Venezuela here we come
Venezuela here we come
18:09.81N 31:26.44W
From Tony (Skipper)
It is Day 9 and we have done about 1200 miles and are on track to be in Venezuela in about 14 days. Well spotted! Why are they going to Venezuela? The quick answer is: That is where the wind is taking us and we haven’t quite worked out how to turn around and head for St Lucia. The latest news is the best brains on board (Jane) are working on it. If you are able to see our track so far you will see that we have been travelling in more or less a straight line SW ( 230 degrees) to the Way Point which we told you about yesterday which we christened “Go west Young Man”. We need to turn but don’t want to have to set a new course for New York. This all boils down to us mastering our downwind sailing technique. This is largely about trying various combinations of sails and poles to get us close to where we want to go. We are close to a solution or else our visitors will have to shelve their plan to see us in the Caribbean in favour of Venezuela.
On a slightly more serious note, I am pleased to say that everything is going extremely well. We are actually on track, well more or less. The crew are doing a great job, working very well together and enjoying the trip. With 1600 miles to go we will be half way across the Atlantic in a little over a day. Capisce is trundling along and the catering is five star. We all miss our loved ones and hope you are enjoying the blogs. Please send us some messages.
I have told dozens of people about our plans over the last couple of years. Everybody has been very interested and asked lots of questions. There has been a remarkable consistency in the questions people ask. I thought that in this would share the top five with you. They are:
- Aren’t you worried about Pirates?
Despite what Johnny Depp fans might think there are no more pirates left in the Caribbean. There are however Pirates off the coast of Somalia where we might be in about four years time. We will start to worry about the pirates in three years time.
- Don’t you get bored?
No! Never at sea. As these blogs might explain there is always loads of things to do.
- Don’t you get frightened?
Yes. Sometimes when something unexpected happens or if we feel out of control. This is increasingly rare. We try to anticipate problems and don’t take t many chances
- Do you have toilet on the boat?
Yes we have two. On boats they are called “heads”? The alternative is ‘bucket and chuck it’. We also have showers, a kitchen called a “galley”
- What happens when you and your wife have a row?
I put her in the dinghy.
Cheers for now. Tony (Skipper)
