Saturday 9 November 2023
The Adventures of Tin Man
Andy Topp & Steve Arnold
Sat 9 Dec 2023 21:15
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14:20.00N
59:09.70W what three words :
unlatched.departments.different
I had the double shift over night which is actually
pretty nice (I think) because I finished watch at 11pm and went to bed, and was
back up on deck at 5am for the sunrise shift. The evening watch was reasonably
uneventful. We had a great day sailing under code zero yesterday and put that to
bed before dinner and then sailed under genoa only throughout the night. We
aren't trying too hard to go super fast as we didn't want to arrie in St Lucia
over night or in the early hours.
I spent most of the watch with my headphones in looking
at the night sky which was out in all its glory, and was not disappointed. As i
looked north from my usual spot at the helm seat i noticed a bright flash in the
sky not that far from us. So close in fact i thought i would be able to hear
something. A bight burst followed by a ball of flame falling virtically down
leaving a firey trail behind it. Another meteor from the creation of universe
billions of yearsa go came to an end in front of my eyes probably only miles
away. Incredible.
The swell has been pretty bad again the last few days as
the boat jerks from side to side sliding down the side of one wave and crashing
up the side of another. We aren't so much sailing towards St Lucia as surfing
there a the moment - the boat speed shooting up on the downside of these
enormous three of four metre high waves until it reaches the bottom stalling
before the next wave comes and picks us up propelling us forward. Sometimes we
get hit slightly more side on and a wave crashes over the deck - Tin Man's rear
end skidding out to one side and down the wave like we are doing a handbrake
turn on a muddy hill.
Needless to say no one is sleeping that well and now we
are nearing the end the prospect of a stable bed, quiet, and cool, is very
appealing. As things currently stand we have 100 miles to go meaning our arrival
will be around 11-noon tomorrow. The perfect time to arrive and the perfect sort
of a time to crack into the four bottles of celebratory champagne that went into
the fridge to chill this afternoon.
I was awoken at 4am by torrential rain pelting the deck
above me. By the time my shift started at 5am the rain had just about subsided
and thankfully the wind too - Sam and Will having had to contend not only with
the rain but with gale force winds that accompanied it. I relieved Will of his
watch and Sam and i watched as more black clouds loomed on the horizon behind
us. We got up to the low thirties in knots and torrential rain too but it was
actually all pretty uneventful. Downwind sailing is much nicer in strong winds
as you're not bashing into the waves.
We continue with our jobs to get as much done before
arrival as possible although today i think everyone was just soaking up the last
full day on deck. The crew has been a bit quieter today than normal - whether
that's due to tiredness or quiet reflection I don't know - I don't know myself
but I have found myself mulling things over more today than usual.
Yesterday we had the last of the beers. it was a
poignant moment and we savoured every last drop almost ceremoniously. Imagine,
therefore, the excitement as we found a whole slab of 12 under the floor in the
forward cabin. They went immediately in the freezer to cool and we enjoyed them
earlier whilst singing sea shanties after lunch. We are now downt to the actual
last beer but as it's final night I think we are all pretty pleased they lasted
this long
I'm doing this a bit earlier today as I am on dinner
duty. This will be the penultimate blog post of our adventure - I will send an
update once we are across the finish line tomorrow. Wow, I can't believe it's
all coming to an end!
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