After a great day of sailing, the night watches
brought a blanket of cloud and very light winds, so our total mileage for the
day was 175, though we hoped for much more. The light winds have continued this
morning, so progress is slow at 4 knots, but forcast to pick up by
lunchtime.
Yesterday we caught another Dorado but released it,
as we still have not finished eating the last one. Another excellent dinner of
Belgian meatballs in a fennel and tomato sauce, followed by Belgian
chocolates.
And we have an update from Amanda, our Home Affairs
Correspondent:-
Life On Board - The crew on El Mundo are firmly
into the day's routine. The watch system works during the hours of darkness and
we do three hours each. We swap watches each night and it is very exciting when
you get the end watch and have the prospect of nine whole hours sleep!
During the day things are much more flexible but someone is always on deck to
ensure that El Mundo doesn't get above herself. In the conditions we have been
enjoying, she is generally surfing along the waves. There are also the day
chores of rig checks, cleaning the cockpit (otherwise we would resemble snowmen,
with salt rather than snow), checking the fruit and veg baskets to make sure
nothing is rotting, filling the individual 1.5 litre water bottles to ensure
people do not get dehydrated (our skipper has yet to win the water drinking
competition....he's better on beer!). The generator is fired up twice a day to
top up the batteries and allow us to make water, cook (we're all electric) and
heat the water for our daily (somewhat precarious) showers. Sleeeping within the
lee-cloths is rather claustrophobic but they do ensure that you stay in bed when
the Atlantic roll combines with heeling of the boat. El Mundo is a much more
comfortable passage maker than our old boat Aztec Dream but she still has her
moments. Otherwise there is still time for reading books, fishing and relaxing.
The evening cocktail hour (one unit of alcohol allowed) and dinner are always
looked forward to, especially as we all enjoy cooking....even if it is at a
crazy angle!