We have packed the kite ready to hoist if we get
any light airs, either to use or just to be able to refurl on the torsion cable.
Also, we have a small fresh water leak into the bilge and spent a couple of
hours trying to trace it yesterday afternooon, without success but finally
located it first thing this morning....a faulty high pressure release valve on
the hot water tank. So now trying to clean it and then to replace the 500 litres
of water that disappeared from our fresh water tank overnight.
Caught one more Dorado (14th) on the remaining
rod yesterday but the weed is still bad so it was good that we
caught anything at all.
Dinner was fillet steak in a green peppercorn
source with french fries and a tomato salad. This is the last of the salad but
plenty of apples, oranges, cucumber and onions left....with, most probably,
2 nights at sea until we make land. More seriously....we've run out of
cake!
Today is the anniversary of the eradication of
smallpox in 1979, the only disease driven to extinction by human endeavours.It's
also National Hero's Day in Antigua (formerly V.C. Bird Day...why would you have
a holiday for an airport?!) and it's Dame Judi Dench's 80th birthday.
And a note from our Home Affairs Correspondent....
Relationships All At SEA:
Sailing across the Atlantic, with your husband as skipper of the yacht, I
have found puts your marital status on the back burner and you become 'crew'. It
is not, I would imagine, to everyone's taste but then neither is sailing 2800
miles across an ocean! Mervyn recently received a mug embossed with "Nothing
works on an old boat except the skipper" and that would aptly
summarise Mervyn's experience with the invaluable assistance of first mate
Bob. There is always a lot to do to keep 'El Mundo' moving and all her many
systems functioning. I was never going to be an Ellen MacArthur or Dee Caffrey
and would count myself as the most dizzy, least sailing savvy of the crew but I
can provision a yacht for three weeks, cook in a rolling sea and, due to my
compulsive nature, make a fair job of keeping the boat clean, doing rig checks
and many other chores, ably assisted by Lincy. So there is a distinct, unspoken,
division of labour. Then there is the watch system, which ensures that half the
night you are in diffent places and the remainder is spent in exhausted, fitful
sleep separated by lee-cloths. However, there are still romantic moments,
with moonlit nights, galaxies of stars, phosphorescence in the surf, sunrises,
sunsets and lots of beautiful sunny days...you just have to ensure that you take
time out to enjoy them together. You also know that the memories will be lasting
and discussed over that candlelit dinner in St Lucia where your relationship
gets back on solid ground.....and you will NOT have to check your
watch to see whether a log reading is due!