17:56.7N 56:31.9W
|
DAY 19 (Wednesday 2nd
Dec) Colin and I were up so early there really had been little point in going to bed. We were determined to squeeze as much as we could out of the wind from the start. In the event, we had a great day’s sailing – albeit in the absence of serious wind – and the spinnaker and the crazy chute both had good runs. In between sail changes, Captain K has taken to sitting on the sidedeck with his sextant taking sights of the sun and then burying himself in a calculator and geometry to prove, reassuringly, that we are somewhere within 100 miles of the position on the GPS. In fact, we now change
sails more frequently than Sinan’s menu. Today we had the same meal for lunch
and supper (tuna pasta). It was either that or move on to the army style ration
packs the skipper seems desperate for us to try. One of these vacuum packs
claims to contain spotted dick and custard (‘eat hot or cold!’) but the ‘serving
suggestion’ on the back is a picture of baked beans and frankfurters. I’m not
one to be fussy, but I think we need to be clear whether we’re talking mains or
afters before we commit to going commando on the culinary
front. We’re having to be very
cautious with gas use, with even tea and coffee making restricted (at least
until Captain K goes to bed. Then Colin and I tend to brew up on the sly). But
the discovery of a huge thermos flask (it can feel like a Woolworth’s closing
down sale on this boat sometimes) presented a possible solution. We boiled a
full kettle of water and loaded the flask with Gold
Blend. It worked like a treat. Piping hot coffee right through til next dawn without having to boil the kettle again. OK, it tasted like a camel had cocked his leg over the flask at some stage. But hot is hot – especially at 4 in the morning. The winds have been pretty fickle on this crossing and it's still not absolutely clear when we'll arrive in Antigua - within the next 2 or 3 days, fingers-crossed. My cigarettes run out at 5am tomorrow.... RWD www.justgiving.com/atlanticoceansail
|
