N38:22:646 W30:51.592
GPS miles to go: 105
Boat miles done: 1734
WhooooHooo!
I have studiously avoided referring to the next day
or so in case I slowed us down again but yes, I must say it looks so very
promising, and that, in the fullness of time, with the wind in the right quarter
and a good sea, we shall, indeed, taking all relevant things into consideration,
actually, and in fact, make landfall tomorrow, at some stage.
Lighter winds are predicted for later today with
more wind forecast tomorrow so there may be a small sleigh ride to take us in
the last few miles, we shall let you know.
Crikey! Land! Suddenly a whole new vista is opening
up again - making tea in a flat environment, even allowing for the odd rocky
anchorage. Being able to divest ourselves of several layers of clothing....a
clean cosy new made bed. Ahhh bliss.
The duvets and covers are all ready to put on and
then - what ? 6, 8, 10, 12 hours to sleep, all in one go - I wonder if we can
now. The last few days in particular both Andrew and I have tended to wake
up after an hour and ask 'Is it time to get up ?' The surprising thing is
that we feel we have been asleep for a lot longer - or maybe it is the age
thing.
We shall be taking the time today to drink in our
unimpeded view of the North Atlantic from Andromeda. The scene from our cockpit
is a 360' vista of pale blue horizon - darkish blue ever changing sparkling
seascape, the swells much reduced from the last few days. Clouds of all
description circle our world - will we get rain?
The sun as it is rising is creating a golden,
silvery. glittering path leading right to Andromea's nose. There is the odd
shearwater circling and landing and probably still out of sight at the moment
there are dolphins too. We'll store some of these scenes in our memories
and try to capture some with the cameras.
Noises, well after motor sailing for while through
the night we are now back under sail and you can hear the lap and tumbling
of the water as we create our wake, the prop turning in the
background, the dull thud as the odd wave hits us fair and square, a gentle
whirr from the wind generators, gurgling from the scuppers. We're not expecting
to that sudden wind surge of the a few days ago when we knew that a gust was
here just from the sound it made, and hopefully no hisssing sid waves to come
splashing in the cockpit. We might hear the squeaks, splashes
and blow sounds of dolphins though.
We didn't see many stars last night as the moon was
very full - big and round and yellow, then when it was setting earlier this
morning it looked very halloween - a distinct orange colour with clouds creating
black patches across it almost like a pumpkin face - blood orange sprang to
mind.
We haven't seen another yacht since our first night
out, but have seen a couple or so big behemouths. Mostly its been just
ourselves out here almost like we are in a bubble - sometimes we do think 'Is
there still anyone else out there in the big wide world?'.
Practicalities will take over in the next day or so
as we prepare to arrive. Items will get stored back in their normal spaces, the
washing will be gathered ready for the laundry and clean clothes found to put on
ready to meet officialdom. The rubbish will be bagged up for disposal
ashore and then there is the cleaning.....
Food wise we are looking forward to treating
ourselves to a few meals out. That side of things has gone very well and we will
be eating the last of the 'fresh' stuff this evening
I am going to challenge Andrew when I have finished
this, to predict what time we will see land. Most likely I think will be
that we will see the loom of the island coming into view and then the lights
appearing during the night. Andrew has got so good at the timing of this that he
has no takers for a bet these days.
And then of course there is the sheer excitement as
we complete this passage - its been a long haul with many hiccups since we got
ready to leave Trinidad at the beginning of the year, and if you want to read
about all that you can find our blog on the mailasail.com website, under
diaries, andromeda903799.
We are looking forward to being in internet land
again and catching up on all the news and what has been happening elsewhere.
Then the pleasure of phone calls to friends and family. All this and terra
firma under our feet too.
But first there are those last miles to go -
just the two of us - with the lovely Andromeda and the big blue ocean and all
her moods and guises.
ps. we are almost down to our final milestone but
today we passed the 15/16ths done so less than 1/16th to go.
more in due course,
Andrew & Susan - nearly there!
S/V Andromeda
of Plymouth - Dances with Waves