Horta to Brixham…..4                               

47:22.309N 8:58.472W

7^th July 2015 (ETA Martha +3)

12,208 Miles Since leaving Ramsgate by log.

RESULTS OF THE DAILY RUN CHOCOLATE BAR COMPETITION

Day                 Actual mileage                                   Nearest Guess and name

Day 1               96 miles            15 hours all sailing         88 miles            Norma

Day 2               137 miles          All sailing                      139/135 miles   Paul/Norma

Day 3               139 miles          All sailing                      141 miles          Paul

Day 4               150 miles          All sailing                      140/160           Adamant/Paul

Day 5               162 miles          All sailing                      158                  Norma

Day 6               139 miles          All sailing                      140                  Adamant

Day 7               139 miles          All sailing                      140                  Steve

Day 8               138 miles          All sailing                      140                  Adamant

The arrival in Brixham lottery stands at:

Paul                  9^th AM (favourite)

Norma             9^th PM

Steve                10^th AM

Jen                   11^th AM

Adamant          11^th PM

            The third and hopefully the last low pressure system caught up with us on Sunday evening. We were at that time slightly North of and about three hundred miles West of La Coruna so safely outside of Biscay. This one hasn’t got the bite that the last two had and as of Monday at lunchtime the peak winds have only reached the low 30 Knot mark. We are all snuggled down with three reefs in the main, no foresail, full stay sail and Steve and myself have just put the second reef into the mizzen. Present boat speed is 6-7 knots all in the right direction and we have finally managed to get through the Azorean counter current. This means that we now do not have the 0.5-1 Knot current against us anymore which has been a constant for the last 5 days.

            Last night being Sunday it was a full on Turkey roast with Yorkshire puddings and all of the trimmings followed by rice pudding and mandarin oranges. It was my turn to cook and as always the wind seems to go up for Sunday dinner preparations but it is a bit of a tradition on Spectra when on passage so you have to try don’t you? Well it all got to the table and the gallant crew managed to eat it all without any hitting the floor, in fact I kind of suspect that Jen might have licked the plate if we hadn’t been watching. Poor old Adamant hid in his cabin while we ate as he is still steadfastly sticking to his Ramadan rules. I did put some aside for him with sardines substituting for the non Halal turkey (yuk) which he heated up after dark.

            You will have noticed down there in deepest darkest Devon that Steve has managed to win a chocolate bar in the daily run competition again now that he has worked off his penalty points for outside assistance. So all of you out there that think I have been picking on your little brother well you were right, sorry I’m just like that. Of course if he gets fat now, well that’s all your fault.

            Our email/satellite system seems to have burst into life again and so the emails are pouring in/out. On the home front I apparently have a new car, or so I have been informed by my son, no mention of make, colour or anything else mind so for all I know I could be turning up for job interviews in a milk float next month! And of course the burning question the tardiness of my new granddaughter, due to arrive on the 4^th and still no sign? I will have to put Norma on Valium or into restraints if she doesn’t arrive soon. On that note the Ukulele practice has been noticeably lacking of late as Norma is now fully committed to knitting a dress for Martha before we arrive in Ramsgate. As for progress on that, so far there is a red square thing hanging on a metal rod in our bedroom and that is all I can say about that.

            Wildlife; we seem to have run out of Portuguese Man-O-Wars since the seas got colder but dolphins and whales we have had a plenty. Last night a whole host of vents could be seen about a mile to port as a group of whales went by and the dolphins have been over to play several times a day. We now have a new breed of dolphins, slightly smaller and darker than the two tone ones we have been getting of late. For the third time on the trip we sighted a large shark, it cruised by in the opposite direction sort of made a half turn to look us over and then continued on its way, Jen is still declining a second mid Atlantic swim by the way.

            That’s it for now as I am still on mummy watch I have toilets to clean and then lunch to make, (Note to self wash hands after first and before second). I will no doubt find something to write about tomorrow before I despatch this blog to out reading public.

            8am and I have just come off shift which was a cold and drab one. 120 miles WSW of Brest the generator is humming away putting all of those lovely wiggly Amps back into our batteries and Adamant has just won today’s mileage contest. Norma, Steve and Jen are all still fast asleep as Spectra slogs along at 7 knots into that damnable counter current that returned to plague us in the night. Today is shower day and boy does everyone else aboard need it, why they can’t just smell of roses, “like what I does” I just don’t know? So, once the batteries have charged a bit I will be turning on the emersion heater to get some hot water or the crew could turn mutinous on me. As an aside, and as I am rambling a bit anyway, last night in the early hours I did notice that my green all round light at the top of the mast has lost its cover. I can only surmise that it was blown off in one of the 50 knot gusts during our last gale. Amazingly enough considering the wind and rain we have been having the exposed bulb is still shining green so all is not lost yet. We also managed to break the connectors on both of our lazy jack lines on the main in the gale so Jen has volunteered to go up the mast when we reach Brixham and pull some new lines through. With her usual enthusiasm Jen is still working her way through the winch servicing, 5 down 6 to go. Due to inclement weather it has been on hold for a while but yesterday one of the big two speed cockpit winches was given a going over by Jen while Adamant looked on. There was a momentary crisis of confidence when she realized just how many bits of metal she had piled into the cleaning bucket but it all went together again apart from one spring which did what springs do and sprung out of sight. Rather guiltily she admitted to losing the aforementioned spring and after a thorough search it was declared lost at sea. Luckily I carry spares, but I wasn’t about to admit that until we had searched the entire cockpit for the little blighter. Guess what, when the winch was all cleaned, put back together and tested serviceable what should we find in the bottom of the cleaning bucket but our errant spring, so I still have a spare, happy days.

            Last night Norma made a really big pot of Irish stew for dinner which was rib fatteningly delicious . With oodles left over in the big pressure cooker the crew have been dipping into it all night which was a real belly warmer on what turned out to be a rather chilly night and I am just thinking Irish stew for breakfast, mmmmm,  and why the devil not after a cold night out in the elements I deserve it.

            And on that note it is goodbye from me. ETA Brixham is as of this morning 9am on the 9^th July.