Trolling in the trades at last
ULA
John & Jackie Richards
Wed 10 Dec 2008 16:28
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Position 015:46.167N 051:46.145W
Your captain here for the start of this blog. The
trades are now blowing at last with 22 knots of wind behind. Ula loves this and
we are surfing down the waves making over 150 miles a day. Weather blue skies
with white puffy jobbies and the only concern is the occaisional squall which
needs to be treated with respect as wind can increase dramatically. With just
over 560miles to go the fleet is beginning to converge on St Lucia. Yonder a 45
ft Danish boat came along side in the night and given that our speeds are very
similar is likely to be close as we close the finish.
Another yacht Skiathos has also been within a few hundred metres and
the three of us have been taking photos/videos of each other which we can swop
in St Lucia. It seems strange having not seen another boat for a few days now
and given the distance we have all covered to suddenly have three boats
within a mile or so of each other. Skiathos were trying to bargain some tonic
out of us for their gin on the VHF but given the waves I don't think we'll be
getting close enough to hand any over!!
There is still lots to do keeping the boat in
top shape and safe. Last night we had the moon again and a classic but no
dolphins this morning. Our resident fisherman is still trying with a
variety of household objects as lures and weights but we are moving just too
fast for fishing. Despite all the sailing and jobs it is difficult not to
let the mind drift to a cold beer on dry land. You just have to pull yourself
back to the job in hand. Our last wine box was finished last night so we are now
down to emergency rations of which there are plenty for sundowners. The food
stays fantastic with Jackie serving up the last chicken last night from the
freezer
Crew happy particularly with Captain Grumpy showing
more human traits.
Its Jackie on the blog now. As John said, we
are now making great progress although the seas and the almost dead downwind
sailing make for challenging conditions. We have the main out with one reef and
a poled out genoa. The other two boats around us have the same although Skiathos
which is a racer/cruiser has full main up. Helming requires pretty constant
attention to keep us on track and safe. Yesterday we had a great run of 173
miles and are hoping for a further good run for the last 24 hours when we
log our position
John mentioned food - we still (just about) have
fresh tomatoes, a few large Spanish oranges which have been gorgeous and a lot
of Granny Smith apples which have kept remarkably well. The limes and lemons we
bought for fish have lasted well and Howard has used a lot of these to make us
some lime/lemon juice which is lovely. Some of the lemons have been
reserved for a gin and tonic later though! The fresh potatoes are on
their way out now and our last banana abandoned ship all by itself a
couple of days ago! All the fruit and veg came from the central market in
Las Palmas and the stall we chose delivered it all for us.We have been very
impressed with the quality and the stall holders who are used to supplying ARC
boats were very helpful in providing us with about 20% ripe and 80%
unripe items The boys then did a great job of washing and storing it
all before we set off in a combination of hanging nets and baskets lined with
kitchen towel. We have checked it all each day and have had very few bad items
so all in all this has worked out very well. Our only hiccup came when they had
included 21 cucumbers in the delivery due to a slip of the pen on the order
form! Howard was despatched down our pontoon to give some away although given
that they have kept remarkably well we were wishing we'd hung on to a few more!
The last of the fresh meat went last night so we are now in to pasta and tins
etc for the last few days.
The Wet Watch have been keeping themselves amused
at night by naming all the 70's pop/rock artists and hit singles/albums we can
think of and have amazed ourselves at the overall number! we can
remember 'In the Summertime' by Mungo Jerry has been nominated as Adrian's
song by me ('In the summertime when the weather's fine.....I go fishing, I go
fishing by the sea!') Lol!
No awards today but we are all in good spirits and
setting our sights on the champagne donated by Andy and Cazababe and also
some given as a present for my birthday earlier in the year (thanks Nigel!) at
the finish.Still a lot of miles and work to go yet though.
A big thank you to Adrian's mum for her text
received today and also the Good Luck card you sent us at the
beginning!
Love to all our families at home and friends.
Jackie
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