Writing this at 23:00 on 03/12/2014, two hours ago we officially reached
the half way point on our Atlantic chart.
Before we set sail we imagined this moment to feel scary; us on a wee boat
bobbing around in that big mass of blue. But now we are here, in the moment, it
is not scary at all. It feels safe and comfortable and totally fulfilling. We
are all content to be living in our own Hot Stuff world.
Our half way party is planned for tomorrow as today was overtaken with TLC
- for the maidens and for their trusted chariot.
We began at dawn by sending baby monkey up the mast; there were a few
niggles that were playing on our skipper's mind so up she climbed for a full rig
check. All hands were on deck proving what a great team we have become. To those
of you who are watching us on the yellow brick tracker and wondering why we
stopped in our tracks for a few hours - we ended up dropping both of our sails.
So to explain: the main sail was chafing a little on the top spreaders so skip
cushioned that all up with some sponge, and taped up the sail for extra
protection. A couple of the sliders which attach the main to the mast were a
little worn - but nothing a good olde needle and thread couldn't sort out. Then
a little tightening up of the furling gear and shackles for the foresail. Other
than that our skipper was happy to report that the wings of Hot Stuff were ready
to fly once again. Before we knew it both sails were back up and we continued on
our journey.
Hot Stuff had a little treat - and so did we - the FIRST SHOWERS OF THE
JOURNEY were undertaken today! There's no better morale booster than a bit of
personal R&R with a good scrub. Slightly different to the average shower
that you might imagine: begin production line -
heave bucket of water out the sea
decant water into bowl
pour bowl of water over head - about 50 bowls needed per shower
try to stay on-board during processspend next hour after cleaning all hair off the decks - all the beautiful
long locks we have result in industrial moulting!
Seawater, lots of shampoo and conditioner, hairbrushes, moisturizer, you
name it - has never felt so good.
Other highlights of today include Marlys discovering an exploded milk
carton while performing her daily bilge checks. It must have been her sensitive
sense of smell that helped her decide that perhaps this time she wouldn't taste
the water.
Our scrumptious dinner of mushroom, bacon and pea risotto went down like a
storm. And to finish our day off - home cooked flapjacks for pudding.
Baking has begun. Daily showering. Life at sea is starting to feel almost
normal. Our family is bonding in our new found home.