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Lancelot II - Day 16 - Homeward Bounders



Postcard from Lancelot II – Weather Hot, Fishing lousy, Wish you were here x
 
The final countdown has begun in earnest, as I write this we have 521 Nautical Miles to go to Rodney Bay. We are homeward bounders. We watch the miles tick by on the chart plotter like an all absorbing soap opera. The sea state has been lively to say the least with the wind at 25kts and averaging 9 knots boat speed. Big Atlantic rollers push up and down like a cork sometimes. Some waves are as tall as the helmsman as they come behind us and we surf down them. Annette holds the record for boat speed on our watch – 14.4 knots. Yeha! Last nights night watches started with a moon so bright you could almost read by it. It lit our way with a runway of light to follow.
 
Newsflash – Fish update...>>>>>>>> Ocean 5 – Lancelot 0. We got yet another bite yesterday but it got away again. Those tuna are a master race. The other watch continue to attract flying fish like magnets and had another nocturnal visit last night. It gave Jacko the lightest of kisses on the ear and it flew past to cuddle Rob. Affectionate but stinky! It must be the aftershave those guys wear.  Food wise we have now used up all our fresh provisions apart from part baked rolls and a mountain of cheese. So we have broken in to the world of tinned food – we are dining on such delights as Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney Pies, spam and the wonderfully labelled Fruity Cock (Cocktail) ! And Terisa has just rustled up a quiche! The food of champions. The British Empire was built on such gorgeous fodder.
 
As we race towards the finish and the miles click down we are all reflecting on our journey together. We’ve all had to dig deep at times whether through sea sickness, the heat, the general fatigue that extended watch keeping brings or the uncomfortablness of the rough weather we experienced at the beginning. ( I must admit I probably abused the power of prayer when I prayed for dry pants at one point. They were delivered, so we are all good!) But to a man we all say that sailing makes us feel alive. I will be a little sad when our Lancelot bubble is burst and we all go our separate ways but I console myself with the thought of crews to come and adventures yet unplanned. And who knows when and where our paths will cross again? Trip of a lifetime? Certainly, but the first of many. We are all addicted to this whether through sailing, hiking or throwing ourselves out of planes! We talk of what we will do when we get to St Lucia. The haloed first shower is top followed by phoning family and friends and in Steve’s case eating a cheese burger and chips! We look forward to a lush green, tropical island. It seems strange that we haven’t seen anything green other than tinned peas for more than 2 weeks, and people? Don’t know if I can cope with them! It is however only fair to warn St Lucia that we intend to go out with a bang. Standby, the crew of Lancelot II are ready to party like rock stars!
 
This will be the last round of blogs, so I bid you farewell and thank you all for your fabulous messages and I’ll see you back in Blighty soon.
 
Meanwhile anyone up for fondu? And would you like spam with that?
 
Mel and the crew of Lancelot II xxxxxx
 
 


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