Dear Family and Friends,

 

18th December 2014

 

As it nears Christmas I guess you guys are in the throws of the last Christmas shopping, ‘that’ run to the supermarket where competition for the last Heston Blumental Christmas pudding is raging, attending that bastion the works party and of course preparing for the arrival of the family. Missing our family we can happily forgo much of the rest! I am indebted to Rebecca and Ben for supplying us with wonderful Christmas foods which we are looking forward to, along with a leg of lamb/goat, (not sure which!)

 

On the culinary front I can report that the Mahi Mahi, a white fleshed fish, is delicious although I have never eaten a meal still in the throws of rigor mortis before. I guess there’s always a first! It has a meaty texture and pleasant creamy flavour, I pan roasted it with butter, garlic, lemon and fennel seeds and served it with a squash rissoto lovely.

 

With our scheduled landfall and calm seas we motored all night. This morning we sailed although very slowly whilst Alan changed the gear box oil and picking up some wind we have been sailing at a steady 5 knots since. However this is not fast enough for our schedule so as I write Alan and james are putting our main (larger and light), genoa sail up again with the hope of more sail and a better wind angle. Conditions have been frustrating with current anything upto 1 knot against us where as it should favour us, and as Alan says over the course of our run we could have been in port 1.5 days earlier if the current had been with us. Also the forecasts we receive seem so inaccurate with winds forecast from the east or south of east they are actually from the Sw more of less the direction we want to go in which means we cant lay a direct course. We managed 149M VMG largely due to the motor, today our progress will probably be less. On our chart we are nearing the crease of the chart, sorry not to be very technical but when we turn it over we will be able to see Antigua which will feel so much better and in fairness there will be about 500 miles to go.

 

All our best,

Lynne, Alan and James