Athena log 9 – Tuesday December 10th 2013 –
15 18.47 N / 47 26.45 W
That Saturday was an event day. Well yes, I know, every day has its
events, but sometimes I wonder what they are. What do we do all day? The hours fly by. But what do we do?
Well there’s the daily dolphin
watch. They come to play beside the
boat and dance and dive and skim the surface. Sleek blue-grey forms sliding by. Then there are the turtles, their little
heads stuck up out of the water, they carelessly drift along. Next come the flying fish. Like little swallows, they dart and dash
over the waves, turning, twirling and diving again. All of these shows must be
watched.
But we don’t really do
anything. Well of course there are
meals to be prepared, washing, cleaning and general maintenance. Sails to be hauled out. Sails to be rolled in. There’s always plenty of chatting that
needs attending to. And we all have
to read our books, because John wrote a blog about the books we brought. So now we have to read them.
But we don’t really do
anything. So that Saturday was very
exciting. It was an event day. Like most events at sea, this was caused
by the weather. Two days of quite
calm conditions meant more than intended use of the engine to supplement our
sails. The result was a low fuel
level and a decision to call in to the Cape Verde Islands to refuel. The wind direction had brought us close
to Cape Verde anyway, so a diversion was no great inconvenience. As we had not expected to see land for
two more weeks, this was a real bonus.
The sun was going down as we
approached the islands. It got dark
quite quickly. All six pairs of
eyes strained to find green marker lights, (which didn’t exist, as it turned
out). Voices began to be
raised.
“We’re not at the waymark
yet”.
“To hell with the
waymark”.
“Mind the rock”.
“I am minding the *#@/~&^
rock”.
“Well keep it to port”.
“You do your job and I’ll do
mine”.
etc.
etc.
etc.
“Ah yes, there’s the fuel
dock”.
“Well ........... easy
really”.
There was a very good strategy
behind the delay in getting in and docked.
You see, it was my turn to cook, that Saturday. The roast pork was done. The potatoes were half done, then turned
off, then put back on with the pork.
The carrots were put on, then turned off because of the delay, then
turned on again and the cauliflower added.
Then everything was turned off.
“We’re on shore. Let’s go out to eat”.
OK. But I still get a tick in my cooking
box. Ah yes, that Saturday was an
event day.