14:33.9N 57:45.3W
Now playing: I drove all night - Roy
Orbison
As we enter our final 24hrs at sea, things are
starting to pong a little onboard as we have all run out of deodorant. As
temperatures hit the high 30s on a daily basis, not even numerous salt water
washes a day are keeping the stench away. Our Little Pea deck shirts
are infused with sweat, salt, diesel and bilge. We are a shabby
sight. We have sailed Little Pea hard for almost 3 weeks
now. We've battled to hold onto our group lead position
and, only now, as we make our final approach towards land, can
we think about scrubbing up and slipping on or Little Pea polo shirts
before walking into the sailor bar in Rodney Bay with our heads held
high...
Last night was probably one of our most intense
nights as we battled with squally sailing conditions while flying our
spinnaker. We doubled up on watches and drove Little Pea as hard as we
could, out striping many larger yachts around us, including a 62 ft
catamaran. As dawn broke we learnt that we'd extended our lead - not
by much, but it was enough. However the night was not without incident
shortly after Mike and Minkey were sent to their bunks (and after a sweepstake
of how long it'll be before they were called back on deck), the guy (a critical
rope that helps control the Melinda the spinnaker) snapped. ALL HANDS ON DECK!
We scuttled around, recovered the damaged rope and had Little Pea running at
full pace again. The night wasn't kind. The sea state was lumpy and the breeze
in consistent. By the morning we were all knackered.
We've spent the day with Melinda up gently hauling
us closer towards land. Its been blisteringly hot and we've tried to cat
nap on and off all day to catch up on sleep before what may be our final, and
potentially another intense night at sea.
Daily Stats:
Max
Boat speed = 9.99 kts So close!
Number of spinnakers used = 1, Melinda
again
Maximum Gust = 23 kts
Number of Flying Fish = Hundreds, but
they seem to be getting less suicidal now
Number of other yachts = 3
Amount of Rain = nil, but we'd quite like
some...
Advent calendar highlight = No sign of
Wally.
Jags, Minkey, Ben and
Mike