16.3N 038.51W
Meryon.bridges
Sat 5 Dec 2009 15:27
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16.30N 038.51W
I am sure that you are all rivetted by our
screaming progress across the ocean. At this end the crosses on the chart
seem to march slowly across the paper as I put them there each day after doing
all the abstruse calculations which navigation by sextant demands. Thank
goodness we also have Smartarse, our GPS plotter, to keep us on the straight and
narrow although this threw a wobbler the night before last. It is now up
and running again. Its information confirms that we are pretty well
exactly half way. This means that we have about 10 days to run and we
are praying that the wind holds up.
We have though a serious problem looming -
food. Already we all bread has been eaten and we are reduced to 2 slices
of Ryvita each for lunch and the final fig was cut into 4 pieces
yesterday. We have discovered that we have a food thief, known as the
Nighttime Nibbler, on board. Suspicions were raised when a square of
chocolate was found on the floor by the fridge early yesterday
morning. Then today it was discovered that the sole packet of dried figs,
adored by all, had been reduced from almost full to a meagre 5 figs.
Investigations are in hand but the evidence is shall we say lacking, the words
slim or thin not being apposite in the circumstances. The only hint we
have is that the medical purser has said that there is medical evidence that
those who run out of cigarettes need to eat more! This may of course
be only circumstantial evidence. A time lock has now been fitted to
the fridge and all food lockers taped up. A Tape Measure Test will be carried
out in due course. The sleuths are on the case and we hope to bring news
of a some progress in the investigation in our next blog. We
still have the passarel which will serve well as a gang
plank.
Shortages may be made up by flying fish which we
find on the deck and which the purser has stored against the rainy day which he
obviously thinks is coming!
We have enjoyed some talking books, in particular
Master and Commander and also A Week In September. John Veals, a typically
ghastly hedge fund manager, has given us cause for mirth and has led to the crew
being "vealed" on occasion.
We are blessed with good weather and evidence is
strong that there was more than a hint of the tarbrush in the ancestors of some
of the crew.
The good ship Ares is holding together remarkably
well. If she goes on like this we will have little major maintenance work
to do in Antigua. Wine, or perhaps rum, and song beckon. I
hope that I am not counting my chickens before they are
hatched. |