In the middle of the Atlantic
Escapada
Andreas Haas
Tue 1 Dec 2009 20:42
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19.21.78N 040.12.96W
Last night, during his watch Manuel (a.k.a. Speed
Freak) felt the need for speed and set a new ESCAPADA record of 16.1
knots. As Peter(a.k.a. Bobbie) took
over at daybreak, the usual beautiful sunrises were
replaced by a series of very dark and ominous rain clouds a couple of miles
to our port. Soon they began to close
in on us. It was obvious from the radar that these
were local squalls which were moving directly in our path. carrying strong wind
and heavy rain. We quickly reefed in
the Genoa, raised the spray hood
and prepared to weather the squalls. As the first passed beating us with
torrential rain, the calm set in with very little wind. This was
like a short rest break before the second and much
stronger squall completely turned the sky into a cover of dark grey and
unleashed severe wind and drenching rain
on ESCAPADA. We maintained course through the storm with
the winds dancing circles around the boat. After about 30 minutes and
a nice boat wash, the sky
cleared, the sun came out and we
all started to dry off with a nice cup of hot coffee made by our
own Italian coffee expert on board.
Here comes the
rain....
Bobbie weathering the storm
The fishing line went back in the water again and after
less than half an hour Peter had another Dorado on the line This gave
us a great opportunity to plan our
mid-way celebration menu. We had passed our mid-way point across the
Atlantic earlier in the night, having sailed 1450 nautical miles since
leaving Las Palmas
with a mere 1250 left to go. Based on our daily average of 160NM/day, we now
expect to arrive on 09 December. The Captain (a.k.a. Flagpole), as promised had
a wonderful surprise for us to celebrate this special moment. Champagne and
Foie Gras, fresh Dorado sashimi with rice, salad and coffee with chocolate. Nick
(a.k.a. Neil) for who it is
always beer o'clock, appropriately had an nice cold one.
  
Mid-way
celebration Champagne
from
Flagpole
A feast for the crew
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