23:00.81S 040:46.95W
ratCATcher
Andre and Alison Stroebel
Mon 7 Feb 2011 11:45
Thanks to all who have been "blowing" and praying its working like a bomb. We have been flying since yesterday averaging about 8 knots.
All eyes have been on our chart plotter since yesterday as it shows how many hours until the finish based on our speed. So we have watched as it passed below 50 then 40 then 30 and now we have about 18 hours to go if we maintain this speed. It even drops to 12 hours when we surf down a wave. So this time tomorrow morning we should be in Rio! Whoopee!!
We all looking forward to a hot shower; clothes washed in fresh water and clean fresh linen.
At the moment the seas are still very lumpy and bumpy as they have been the last 24 hours or so. We also have a current of about 3.8 knots pushing us down; but we should be crossing onto the continental shelf in the next couple of hours which mean the current should disappear and the seas flatten.
Please don't stop blowing and praying yet. our competition, "Myrtle of Bonnivale", is still ahead of us and we are hoping they have not been able to keep up their speed and that they have no hours left to motor. The weather says that there is very little wind after "Carbo Frio" (sp). It means if Myrtle has used their engine hours we can motor through the low winds and still pass them. We are hoping to at least cross the line before them. We have a bigger handicap than they have so we would have to be a good 6 hours ahead to beat them.
We have not caught more fish, more's the pity. The evening we caught, our Sushi Chef,Andre made us the most awesome dinner of sushi and sashimi. We pigged on it. We have eaten all the fish except 3 fillets which we froze so need more bites. Hopefully in the slower seas along the coast we just may get another.
So tomorrow evening we will be downing "Caparihna's" in true Brazilian fashion.
More when we get there.
The rat catchers.