Ticketeeboo - 8th May - towards Bermuda 20:19N 064:20W

8th May - towards Bermuda 20:19N 064:20W

Ticketeeboo

Sue & Alan

Thu 8 May 2014 14:17

Weather gribs lied. An hour before dark last night we could see see some flippin big Cumulus Nimbus clouds, dark, low base and extending high up above........ and lots of them. 'Not the odd squall' and some testing conditions ahead. Winds gusting up to 30kn then down to almost now't and in between veering and backing all over the place. Disrupted seas making for rolly-polly & irregular wet decks. Rain from all angles and the night black as a winter coal bunker because the clouds hiding the half-moon. Just before dark fell Annie set about preparing curry chicken for dinner, which she had prepared whilst on hook. Just needed re-heating her lovely curry and boiling some rice. Annie didn't make it any further, unfortunately. It's quite warm below decks and we have high humidity and with the yacht moving every which way it can, this is the perfect recipe for a good puke! Annie is very resilient and very conscious of wanting to share in the watchkeeping. Tonight however, I had to ask her n
ot to do a watch and try and sleep it off. Nevertheless Annie still wanted to come on watch at different times during the night but just not sensible in these conditions when so ill. Mike was suffering too and retired to lay down before Annie. He then came to join me around midnight and I was grateful for his company. I had already enjoyed a good portion of Annie's chicken curry & rice (eating alone last night) when Mike came on watch. An hour or so later our brand-spanking-new Lewmar Mamba-drive autopilot motor failed. I had fitted it just 6 days before during which time we had run just 240NM. I asked Mike to take the wheel whilst I investigated what could be done. After I sent him to go get his glasses on he was much better at steering using compass & wind instruments in pitch black surroundings. Once I was certain the new autopilot motor was causing the problem we hove-to whilst I refitted our original unit. It only took an hour or so to do the job before we could get underway an
d resume this ocean passage towards Bermuda. I made us a cuppa tea (as you do on occasions like this). I then asked Mike if he wanted to get some shut-eye and he said "Yes please!" He then followed this up with "I think I'm gonna be sick" so I went & collected the clean bin from our aft heads (the one Sue uses to dispose of certain waste materials). It is 'clean' because the unwanted nasties always go in plastic bags (unless Sue misses) and the nice white bin looked freshly cleaned. In any event, Annie already had full title and possession of the washing-up bowl and there's no way I was going on deck to get a bucket in these seas. Mike received the receptacle gratefully then proceeded to MT the contents of his stomach. Such a shame because I thought the spicy pilchards on toast I'd done for lunch was scrummy. Six o'clock now and I trust Annie & Mike might both feel much better as the day goes on? In meantime I'll need to choose what I want for breakfast because I guess I'm eating al
one this morning in this swirling rolly-polly world onboard Ticketeeboo.
It's been raining at home too and Sue is entertaining all 4 GCs again this afternoon, before playing a tennis match too! Have a great day My Lover xxxxxxx
Ticketeeboo MMSI 235071989 Callsign 2CED3, Ham callsign = m0hng
At 08/05/2014 10:05 UT our position was 20°19.71'N 064°20.44'W
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