'Milestones'
It must be the extra protein from the fish we have caught that has fed our
enthusiasm to fly the spinnaker 24/7.
Since putting the rod out we have caught a fish a day - two delicious
Dorados - and Nikki is teaching us all filleting skills. An hour from sea to our
bellies - lightly pan fried, lemon and pepper - Michelin star quality food. It
must have been the freshest fish any of us have ever eaten. Long may that
continue!
Today we hoisted our pink spinnaker. You can see us from miles - look out
boys! Sunglasses are needed to look at it it's so bright.
Two breaking moments: tonight on our first night flying it, we executed our
first Gybe in our first moonless sky. Now it has risen it's so incredibly bright
and I'm writing this by the light of the moon (almost). The team worked
brilliantly as a unit to keep the Spinnaker flying in the pitch black when we
had a few hiccups - the pole decided to fall off it's mast holding mid gybe and
the guy became temporarily unclipped from the sheet. A special word for Ashley
is needed here for her heroic pole catching skills. These moments astound us
when we realise we only met as a team less than two weeks ago.
Perhaps it was Karen's boat present - design a t-shirt for one member of
the team - that helped cement our new friendships and us as a team. We all
embraced the creative challenge and decorated white Primani t-shirts that best
represented them as an individual to cheer them up on a dreary day. We found out
two things: How much we already know about each other - and who has the artistic
skills and who doesn't!
Six or seven days in and we haven't quite yet reached half way. For some of
us homesickness has kicked in over the past 24 hours. We are supporting each
other and want to send our love to our partners, husbands, boy-friends and all
our families. We wish we could share some of these amazing moments with
you.
On the cards for the next 24 hours. We are sailing Southwest as fast as we
can to try and avoid the worst of the ridge of high pressure that is settling in
from the North. We are expecting light winds all week but hope to avoid any
major wind holes. Luckily we have already had a few hours here and there to
polish up our lightwind sailing techniques.