clean your boat sir?
Panatlantic
Sun 16 Dec 2007 13:29
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hi everyone,
i hope that you are all well wherever you are, its
a plesent temperature here and the threatening rainclouds have moved on.
we have been going slightly slower the last day or so, this is due to the
wind and waves taking a slightly different direction to our own course. also i
believe that the woodvale site shows miles towards antigua rather than miles
traveled and we are heading slightly more south at present.
moral on board is good, unfortunately power is low
so we are limiting the use of our electrical equipment, on the plus side it
means niall cant charge his mp3. i dont know how much more steps and britney
spears i can stand!! our state of the art solar panels are charging only as
quickly as the hamster inside can run, and we havent fed him for a few
days.
last night i was lucky enough to experience
the first bit of rain since leaving, its rather wierd as you can hear the
rain approaching but not see it and then before you know it hits you. i was
drenched within seconds and not best pleased! so for my next shift i came out
fully kitted out in water proofs, and yet this time there was no hint of rain so
instead i just sweated my ass off!! during my final night shift i was rowing
along quite nicely only to suddenly be hit by a flying fish. the thing just came
from nowhere and hit me, landing by my side on the deck. i thought it was dead
but when i tried to pick it up the little b# {CHANGE TO AT} ~ started flapping all over the
place! after a little chase around the deck i managed to catch it and throw
it back, probably minus a wing.
the night shifts are proving very tough at the
moment so we are experimenting with our shift pattern to see what works best.
tonight we will try 1 hour on/off and see how that works.
today niall made the decision to check the
underside of the boat for growth which may slow us down, he put on his mask and
snorkel and rolled over the side. he disapeared from view and popped back up
further along the boat. with his bizarre facial hair it looked as though some
little mexican boy had appeared from nowhere and was offerind to clean the boat
for money! wait until you see the picture and you'll understand exactly what i
mean. after a little scrub here and there the bottom of the boatr was
sufficiently clean, niall was back onboard and we were on our way
again.
so we continue to progress well, we very much look
forward to hitting the trade winds and then heading west to antigua, at this
rate we should be there by christmas.
hi to everyone at home, my mates are moaning that i
havent given them a mention so hello to pig, danol, dean, snoz and patty. jamie
and jamie any chance of an email?? my family have agreed to celebrate
christmas for a 2nd time on my return so thanks for that and i cant
wait!
james
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