Day 12 of Atlantic Crossing
Swiftwing
Thu 6 Dec 2007 20:56
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Lat/Lon at 1200 GMT: 19:13.06N
33:43.13W
Just another
day at sea today, nothing too spectacular to report. Neil braved the elements
for the sake of hygene, calling it "Extreme hingin oot washin." Needless to say,
over the course of the day his t-shirt and shorts got soaked in salt water
several times.
Fishing News
reported recently the advice given by internationally renowned fishing expert J.
Reid, of literary fame. The Swiftwing fishing dept. were advised to use a flying
fish as bait in their unrelenting struggle to land anything other than on their
backsides after some over enthusiastic aft-deck prancing. The advice,
although appreciated, did not seem entirely valid at the time. After all, how
were we supposed to catch the nimble flying fish, when the lumbering tuna
continues to make fools of us.
So, when the
Skipper, not one to miss a trick, noticed an unfortunate flying fish crash
land on the deck today, frenzied exitement spread like wildfire. By
this stage the crew were beyond sympathy for any kind of fish so our guest
didn't stand a chance. He no doubt came to wonder how a simple misjudgment
could lead to him being grabbed, photographed, skewered on a hook, photographed
some more and returned to the sea, dragging our line with him. C'est la
vie.
Swiftwing
continues in her average speed of 6 knots, occasionally surfing down the larger
waves to Neil's whistled tribute to the Hawii 5-0 theme. During these
moments, high speeds are reached to everyones delight. The current record - set
today - is a blistering 14 knots. Much faster and we'll be passing out from the
G-forces.
Our exellent
chef, Douglas "Ramsay" Reid continues to supply us with fine cuisine and we
dined handsomely upon sweet-and-sour pork with rice and various other things (we
don't ask questions).
If we hold this
speed and course we should be in St. Lucia in time for Neil and Alan to have a
couple of days shore leave before flying home. Lets hope it works out that
way.
John
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