COG 280T

SOG 6kts

Wind SSE F3/4

Another lovely passage making day. Bright warm sunshine, blue sea, fresh breeze.

We are now 25% of the way back to Blighty from Cape Town!

Dewie is resting after another successful overnight stint and now the solar panels are keeping the batteries full. One of the panels is mounted on the pushpit and is in full sun nearly the whole time. The other lies on the starboard side mid deck but becomes partially shaded by the boom and mainsail after midday. Annie suggested it would be better on the port side so I moved it and it made no difference to the rate of charge. I will work on a better alignment.

Annie’s sister Diana has asked for less information on the sailing and more about “domestics”. After I had regained my composure I realised she must mean housekeeping arrangements rather than rows between me and Annie. To be honest we don’t have that many rows. There are certain flashpoints that we need to manage and I will cover them but it is a comfort to us both that after more than six years living for the most part within a space of 11m by 3m we are still as devoted to each other as ever, possibly more so. However, as soon as you see a blissfully happy couple on the cover of OK magazine or in the tabloid press you know they are in trouble so I will not dwell on this point.

We each have broad roles that are essential in running the boat. I am skipper, Annie is navigator. I tend to do the boat stuff and Annie does the provisioning (subject to the occasional intervention from me to ensure we have a surplus of baked beans, pulses, lentils and saucissons). Annie does more tidying and cleaning than me. We try to share the cooking and washing up.

Annie’s greatest fear is me falling overboard, not being able to find me and being left to sail the boat on her own in bad weather. Since I tend to do most of the actual sailing I need to be reminded to involve Annie more. Before sail changes or if going up on the foredeck we will talk through what we are going to do beforehand and this reduces stress and misunderstandings.

At all times for Annie it is essential for me to try and remain cool, calm and competent. Interestingly (for me) this is easy to do for the major issues but sometimes less so for relatively minor things and when I fail it can be a problem. I could expand on this at greater length but with a sister in law psychologist and good friend psychiatrist it is a subject I prefer not to explore here! 

One thing I have commented upon previously is that there is an underlying level of stress getting a boat around the world. The relief of leaving the boat on the hard and flying home for a break is palpable. This stress rises in the immediate run up to a long passage and reduces when settled into a sailing routine, dealing with repairs and so forth. I am not alone in experiencing this and it is a factor to be managed on any circumnavigation.

For my part there is very little of course about Annie that causes me any difficulty. She comes from a family of high achieving A types and has a slight tendency towards bossiness. I will admit to a tiny degree of irritation when making a move to carry out some important task to be interrupted with several other requests.

So, a superficial review of what is important for the two of us sailing together. In all seriousness the one important thing above all else is the importance of talking and communication. In the immortal words of Stephen Hawking utilised by Pink Floyd “Keep Talking”.

In order to satisfy Diana’s domestic cravings I will set out a typical daily domestic agenda in the next post.