14:49N 59:08W
Ahoy blog readers!
We type today's blog as day 17 at sea draws to an end and we spend what
we hope to be our final night at sea, as we close in on our target
destination of Saint Lucia.
The day started amazingly with a glorious sunrise and the spinnaker
pulling us ever closer to our destination on a bearing of 300.
Following recent difficulties with the spinnaker halyard we excercise
caution with regards to excessive wear and tear and routinely assess any
damage and repair the sheet as a precaution. These visual inspections
are undertaken every 6 hours and although time consuming at first the
Shalan crew have now reduced the time taken as the process becomes more
engrained - great teamwork! Next inspection is scheduled for 6am.
We had seen very few boats over the past 2-3 days and come mid-morning
we passed NDS Darwin who are racing in the multi hull division, we'd
seen them previously as we travelled to the ARC between Gibraltar and
Fuerteventura. We exchanged some glorious radio communications then
wished them well as we dropped the spinnaker and headed into a
rainshower/mini-squall, which was both a welcome relief from the sun but
also a chance for the crew to freshen up with some shower gel!
As the day continued, the miles fell as the spinnaker powered us along.
Unspurisingly out diets remained true to form and we feasted on breaded
tuna wraps for lunch and thick tuna steaks for dinner - we're sure that
you'll be glad to hear that our tuna ration remains very buoyant! Note:
If you're reading this and are in Saint Lucia please stop by Shalan as
we will be offering a 'tuna trade in' scheme, you bring alocohol, you
take tuna. A great offer we're sure you'll agree - someone let Martin
Lewis at Money Saving Expert know!
Enjoying what could be our final sunset, the wind and sea picked up with
stronger gusts and swell meaning it was goodnight for the spinnaker. We
quickly dropped the spinnaker and deployed the genoa under a dark night
sky filled with a canopy of stars. The night shift had since begun and
with increased activity on our AIS and radar systems the crew are on
high alert to ensure safe passage to our destination.
Reminiscing over the past 17 days, it seems hard to believe that we've
been away for so long. Days and nights have rolled into one another
seemlessly, but with our focus unwaivering and with the finish line
coming into sight the enormity of the achievement begins to rise. The
crew have worked as a team and have pulled together since before the
race began, we've eaten like kings and laughed like hyenas, and together
we've covered >3,000 miles taking Shalan from Europe to the Carribean,
all with smiles on our faces.
Fishing update - both rods made a short appearance today and both were
armed with small lures as not to engage in any further battles with
underwater heavyweights. As our speed grew and with a tear in our eyes
we reeled in our lines for the final time, we've all some great memories
with those rods!
Picture of the day - it's got to be this pic of Shalan bombing into the
night with main and spinnaker. Love the port nav lights lighting up the
spinny and the blurred starry sky! We'll miss those night skies but
never forget them!
As we sign off and continue into the dark it's at this time when we are
at peak concern as historically this is when problems occur. Due to
this we contiue to use the borrowed phrase from GoT, 'for the night is
long and full of terrors', hopefully we miss the terrors and the squalls
tonight.
'Shalan out'
x
m_GOPR1413