Greetings and apologies for the late arrival of today’s blog, it’s been a busy day.
This is our final full day at sea and it would be an understatement to say we are rather excited at our impending arrival in St Lucia tomorrow. Various times have been suggested and it’s possible that by the time you read this we have crossed the finish line just outside Rodney Bay in the NW corner of the island.
You will probably see on the tracker that it is going to be down to the line as to whether it’s Challenger 2 or Challenger 3 across first. It’s all to play for and I’m sure our amazing team; skipper Monkey, Mate Terry, Watch Leaders Glyn and Jim, and Bob will be eyes glued to the charts to decide which tactics are going to be used through the night to give us a good shot at beating CH3.
Sail away, sail away, sail away (an Enya song). We have most definitely sailed our way across the magnificent Atlantic Ocean. A young child might ask, “Are we there yet?” Yes, almost. We are so close only 118 nautical miles to go as I write.
If you remember we caught a Dorado fish yesterday morning and after it had been gutted, cleaned, prepared and seasoned by James it was eaten at dinner much to the delight of us all.
So today I have been back on mother watch with James and Thomas and it has been a pleasure, I will miss you guys. We’ve eaten cereal and fruit for breakfast, followed by hot dogs and soup for lunch. Dinner which will be served shortly is another dish prepared by James – think he should give up his job in advertising and become a chef. Well tonight we are eating seasoned roast loin of pork, roast potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes and tinned veg. Yes, we’re now using tinned food as the fresh veg has now all gone.
After lunch the skipper and mate called us all on deck to give us a briefing for our arriving in St Lucia. This included us giving the boat a good deep clean and how to be kind and courteous to our neighbours, especially on our return to the boat in the evening. So no loud sing songs on deck after 10pm.
Talking of singing we are avidly preparing for our crossing the line song. I doubt if any of you can guess what we are going to sing. Suggestions on a post card!
Later this afternoon Ollie, Steve (the younger) and Laurence were hoisted up to the pole. Ollie proudly held out his school flag so we could take a photo for him.
Not long after the above event a tear was spotted in the main sail near the top. Monkey was hoisted up in climbing gear to investigate and it was decided to bring the main sail down so a repair could be made. Despite all this rather unexpected activity Challenger 2 continued at a good speed.
Once the main sail was down, Bob and Kathryn set to for another sowing session with Terry helpfully sitting on the boom I’m told, don’t know what he was doing but it must have been important!! An hour later the main was up again.
After so much activity it was time for another cup of tea and biscuits. Terry also re discovered his chocolate bar which he was so desperate to eat before the tear was spotted.
As this adventure draws to a close we have become an excellent team of ship mates. Hopefully in the future our paths will cross again. It’s been a privilege guys.
So sometime tomorrow you will hear from us. We will be digging out our phones for the call home. I know I can’t wait to speak to my loved ones.
So best wishes to you all from everyone here on the merry ship Challenger2.
Heather Perham xxx