POS 17:53.10N 23:47.18W

27.11.10

Wind 7knts SE

Cloudy

Heading SW

Looking for trade winds latitude 15deg

 

 

 

Hello everyone and welcome to a day on board Lady of Avalon.

 

We are now on our 7th day at sea and having settled nicely into a  routine and I thought it was about time that I burst into print. Philip i am pleased to report that madness has not yet set but thought i better go first with the blog in case it does- you will probably recall that it can set in at a moments notice – usually associated with a bad weather forecast!

Our day starts when the last night watch ends which is usually about 8am. We tend to look a bit worse for wear with baggy eyes and rather interesting hair dos at this time although I think we look marginally better after one of us has made breakfast and some form of gravity returns to the muscles on our faces.

Sunrise is a good time to catch fish – you can see them leaping out of the sea ready to be snatched by a hungry seabird on bigger fish or of course us! Nick puts out the fishing line first thing to try and get a bite and we keep an eager eye out whilst we eat   Once breakfast is over Guy tries to get a weather report for our sea area so we know what type of day it is going to be decide on the jobs for the day. Today my job was to rummage through our rubbish bags and throw over board all degradable matter and wash and keep all plastic things and cans for disposal when we arrive. Bit yukky but actually quite satisfying.

The highlight of the day is definitely when we hear the clicking of Nicks fishing rod heralding a catch. A huge amount of noise then follows with me running  below decks for the vodka - not to calm me down  - not for me I  hasten to add  but to pour onto the gills of the fish ensuring a pleasant alcoholic demise for the fish and a  nicely marinaded  one for us.

The radio net is a really important feature of life on board.It means  you don't feel so alone in the vast ocean.We start listening to the radio  around midday and there is roll call of all the boats stating their positions. After that there is the equivalent of a phone in when boats call in and there is general chat. It is always so interesting to hear how others are getting on.That whole process goes on for about 2 hours during which time one of us makes lunch.

The afternoon is spent helming the boat or reading or preparing food for the evening meal. I always keep an eye out for marine life and so far we had the joy of being surrounded by a pod of pilot whales and loads of dolphins showing off with their acrobatics in Avalon’s bow wave.Have seen turtles and possibly sharks too.

So the day comes to an end we finish our evening meal together in the cockpit and the night watch starts at 8pm. Provisions are holding out well but 

once again bought far too many cabbages which will no doubt still be on board when we arrive rather worse for wear but hopefully not in liquid form!– will I never learn?

So all  simple stuff really. . I don't know what the rest of the trip will bring but if it is as pleasurable as it has been to date then I will be very happy indeed!

Debsx