16:27.6N 044:23.9W
Tune of the Day: From "Despair to Where", Manic
Street Preachers
Day 13. The sea is vast and flat, as far
as the eye can see in all directions. There is nothing to see in any
direction except the horizon. The short confused motion of the waves lap
against LP's hull, occasionally rolling her, but mostly just slapping against
her with endless repitions. At 10pm the moon comes out, full and so
bright it looks like a night sun, floording the sky with reflected light and
making the ocean look like a black oil slick. Slippery, vast, asleep at
the moment, but inherently dangerous. Below us the ocean is 4 miles
deep and you can't help being terrified of what lingers below us
in the vast depths. We make slow but steady progress. The wind
blows lightly from the North East. You look over your shoulder
watching the cloud formations, black against the floodlit sky.
Some bring nice breeze that help the boat's speed. Some
bring mischief - the squalls, which can create chaos in seconds, tearing
sails and shredding nerves. But not tonight, just the gentle steady
breeze. You study the phosphorescence that trails in the boats wake, like
fire flies in the water. Why does it do that? No matter, its just
wonderful. The stars above are too many to count, but you try
anyway. You pick out the formations you know and try to identify a planet
of two if you can. But mostly, you just admire, awestruck by the
vastness of the celestial canvas above our heads. Down below,
you crew mates are sleeping below. You are
alone, totally alone. We are a small speck on natures vast watery
desert. We think we are in control, but we are just moving slowly,
carefully, steadily. This is ocean
sailing at night.
Today has been all about getting Little Pea back up
to speed after a sluggish 36hrs. Minkey was sent back up the mast (for the 3rd
time) to finish off the halyard repair and a forest worth of sea weed was
cleared off the rudders which combined made a considerable difference. Little
Pea is nearly back up to full speed again. And in other news... we've got less
than 1,000nm to go!
Daily Stats:
Max
Boat speed = 5 kts, very slow going now
Number of spinnakers used = 1 (Daisy is back in
action)
Number of repaired spinnaker halyards = one
Maximum Gust = 15 kts
Number of Flying Fish = One notable one
which attacked Jags while he was contributing to the fluid levels of the
Atlantic
Number of Whales = nil
Amount of Rain = nil
Amount of seaweed cleaned off the rudders approx 3-ton
Advent calendar highlight = Ben's chocolate
was so melted, he had to pick it out with a sail knife...
Jags, Minkey, Ben and
Mike