Lucia Loomed
X86
Rich Carey
Tue 19 Dec 2017 13:01
14 4.525N 60 56.991W
I wouldn't say we made back the three week drought on the first night, but it felt close!
23 days was the answer, varying from wild to windless, to blasting then bobbing. Crossing brought excellent variance. A fast crossing would have been hard work, with much mental and boat wear and tear, while a slower crossing would have meant we ate Bosun. So 23 days worked out ok, although we did have to motor through over 300L of diesel.
Some dolphins; no whales; lots of seaweed; not many boats; no fish caught; dramatic sounds at night; stars; excellent meals; plenty water - that's the potted version.
Las Palmas had been the work end, with parties, while St Lucia was just parties, of which we were just in time to fully avail - nice. The ARC crowd reported plenty of minor dramas, but no sinkings, no deaths, no scurvy, and not a single pet eaten.
We had one drama, that lasted for slightly over the 23 days, and it has its own title 'Tante Grusom'. This wonderful title (especially with a Norwegian accent), was bestowed by Jorn & Jill, on crew member Silvia. You might guess it - 'Auntie Gruesome' - and wow was it right on the money. The contrast was extreme, between my wonderful Norwegians, and this argumentative, rude, sarcastic, mentally challenged Italian woman. Early on, I started an 'incident' document, describing her behavior (this I was updating daily - ending as a six page word document/table of events). Problems ranged from safety procedure violations, her vocal general critisisms, personal attacks, and even claims that she was getting sick from: general hygiene on the boat; lack of kitchen hygiene from Jorn & Jill; Bosun (despite his toilet business being cleaned up instantly); Diesel smell in her cabin (she indicated otherwise, by keeping the door tight shut 95% of the time). It was absolutely bizzare, and thus very well documented as each 'weirdness' occurred. In St Lucia she went to customs and immigration to complaign! They came to me, and thus received the full incident report, which quashed her complaint instantly. Jorn, Jill and I, could write a sizable dissertation on 'Tante Grusom', but better that we discard all thoughts of her, except that nickname - that is well worth remembering :-). So, did 'Tante Grusom' wreck the trip? Not at all, we other ARCers had a great time, she just wrecked it for herself, which is a real shame.
Karen arrived just three hours after us, by which time we'd checked in, got Bosun cleared, seen the Italian off the boat, had free welcome Rum punches, and started on a donated bag of cold beers! Then we went to the Bar. Then we went to the Party. Then we somehow got back to the boat!
And - Bosun ran like a nutter on dry land, plus made his mark on all trees in the vacinity :-)
Atlantic crossing - JOB JOBBED on x86!
23 days was the answer, varying from wild to windless, to blasting then bobbing. Crossing brought excellent variance. A fast crossing would have been hard work, with much mental and boat wear and tear, while a slower crossing would have meant we ate Bosun. So 23 days worked out ok, although we did have to motor through over 300L of diesel.
Some dolphins; no whales; lots of seaweed; not many boats; no fish caught; dramatic sounds at night; stars; excellent meals; plenty water - that's the potted version.
Las Palmas had been the work end, with parties, while St Lucia was just parties, of which we were just in time to fully avail - nice. The ARC crowd reported plenty of minor dramas, but no sinkings, no deaths, no scurvy, and not a single pet eaten.
We had one drama, that lasted for slightly over the 23 days, and it has its own title 'Tante Grusom'. This wonderful title (especially with a Norwegian accent), was bestowed by Jorn & Jill, on crew member Silvia. You might guess it - 'Auntie Gruesome' - and wow was it right on the money. The contrast was extreme, between my wonderful Norwegians, and this argumentative, rude, sarcastic, mentally challenged Italian woman. Early on, I started an 'incident' document, describing her behavior (this I was updating daily - ending as a six page word document/table of events). Problems ranged from safety procedure violations, her vocal general critisisms, personal attacks, and even claims that she was getting sick from: general hygiene on the boat; lack of kitchen hygiene from Jorn & Jill; Bosun (despite his toilet business being cleaned up instantly); Diesel smell in her cabin (she indicated otherwise, by keeping the door tight shut 95% of the time). It was absolutely bizzare, and thus very well documented as each 'weirdness' occurred. In St Lucia she went to customs and immigration to complaign! They came to me, and thus received the full incident report, which quashed her complaint instantly. Jorn, Jill and I, could write a sizable dissertation on 'Tante Grusom', but better that we discard all thoughts of her, except that nickname - that is well worth remembering :-). So, did 'Tante Grusom' wreck the trip? Not at all, we other ARCers had a great time, she just wrecked it for herself, which is a real shame.
Karen arrived just three hours after us, by which time we'd checked in, got Bosun cleared, seen the Italian off the boat, had free welcome Rum punches, and started on a donated bag of cold beers! Then we went to the Bar. Then we went to the Party. Then we somehow got back to the boat!
And - Bosun ran like a nutter on dry land, plus made his mark on all trees in the vacinity :-)
Atlantic crossing - JOB JOBBED on x86!