Despite having next to no wind and being forced to use the motor for 30+
hours, Thursday was certainly an unforgettable day for multiple reasons...
Glorious sunshine and a totally smooth sea, other than a gentle rolling
swell from the East, allowed the crew a day of pure relaxation. After many
discussions over the course of the trip, the weather finally allowed 5 of the
crew the opportunity to tick “mid-Atlantic swim” off of our bucket list. At
lunch time the engine was stopped and in turn we each dived off the stern and
into the refreshing sea, only to then rapidly dash back to the boat in fear of
what may be lurking below, apart, of course, for our brave (or mental?) Italian
Stallion, Gaetano, who drifted further and further astern as he filmed the boat
with Owen’s GoPro camera. With the crew pleading Gaetano to start swimming back
towards the boat, he finally obliged, only for the rest of us to dually note
that his hands were in fact empty as he swam... “Please, no. Please God, NO”
exclaimed a very concerned Owen, as he made the realisation that there was only
one place his camera could be; down the front of Gaetano’s “banana hammock”
speedos. Gaetano fished out the camera and climbed aboard, with Owen reviewing
the last recorded video, consoled only by the fact that the ‘record’ button had
not been accidentally pressed on it’s journey back to the boat.
Spottings of wildlife have been abundant over the calm period, with
countless whales, dolphins, small (about 1 foot long) shark-like fish and many
jellyfish including lots of Portuguese-men-of-war who have an extremely painful
sting; luckily no one experienced this during our swim session.
As Thursday progressed the colours of the sea and sky around us became more
and more breath-taking, with the sunset as the grand-finale. We all watched as
the sky was filled with every colour imaginable, and to top it all off, a lone
humpback whale lazily floated past in the foreground of the magnificent show, of
which the crew aboard little Aislig Bheag were the only audience; no other ships
in sight.
With the severe lack of wind further south, and little hope of it
strengthening any time soon, the decision was taken to head a couple of hundred
miles further North where we were promised at least 10 knots of wind for the
next few days; a long way to catch such light wind, however with not enough fuel
to motor for last 7 to 8 hundred miles of the passage, we were left with no
choice. We reached 40 degrees North early Friday morning and right on cue, the
winds increased to a steady 10 knots The engine was switched off and the gib
unfurled, much to David and Michael’s delight, who had just finished watch to
head to their respective cabins, which lie either side of the noisy engine. We
sailed with the cruising chute up for the morning, and then switched to the two
twin head-sails, poled out either side. The operation of this sail change;
organising all the lines, sheets and halliards in the correct configuration, was
a whole-crew effort lasting about an hour in total. The improving team-work of
the crew was evident, as the process went without a hitch and no-one got a row
from Skip-Vickers – a welcome first for all on board!
As I write this, the crew are enjoying the extended sunshine in the cockpit
as we moved the clocks forward by an hour early this morning. I have been
interrupted several times during the writing of this blog by several whale
sightings in every direction around the boat; at times a little too close for
comfort!
Bye now!
- Eilidh x
(P.S. I would like to make it clear to all who follow our blog that ‘my
verse’ in my Mum’s poem posted yesterday was her use of artistic license and is
not 100% accurate!!)