, fridge, microwave, double sink and two good sized work surfaces and an oven. If you can imagine a kitchen being bolted to a seaside rollercoaster you will have a rough idea of what it is like to cook on board Spectra in these conditions.

Lets start with something simple – tea and coffee. We have 3 who take tea and 1 who takes coffee, simple so far! However, if you put a mug on a surface Spectra will move violently and the mug will disappear at an alarming rate and end up in the main saloon (as I am writing this Steve the duty cook has just lost a jug from the galley which just missed me and ended up in the main saloon). Knives and forks can be lethal so one quickly learns not to leave them unattended (I have the scars to prove it). The oven is mounted on gimbals which means that the oven will pivot in rough seas keeping the top of the oven level, but it does mean that the front of the oven will be at chest height one moment and then at knee height the next. I have devised a method of trapping the 4 mugs in the corner of the sink and holding them in one place with one hand and holding on with the other, the oven is opposite the sink so it is relatively simple to grab the kettle from the oven just at the top of the up movement, wedging myself between the sink and the oven I attempt to pour hot water onto tea bags and coffee I replace the kettle at the bottom of the ovens down movement – job done – not quite, I now have to get the milk from the fridge, I wait for a down movement of Spectra and them make a dash for the fridge, I grab the milk and then dash back to the sink in time to catch the mugs (I am not always successful) job done   - nearly but not quite – one amongst us actually takes sugar! can you imagine that, he will remain nameless anyway Paul has always taken sugar in tea. Unfortunately the sugar is kept in a cupboard at the far end of the galley, I did once try putting my foot in the sink to hold the mugs and then reaching for the sugar – this was simply not practical ( I am just too old) so I now trust to luck and hope that the mugs do not end up in the main saloon.

Moving on to something more adventurous – sausage casserole made with tinned baked beans and tinned tomatoes – I know – it sounds disgusting (actually after a long days sailing it wasn’t to bad).

The oven is equipped with clamps which keeps the pots in place, so with frying pan in place I fry the sausages – simple – I take a sausage out of the frying pan and place it on the chopping board ready for cutting up I then chase the sausage to the main saloon dust it down and put it back in the frying pan (its ok no one knows) after successfully cooking the casserole we have the difficult bit – serving - as I have said nothing stays in place so serving is a challenge, we tend to eat in the main cockpit and fortunately there is a port or window between the cockpit and galley so we dish-up one meal at a time and push it through the window to the hungry sailors job done, the window also allows the cook of the day to shout obscenities at the helmsman suggesting for example that that they keep the bl---- boat still.

Sleeping.

Sounds simple doesn’t it ? but no – imagine sleeping on a fairground rollercoaster (yes you have the idea now) in order to be kept from being thrown from the bunks they are fitted with a piece of cloth that is fixed to the bunk and tied to the cabin roof once in bed, this is called a lee cloth. Whilst it stops you from hitting the floor it does nothing to stop you from being thrown about so sleeping is definitely a challenge. I wedge myself under the shelf and push one foot down the side of the mattress – this works up to a point, although eventually my shoulder goes to sleep and I have to move. I did tried to make a London tube style loop to put my hand in and hang from, this hurt my hand and in a moment of inspiration I dug out the very nice pair of sailing gloves Ken and Jon gave me before the trip. This worked but eventually I had to give this up as my hand went to sleep. I now simply put up with being bounced about and grab sleep when I can.

Bathing

Spectra is fitted with two heads or bathrooms/toilets and perhaps the best piece of apparatus on board is the water maker which means we can actually take showers (many sailors do not have this luxury – smelly bunch). If you can imagine a bathroom being bolted to a …… yes you do have the idea now. Taking a shower is an adventure whilst we do have a water maker we do try to conserve water. So we start by getting wet turning the shower off and then shampooing etc. The problem is Spectra is doing her best to catapult you from wall to wall whilst going through this process all is ok until the soapy hand stage – this means that any little chance of holding on has now been reduced to zero, so bracing yourself as best you can you complete the process by rinsing yourself off. Now the difficult bit – when drying yourself you need two hands, so bracing yourself again as best you can, bruised and cut you have finished – simple.

Note. The water maker consists of a series of filters that reduce in density - the last one being a carbon filter – sea water is forced through the filters and after a final ultra violet treatment the water is ready to drink.

Using the toilet is an even bigger adventure – if you were to bolt a toilet to a ……. Etc. Yes you have definitely got the idea now. – sitting on the loo is a piece of cake – ha – not so when Spectra is doing her very best (I think she tries her hardest at this stage) to lift you to the roof – this in itself is not so bad the problem is Spectra twist and turns until the toilet seat is no longer in the same position when you land – cuts and bruises galore – job done.

Spectra is in her element in the Atlantic – these conditions are exactly what she was designed for and she is clocking up the miles at an impressive rate, many modern boats will not perform anywhere as well, as was proved when she left 8 French yachts in her wake when we left Cape Verde, Steve insisted that it wasn’t a race – Norma insisted it was!

The living conditions whilst not luxurious are first class and it is a joy to be part of the adventure

Spectra is a good looking yacht that has attracted many positive comments from fellow sailors and onlookers alike, Paul and Norma are rightly proud of her. In fact in San Miguel Marina a man on an adjacent French yacht asked if Spectra was a charter boat an affronted Norma replied ‘’no it is ours’’  this statement has to be read in an Ulster accent which goes something like this  Nooo its Ouurghhhrrrs and this translates into French as – ‘’ no its not you stupid little French man’’ (I am well qualified to translate here as my mother came from the same area in Ireland as Norma)

My translation abilities have been invaluable during this trip for example, when I was driving in Tenerife she was shouting at me to turn left,   

I shouted back that it was a no left turn junction she then said ‘’no the other left ‘’ I understood immediately but missed the right had turn anyway.

Love and regards to all and a special hello to my grandchildren who seemed to be concerned that we are not sufficiently equipped to celebrate Christmas – its OK we do have a Christmas tree and plenty of lights!!!!

Email:

Spectra {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com

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If you want to send normal email pics attachment etc.

Paul {DOT} russell732 {CHANGE TO AT} hotmail {DOT} co {DOT} uk and I will pick it up when I am on WiFi