Tilly Mint ARC day 14 - bedtime
Tillymint.fortescue
Sun 6 Dec 2009 00:09
16:23:97N 054:14:00W
405 miles to go and around 52 hours of
voyaging left. Winds picked up today and we keep up around 7 knots. We would
have been faster with the Genoa but this lady is still sunbathing on the side
deck, generally getting in the way. Biggest risk is that a flying fish will land
in the folds of sail and we won't spot it til it's gone pongy!
As days go this was a lovely gentle day as long as
you were languishing up top. Any activities undertaken down below carried a
serious health warning as it was hot and bouncy. The galley continued it's
unarmed combat, although an eager queue developed to stand by as the freezer
door was opened. I've never known so many people be so keen to have frozen peas
with every meal!
We had a little diversion today when Skipper and
the boys tried their hand at a spot of celestial navigation. I'm happy to
include a photo of midshipman Fortescue taking a sighting through the
sextant from the poop deck. After much data gathering and mystical calculations
a position was obtained - only 45 miles adrift from the GPS. An impressive first
attempt which earned powder monkey Hugo extra grog rations ( as he'd made
the best guess in our sweepstake as to how far out the celestial position
would be).
We rounded the day off in true nautical fashion
watching a James Bond film. Steve is up top standing the first night watch,
Skipper is getting his beauty sleep ready for the watch change at 9pm and I'm
perched at the chart table listening to the tuneless bangs and
crashes that constitute the galley symphony; all percussion and no
melody
Tomorrow will be a brand new day, winds
are forecast to strengthen so we're looking good for arrival very late
Monday night. Not ideal to arrive in the dark after the bars have closed, maybe
we'll have to sail round in circles waiting for the sun to come up before we
cross the line......then again maybe not!
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