17.59.07N 56.13.91W
JENNY
Alan Franklin/ Lynne Gane
Thu 6 Dec 2007 22:02
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----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Crouch
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 9:54 AM All is forgiven Neptune knows we didn't shoot the
Albatross The wind is back
Yesterday the sea was performing in all its glory,
brilliant blue, a large but gentle swell,warm and alluring but letting us see
its potential power over us mortals.This morning (3am) as I came on watch it was
pitch black the moon in its 1st quarter had not yet risen there was wind, but
behind us was a huge black cloud indicating a squall.Sure enough this came our
way with all the gusto and rain it could muster our speed suddenly shot up from
6 to 9.2knts and we were romping away for 20 minutes or so as it passed
over.
Funny thing this sea gentle and warm one
minute,fickle the next,and a hint of menace if you don't show the proper respect
,kinda reminds you of the other gender of our species.
Everybody is looking forward to getting into port
as we are now only 380nm away about 2.5 days sailing if the wind continues to
pick up.There will be a great sense of achievement felt by all on our arrival,
after all its not a common occurrence to sail across 3000nm of ocean in a small
boat putting your trust in your boat and the skills of those who sail
her.So far so good, we are in the top half of our group with boats of a
comparable size , its not a race but its nice to know that you can perform
competivley with your fellow participants.With the 1st boat in having arrived
yesterday, us 2.5 days behind, the last boat that left on the 17th of
Nov probably won't arrive until some 6/7 days behind the leaders,on this
leg it doesn't matter as there is a long stopover in Antigua but in other places
you could arrive just in time to leave again.Most of the slower boats leave
early in order to arrive the same time as the main fleet.
Whilst I'm typing this the wind is rising and the
sea pattern is changing I've just put the radar on to spot the squalls a couple
showing 5/6nm in front at the moment but we will see as I've said before sneaky
little blighters thses squalls.Alan has just come on watch 20 minutes early ,he
said the dawn had woken him up,I didn't hear the dawn chorus perhaps he was
dreaming.
To brighten our days with no wind I have started a
joke circulation club mainly with jokes from a certain person also a sailor who
nearly always includes one in his e-mails,they make us laugh so we thought it
would be nice for others to share the fun.I might include one or two on the blog
and then you can have a laugh after all from what I here the weathers not up to
much.
That's all for now
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