Jus' do it 5 - LOG DAY 16 - the finish! - an ode at the end...

Wednesday 16th December 2012It's been doom and gloom since we lost our boomand the rain has never stopped falling,we've been soaked to the skinbut we'll take it on the chinas the sea has been our callingAs food supplies dwindlepower's low on the kindlewe wonder how far we've to gothe sails are in tattersbut the racing still mattersnever heed the carnage belowWhen we hear "land ahoy!"you can imagine our joythe end of the voyage is nearcocktails, rum on the beachit's almost in reach!and we're just about out of boat beer......The final hours.......We try hard to reach Rodney Bay before sundown but are less than an hour too late. We cross the finish line at 1818hours local time and are we glad to hear that horn!There are however, a final few challenges - the headsail furler is jammed so we. read more...

Jus' do it 5 - LOG DAY 15 - yahoo wahoo 2!

Tuesday 11th December 20121200hrs GMT (12th) - miles in last 24 hours - 163POSITION - 14'26 N, 059'45WAt last we get what we asked for - a lovely sunny day, puffy white trade wind clouds and a landed wahoo!There's not quite enough wind - 10-15 knots, 6-7 knots boat speed. Still hopeful we'll get in Wednesday pm in daylight.We enjoy our fish with fried potatoes and salad - McPhail's favourite meal. We're all pretty exhausted now - the watches and helming are taking their toll and we're all looking forward to getting there. Three of the crew have come down with colds so Gordon is on constant contamination alert - no drinking out of bottles!. read more...

Jus' do it 5 - LOG DAY 14 - droochit!

10th December 2012 1200hrs GMT (11th December) - miles in last 24 hours - 172 POSITION; 14' 56' N , 56' 54' W Torrential downpours throughout the night continue throughout the day - deluges of heavy, heavy rain which temporarily flattens the sea. We're all running out of dry clothes - Ian appears in a very dandy pair of stripey shorts which have been lurking in their rightful place at the back of the cupboard for a long time...As they truly are his last dry shorts he's determined to keep them that way so is now wearing his wettie trousers all the time - never worn before in these climes! Thankfully, the inside of the boat remains leak free which is a great relief to us all. Wind speed is a steady 20 -25 knots, gusting up to 35 knots in the squalls, wind from N/NE ,. read more...

Jus' do it 5 - LOG DAY 13 - another grey day on the sea.....

Sunday 9th December 2012 1200hrs GMT - miles in 24hrs - 178 POSITION - 15' 06 N, 53' 58 W Another overcast day - grey and squally conditions continue. A big sea with irregular HUGE waves.  In between showers we try to dry clothes, wetties and life jackets as best we can. Where are these sunny blue skies and tradewind puffy white clouds? We notice the headsail has deteriorated further - it's taking a real battering - so we decide further repairs are required. The sail is dropped to the deck and Ian , Frank and Annie spend the best part of an hour on a rocky, rolly bow with the sail draped over the dinghy, patching and stitching - Ian has the cheek to ask Annie if she ever got sewing lessons at school! We do the best job we can (with our limited skills!) and hope the. read more...

Jus' do it 5 - LOG DAY 12 - making way under headsail...

Saturday 8th December 2012 1200hrs GMT (9th December) - miles in last 24 hrs - 180 POSITION - 15' 27 N , 050' 5 W We're all pretty tired and morose. The weather is awful, squall after squall running through gusting up to 35 knots. Morale is low - everything and everbody is wet and damp and we're still having to use our oilskins through the night - this was not part of the plan...... In daylight we further assess the damage and secure and tidy things as best we can. Some wee dolphins come to cheer us up at mid-day but we spend most of the time down below sheltering from the squalls. The sun comes out in the afternoon and Nathan fries - he forgets to put suntan cream on......"mad dogs and Englishmen" - lobster colour!We settle down for our night. read more...