Arc Day 17 - Yes, we have no bananas

Tucanon
Dick and Irene Craig
Tue 8 Dec 2009 22:39
We ate our last banana yesterday and it was in as perfect condition as the
banana we had used in the fruit salad, on the first day out of Las Palmas.
This is because the bananas were wrapped in several layers of newspaper and
stored at the bottom of the fridge. The skins might turn black but the fruit
remains in perfect condition. Just goes to show, sometimes Mother does know
best.

The last orange and the last nectarine was be used in the fruit salad today.
We still have ample apples, even allowing for Austin snacking on two a day
but from tomorrow, the fruit salad is going to be rather boring. It is
possible that we might well have to supplement the fruit salad with canned
fruit unless cook, last seen hunting down some recipe books, can come up
with a surprise.

Last night we were in visual contact with Goldina II who we could also see
on the radar, along with Robinson. Hi guys, nice to meet up with you again!
They were ahead of us when we first spotted them but we overtook them again,
during the night.

There is now a frantic rush to try to get most of the outstanding washing
done, before we arrive in Rodney bay. The last of the personal stuff is
drying in the cockpit. The towels, used to cushion fruit and vegetables
during the crossing, are still in the washing machine.

We expect to arrive late on the 9th or early on the 10th but it all still
depends on the sea state, the wind and our dear old parasailor.

Yesterday the personal MOB alarms (man overboard) kept sounding erroneously
which reset the chart and cancelled the plotted course, highlighting, in the
water, where the MOB alarm had been set off. After this had irritatingly
occurred about six times, the skipper collected them and sorted them out.
That is their second verbal warning!

Each time the alarm sounded, we had to ensure that all of us were onboard.
We knew it was a false alarm but that one time that we didn't confirm that
all was OK, it could have been for real, so we weren't prepared to take any
chances.

Salami and Feta cheese salad for lunch with some walnut bread. Cook is
experimenting, with a recipe found in an onboard cook book, using beer
instead of yeast and it doesn't need a breadmaker, see photo.

Supper tonight is BBQ'd pork chops and jacket potatoes. The crew had a
choice between jacket potatoes and oven chips, served with French green
beans and roasted tomatoes.

Tonight might well be our last full night at sea before landfall. Simply
amazing!

Thank you to the ship captain who, on another e-postcard, told us to look
out for pelicans and frigate birds if we do see tropic birds. The binoculars
never leave the hands of at least one of the crew..

Thank you also for the e-postcard from that on-the ball gentleman who
noticed our detour yesterday, to West Africa. Yes we had a brilliant time
but it was all over so quickly as we had to return to the rally before it
was generally noticed that we had skived off on a day trip. Too much easting
by the positioning mechanism methinks.

We played trivial pursuits against the Raylah Raiders and the Linocat Cats
and the Raiders won the day. Well done Raiders and well done Cats, for
finishing in second position.

Talking to Jasmine today, it seems that they are now down to their last
sail. They blew out the genoa on day 2, the parasailor on day 4 and then the
mainsail. What a nightmare!

Irene

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