45:39.6N 12:14.5W - Less than 400nm to go

Yellowdrama IV
Skipper/Crew: Blake and Clarissa Richter
Thu 8 Oct 2009 13:39
Hello Everyone,

Well I guess I ought to start off by giving you the latest message from our
Skipper (Blake) which should just about sum up our current situation for all
of you sitting at home in your comfortable armchairs. In true Aussie style,
his message is simply: "Weather is here, wish you were shit!"

It is currently 2130 Azores time on board (2230 in the UK) & I (Sasha) have
just come off watch & am sitting here at the chart table in the pitch black
(so as not to wake up Mark who has decided to sleep in the saloon tonight so
as to be on the "downwind" side of the boat (which his bunk is not for the
time being)). At around 1700 this afternoon the wind started to pick up as
per the forecasts we have been receiving so once again we were on deck,
putting reefs into the main & reducing the genoa. It wouldn't be a normal
day on board without this happening at least half a dozen times! Since then
the wind has steadily increased such that trying to climb uphill into a top
bunk some 5 feet up (as in Mark's case) becomes somewhat tricky. My bunk is
also on the top albeit on the other side of the boat and he & I have had
frequent discussions about how best to launch oneself into bed when the boat
is pitching around all over the place & we have to somehow get 5 feet up
into a bed with less than a foot of headroom & preferably without waking up
anyone around us. We have decided that the triple jump manoeuvre from one
side of the boat to the other is definitely the best way, using our poor
unsuspecting lower bunk occupants (Steve in his case & Andrew in mine) as a
springboard upon which to launch ourselves into bed. We both think that
they would make pretty good springboards!! It seems that even that has
become too much of a challenge for Mark tonight & I am about to go & try it
for myself in a few minutes.

We are also now all having to get used to living at a permanent angle of 45
degrees both on deck and down below, staggering around the boat as though we
have spent too long in the pub on a Friday night. Chance would be a fine
thing! Not only is the boat at this strange angle, but it is also pitching,
yawing & doing all of those weird aeronautic type moves that go with living
on top of the Atlantic Ocean in windy weather. We currently have about
25kts of wind from 015 degrees (just East of North for those of you
unfamiliar with the compass rose)! It's all going pretty well out here & we
now have just 385 miles to go to Falmouth. Literally just a few days to go
now. On deck it's pretty wet as we are now only about 40 degrees off the
wind & so waves are breaking over the boat with considerable regularity.
Everyone apart from Blake, Clarissa & me is asleep (B&C are currently on
watch on deck outside getting the cold showers) & down below it's like
sitting in a simulator in the dark with the odd sound of a bucket of water
being thrown overhead. Apologies now for any typing errors - the angle of
things down here & the weird motion & being in the dark makes typing rather
challenging to say the least.

Dinner tonight was a great success considering the conditions - sausages,
mash & baked beans which is a great comfort food in any situation & in
particular ours. Clarissa somehow thought it would be a good idea to
purchase 27 bags of the US equivalent of "Smash" in Boston & as yet they
have remained unused - instead we have been choosing to peel & boil real
potatoes if at all possible. Can't think why!! Tonight however the
conditions did not really lend themselves to a large pot of boiling water
balancing precariously on the swinging stove, so it was with glee that
Clarissa finally got to open & serve up 6 of the 27 bags of the stuff.
Having added a huge knob of butter and half a bag of mozzarella cheese into
it, the mash substitute actually became fairly edible, particularly when
mixed in with baked beans & some hot sausage. The challenge came when
the on-watch crew (Mark & Sasha) had to try & eat theirs whilst also trying
to avoid the large waves of salt water landing in their bowls. That would
have turned the Smash into something resembling superglue which even hungry
crew would have had to give a miss.

These weather conditions seem to be here for the next 12 hours after which
we are hoping that the wind will go more Southerly so that we can reach into
Falmouth at high speeds & cover the last few miles at a great pace. We
remain to be convinced but fingers crossed. Well it's now nearly 10pm & I
have the task of being on watch again at 3am for another 3 hours of cold
salty water showers so I'm off to practice my triple jump on an unsuspecting
Turts & hope for the best. We are all maintaining great humour on board &
keeping morale at a great level despite King Neptune's constant desire to
test us at regular intervals. We must remember to offer him more chocolate
biscuits tomorrow. Mark & Andrew are keeping us all amused with their
endless supply of rubbish jokes which get passed around the crew on the
various watches & for those of you who are familiar with their jokes, you
will probably get an idea as to how desperate things have become out here
(in the nicest possible way!). We are all having heaps of fun & not really
dreaming much of hot baths, large beds with fluffy duvets, roast dinners,
being stationary for longer than 30 seconds, a cold beer, being dry & salt
free. Gosh did I really say that?!

More updates tomorrow when it's light and hopefully a bit flatter & in the
meantime (to quote a good friend), the weather is here........

From all on Y4, xx.