Rawhide
Balvenie
Mark Farrell & Amanda Church
Sun 8 Jan 2012 15:20
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Current position at 3pm GMT 12:54N 56:21W. Guess
what, we still have 20 - 25 knots of wind, lumpy 2 metre confused seas, but
today it is clear and sunny again, very warm and Balvenie is
romping along at over 7 knots. By this time tomorrow we might be able to
see Barbados and we hope to have anchor down before dark.
Todays song "Rawhide" has been chosen for it double
meaning. The verse of "Rolling, rolling, rolling" has become one of our
theme songs , and yes - our hides are becoming somewhat raw (otherwise
known as Boaies Bottom) with the endless hours of sitting on them as they wobble
backwards and forwards on the cockpit cushions. Arhhh, not for too much
longer though.
Today is my Dad's 84th Birthday, well done Dad, thats
quite an achievement. And while thinking of my parents Tony and I were
discussing rolly polly last night, of course talking about the sea state but
then I remembered the yummy jam rolly polly pudding Mum often made when we were
growing up, served drowned in fresh New Zealand cream, oh how good that
was!!!
So there is little new to report from here, moral is high
with the chequered flag in sight, possibly even the beat of a distant steel drum
- or maybe thats just Thumper the watermaker going. The fishing line has
just been deployed, it really is still too rough but we would like to stock up
while we can.
Our wildlife spotting has not furnished anything exciting
. There have been sea birds now and again, right across the ocean, but we
haven't seen any dolphins, turtles or whales. Very unusual not to have any
dolphins come to play, Tony is very disappointed. We have seen a huge
amount of seaweed, it just keeps on coming, acres of it and all the boats have
commented on how much is floating around. Might have to Google on arrival
to see if there is a seaweed invasion going on. There have been no
amazing sunsets, no green flashes, no beautiful dawns (so never got to use that
song title). I have just been advised that the last few nights setting of
the moon has been spectacular (I am asleep) and we are very happy to be able to
see the Southern Cross low in the sky off our port beam, it has been truly
missed in the Northern Hemisphere night sky. We nearly have a full
moon now so evenings are light, even if any cloud
cover.
One more evening watch to go
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