20th

We all woke a little early ,due to our body clocks being used to watch cycles...NOT dehydration... With a full day of exploration ahead we decide a pizza in the local pizza kiosk mounted on blocks at 0930 is appropriate. large pizzas, water ,fizzy pop and embracing our shore leave ,we wash the pizza down with some beers...coming to a total of 40 bucks for 5 of us, deal !

we headed off to the markets... Frist stop, African fish market..tuna, mackerel, eel, they’re all there ! lining the roadside we realised we could pick up anything from shark skeleton to one shoe... Eoghan made some purchases along with pam picking up some rhino horns and trinkets. Eoghan treated he whole market to his version of the Chippendales as he tried every pair of shorts in one particular stall.. the market lady obviously enjoyed it and took a few sheckles off the price...

a trip to a market would not be complete with the acquirement of some African suits.. All are very suitable and will be modelled in copper face jacks at Xmas without doubt!

evening spent with everybody checking facebook and emails before saying ciao to Cape Verde and new friends..

At the moment (i was writing this whole passage at 1500, just so you know) we are getting about 14 knots up the chuff with the massive highlighter pink A/symmetric spinnaker up. we seem to be cruising at a steady 6 knots at a bearing of 243, if we keep cruising like this we should reach Ilha de Marca off the Brazilian coast in about 267hrs. Ha Ha Ha...we do intend on gybing eventually.

At the moment its 42 degrees C on deck and a balmy 29 degrees C below. Darren appears to be winning the “Elvis Magic Inaugural Tanning Competition”. With a colour that onlookers have described as ‘ a newly varnished mahogany’, Pam Lee coming as the closest contender with a ‘sun bleached deck teak’ look, but obviously not as clean as the boats. At the opposite end of the spectrum Nathan has changed from his pasty, freckly white to some sort of hybrid colour that is a mix between cooked lobster and the spinnaker.

At the moment Simon ‘Wookie’ wall is, as he normally is, asleep. the amount of hours that this man sleeps in one day is only seconded to that of the sloth. He has yet to venture into the sun but the spectators expect quick dehydration and death soon to follow if he does. Eoghan’s ability to grow a slightly inappropriate moustache, which makes him look slightly like a paedophile, has not affected his ability to tan but he is still as determined as ever to get a tan. It is not known if Seamo has been trying really hard to get a tan or whether his skin just wont accept the suns advances. He is the dark horse in this race and an out side contender for the title at 9/1. Elisa doesn't seem to be tanning at the same rate as her hair going lighter, giving the leading pair large worries as quick advances have been known to happen in these tanning marathon sessions. Stay tuned for more tanning updates!