Day 21 of Atlantic Crossing
Swiftwing
Sat 15 Dec 2007 22:38
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Lat/Lon at 1200 GMT: 13:27.80N
55:05.64W
Not such a good run today as
far as milage goes, but at least we've managed a couple of days without anything
breaking. We are all looking forward to hitting shore in a few days
time.
Showers today. Showers are
too much hassle every day, but with temperatures rising into the 30's, every
other day is about as long as we can put them off for. Neil, however, takes a
different approach, showering once a week whether he needs it or
not.
I'm going to take the time to
explain our showering procedure, partly so you can better understand this
fundimantal part of life on Swiftwing, but mostly because nothing happened
today.
Every other day, after Neil
and I have taken our mid-day GPS readings (at 10 o'clock local time), with the
generator powering the water maker, water heater and water pump, we troop, one
at a time into the shower room and try desperately to keep our balance as the
boat rolls. The shower 'room' is basically a walk in cupboard just down the
corridor next to the chart table. It has a drain, a shower system and a mirror,
positioned just below head height. We go in, run the water just long enough to
get wet, soap and shampoo up, then turn the water on again to rince off - all
thewhile trying to stay on our feet. The door dosn't lock, and opens so
that the occupant is exposed to the entire saloon. For this reason,
towels are placed over the outside doorknob, on the floor or on the edge of the
chart table. Always near enough to the door that it need only be
opened enough for a hand to snake out and grab the towel. Often, during rough
seas, it's all I can do not to fall into the door, especially with shower gel in
my hands - I don't think the door would hold. In fact, my greatest fear
- apart from the recurring nightmare I have of being asleep on watch and
waking up just before we crash - is falling, head first through the door and
ending up sprawled across the corridor, naked, unconcious and covered in
soap.
As you can imagine, showers
onboard are not the relaxing long-as-you-want stuff of dreams they are on land.
In fact, it sometimes takes some gentle persuading from the boss to get us in at
all.
**Skipper's top tip**
"Encourage crew
members to take regular showers by telling them they stink, and you'd be
embarrased to arrive in Rodney Bay with such a clarty
crew."
Tea tonight was the fried
onions, fried tatties, fried corned beef and backed beans extravaganza. A
favourite with the crew. No recipe tonight though, it's one of the cook's
secrets. As usual, the chef climbed through the hatch to join his crew, hefting
a bowl with twice as much food as anyone else and quoting 'Never trust a skinny
cook' by way of excuse. We know better than to complain.
Pudding was an odd cake we
found under the seats, we really are scraping the barrel in the pudding area.
Not to worry though, we're putting a brave face on it.
Until tomorrow,
John
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