Not much to report...

SY Coral IV
Kolbjørn Haarr and Otto Hulbak / Morten Persson
Mon 10 Dec 2012 13:44
Not much to report today; the boat is running fast before the trades and we haven’t changed a sail or even touched a sheet in hours. The night watches have been marked out by those who have been unfortunate enough to get absolutely soaked by tropical squalls and those who have managed to avoid them – namely me. Every time I came off watch it immediately bucketed down with rain, leaving the watchkeeper sodden and rather gloomy, while I had happily stood my watch in shorts and t shirt.

The miles are ticking away nicely now and at the current rate we will be in St Lucia in five days. This is a manageable period of time compared to the vast ocean of time that 21 days seemed at the start of this trip. Ivory has been Kock today and has battled bravely with the extreme humidity. Steiner valiantly waded into help her, which I thought was rather noble, until I realised he is doing anything he can to use up the fish we have so that he is allowed to catch another one. Not sure that Ivory envisioned fried fish to be part of her pasta surprise, but any help is always appreciated when trying to cook in a room that is not unlike a flight simulator.

Being aboard is rather like being in a giant greenhouse with a sprinkler system that goes off rather erratically. You cant keep anything dry and everyone sweats profusely. Lovely. The skies are grey and monotonous at the moment and if it weren’t for the sweltering humidity, I’d swear we were in the North Sea at present.

Ivory and I have been amusing ourselves today by reading each other short ghost stories. This pastime came to an abrupt halt when we came across a rather terrifying story about a mad Swedish count. It was all a bit close to home, and we are now treating Carl with distance and suspicion. Many thanks for the e mail from my parents, who may well be the only readers of this blog; it’s very odd to receive an e mail at sea and imagine life going on as normal at home. I would reply, but I think it’s best to reply via this blog. Enjoy the cold snap!

//Sam