Saturday 10th July

Vaquero
Sat 10 Jul 2010 12:32
My position Saturday 10th July at 1200UTC is 44
37.2N 19 58.5W
Only 114 miles the last 24 hours. We've had
an adverse current which hasn't helped and there was a quiet spell when the wind
went into the NW. Wind was F6 and there has been a bositerous sea
overnight making life a bit uncomfortable. I made a Spanish omelette for a
rather late supper and it turned into Spanish scrambled egg. Quite tasty
nonetheless. My fresh food is dwindling, only one tomato left, three pears
which are rapidly ripening and I doubt the oranges will make it to Plymouth as
they are fast coming to fruition (sorry about the pun, but you try staring at
waves for weeks at a time!). As their is
plenty of fresh local produce in the Azores, most of it is picked ripe. At
least you know its fresh and hasn't been stored for weeks, but it's not ideal
for provisioning boats. Meanwhile the potatoes embarked in Plymouth are still in
fine condition, as are the onions although they're beginning to sprout
madly. I think is was Bill Tilman who said 'never go to sea without an
onion' and how right he was. He didn't further enlighten his readership
with how to stop them growing aboard, but maybe in Artic conditions they don't
anyway.
More serious, though, is that I am only two clues
away from finishing my last Telegragh cryptic crossword. I have some
general knowledge ones, but they're not the same. I managed to crack a
Soduku puzzle advertised as 'diabolical' in complexity, which rather leaves one
with a vague ennui when contemplating anything simpler. I shall attack my
'Riddles in Mathematics - A Book of Paradoxes' with renewed vigour,
hours of harmless amusement bought in a secondhand bookshop for £1.
I now have 686 miles left to go to my waypoint off
the Lizard, about six days sailing at the present speed and then a nother day to
get in to Plymouth after that. So possibly a cold beer this time next
week....
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