Friday 25/04/25

18:23.96N 64:38.14W 

I’m not sure whether there are any readers left after such poor reporting frequency, but there is much news! First the good; the watermaker has been literally purring since its radical surgery with better output than ever and so our hair is washed frequently and my ever more sparse hair has received a much needed “bouffant-boost” from the de-ionised water which makes resemble cotton wool.

We arrived in Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola to make final preps for the crossing and welcome the crew; Pete Harper-Hill an old navy friend who has completed more Fastnets than anyone else on the planet, sister Charlie and her son Will who both did the ARC with me in 2022, and Charlie Wilson, our ex-bootneck hard man for when the going gets tough. Sis C arrived on Monday and immediately set to with Em doing final provisioning but which also included an overnight anchorage off the exquisite Cooper Island and the world’s best cocktails. With all system working and the boat fully ready to go except for fresh provisioning (planned for Saturday) a departure date was set for Sunday 27^th.

Will, Pete and Charlie W arrived on Thursday 24^th  evening raring to go. It has become a tradition prior to an ocean crossing that one of the crew will have a near death choking episode. Immediately prior to the ARC Will sent a mint humbug down the wrong hole and with a surprised, quizzical look quite quickly became very red in the face. Sis C, a not long retired GP, recognized the symptoms immediately and gave an almighty whack to the back of his ribs, thankfully dislodging the humbug. This time it was Charlie W’s turn. After chewing on some particularly tough chicken, Charlie went a little quiet and moved slowly but purposefully towards the stern. The ex-Royal Marine had been in trickier situations than this and no fuss would be made over such a trivial thing. Emma delivered a mean punch to the ribs as Charlie nonchalantly, but by now with a vivid red tinge to his face, passed by but didn’t flinch.  But it was Will who grabbed Charlie in an embrace from behind and, somewhat taken by surprise at such an enthusiastic clinch from behind, spluttered up the gristly knob of chicken. To the passer-by nothing out of the ordinary would have been suspected.

On Friday morning Em took the crew through the amazing menu plan she had created, the stores, galley and interior routines and this was followed by briefings on emergency kits and procedures, lifejacket fitting, man overboard recovery, water and power procedures.