Lancelot II - Day 2 - Dolphins and Fireworks

Greetings from Lancelot II! Before I give you a brief synopsis of our last 24 hours I will introduce us all. Firstly there is the skipper Jacko, Steve ‘sugar rush’ Ginger, Teresa and Matt from Canada, Annette from Switzerland, Rob from London and me (Mel) also from the UK. You will be pleased to hear that we are making good progress with 7-8 knots of boat speed and about 15 knots of wind. A few changes in sail configuration kept us busy last night. We are heading roughly south to pick up the trade winds and then shoot across west like a bullet – a slightly soggy bullet, but hopefully a speedy one! After night 1 being full of stars we had no moon last night, no stars, a poor view of the horizon because of the cloud and no other boats to look at, which made helming slightly tricky with some lively winds. Boy was it dark! The crew did a sterling job steering by instruments alone at times. What did brighten our lives was sailing through phosfloresent algae, which as we sailed through it for hour after hour lit up like thousands of glittery underwater fireworks along the wake of the boat – a memorising sight. The fleet has spread out now so apart from the odd glimpse of a boat on the horizon we are are on our own. We have all taken the chance to get sleep between our watches as we get used to the routine of the boat but everyone is holding up well and we have bonded as a crew with stories and a few laughs. Cooking in the galley and using the head can be an extreme sport at times as we are bounced around with the swell! We had our first visit from a large pod of dolphins at lunchtime today, with about 30 of them dancing along the bow wave and alongside us. The show offs amongst them even treated us to a few high leaps and backflips. So as I type dinner is being prepared – curry and we are all good. Thanks for the messages from family and friends and a big shout to Team Totton from me. Keep them coming. Rob and Steve are educating the international contingent in Cockney slang and we are learning a few phrases in return. So in my newly learnt Canadian vernacular – It’s all killer, no filler! Onward we go! x

 

Mel

 

and the crew of Lancelot II