Your author, Nigel the Great.
Todays report is coming to you from approximately 450nm off the west coast of Africa heading WSW.
Life on the Ocean wave! A powerful experience. Whilst there is lots of banter among the boys, there are also lots of moments of quite reflection, appreciation and gratitude. We are all, including you, at different points on our journey of life, and for me, I feel extremely privileged to be on this boat, fulfilling a 35 year old dream, of sailing an ocean. On the evening watch, alone on deck, sitting, staring out onto the moonlit vastness of the Atlantic, I find it impossible not to ponder my life. With its highs and lows, often coming back to the acceptance of everything, knowing that time is marching on, to look forward not back, and I must try as hard as I can to do better than I did yesterday.
The sailing is a little slower than perfect. If we could find a couple more knots of breeze it would be ‘champagne sailing’. CJ is doing a magnificent job staying in the narrow veins of wind that are here. Which I hasten to add is no mean feat. It’s quite unbelievable how the wind is so particular in it passage across this sea. It is of vital importance to search, find and stay in ,this relatively narrow channel of breeze. CJ is spending a lot of time at the chart table, studying the data that he is retrieving from mission control, ensuring we keep sailing. For those of us that don’t really understand, I would ask you to think of your sat nav in the car. Imagine you are sat in your car on one side of town and your destination is the other side. The traffic is very busy. You enter your required destination. Sat nav assesses all the variables and plots your journey, all the time reanalysing it’s choice and changing it accordingly. It looks at all the different routes available and ultimately chooses the one that will get you to the destination in the shortest time. So now imagine that the ocean is the town, the wind veins are all the streets and roads. According to the different wind strengths (which are different all across this expanse) and different currents and waves and sea states etc , there is a fastest route from LasPalmas to St Lucia. And by the way this route is changing constantly. It is CJs job to work out what it is, and to keep us on it……(he is the sat nav),,,,,rather him than me!
We are averaging about 5.5knots an hr. We would like to be averaging 7. Not much difference eh? Well, over 24 hrs that is 36 miles. Over a week,252 and over the estimated duration of the this crossing ,720 miles. Hopefully if CJ maintains his performance so far, we will be into some better breeze in the next few days and our average will go up. Time will tell.
When I asked Chris what attire I should bring onto the boat, he said ‘ it’s TShirts and shorts all the way’. I’m very pleased to report, so far he is absolutely correct with the exception of the T shirts. Certainly from 10am to 5pm they are unnecessary ( unless your name is Ian, when the shirt is compulsory ). All extremely pleasant conditions. Beautiful sunshine, hot, rolling seas, swells and the curvature of the earth. Minds boggle when you think about where we are.
The swell is rolling in from behind us, although relatively small, when it gets up under the boat and lifts her, if you look forward down the wave in front, it feels quite high and I personally really like the surf down. You can really feel this boat accelerate and surge downward into the trough in front. Fun stuff indeed. Freedom is coping fantastically. Keeping us all busy with different daily jobs. Believe it or not the days trickle by at a pace that is certainly not rushed but certainly is not slow. The watch system requires plenty of daytime naps which I participate in willingly. Lying in your bunk , the ‘motion of the ocean’ is extremely conducive to sleep. Bloody marvellous! Ian and Chris invested in the water maker for long passages such as this one. It is a very clever bit of kit and allows us to have a shower pretty much every day. The hot water on the boat is hot and good pressure resulting in said shower being fabulous. It really is a game changer and makes life at sea almost luxurious.
Along with head chef Ian, and his various chosen sous chefs, the standard of food is off the chart. With a small oven and two gas rings, the man is producing nothing short of Corden Bleau cuisine. We are still waiting on Simon for the fresh fish which he assures us is coming. 50% of the crew confirm sighting of 4 fish that ‘got away’ so hopefully it won’t be long before it’s sushi all round. CJ announced this morning that the most important person on the boat is the fixer. Arise Stewart. A more proactive, thorough, conscientious, responsible, capable crew member you could not wish for. I knew this before stepping aboard and this fact contributed hugely to my decision.
And so on we go. Bobbing along on the beautiful briny sea. Long may it last. Preferably with a touch more wind, but hey, other than a flight to meet, no rush. We have been zig zagging about staying in the wind, getting south searching for the Illusive trade winds. We can’t practically go much more south, so probably, in the next few days or so we will have to harden up and start pointing at our island. Data and routing files, at the moment, show that when we do, we should have better breeze.
1 week in and the mind and body are slowing down. And as I mentioned before, I’m feeling grateful. A very special person once said to me, told me actually, to practice, ‘The attitude of Gratitude’ wise words indeed. And , great advice. How lucky am I. Sailing since a young boy, getting involved in all sorts of adventures and now, thanks to my eldest brother and Ian I get to do this. Thanks boys.
The Freedom fighters are in great spirits and working well together. Making the most of these epic times. Daytime watches are much more relaxed and responsibilities are often shared among the boys who happen to be on deck. Officially I’m on watch while writing and as if by magic my creative juices are drying, just at the end of my time. who would of figured ! So there is only one thing for it, a Nap
Take care everyone. Lots of love
Nige x
Sent from my iPad