Hummingbird - Hummingbird's Blog Day 5

Dear Bruce,
I’ve been instructed by our chief passage-maker, Chris, to start tonight’s blog in this manner to check if you are paying attention.
Now, for the rest of Hummingbird’s family, friends and fans, here comes the news hot off the deck of a very hot boat(*tisssss is the sound effect) Jeez it’s been warm! This might be the dream holiday for some of you high-latitude readers, now in your woollies, reading this with a mulled wine, roasted chestnuts with brooding grey skies outside to keep you indoors so long that you get fed up and decide wearing singlets and trousers day after day as you swing across the face of the Earth is just the thing for you.
Most of us are padding around in t-shirts and shorts, with the exception of Chris, who can be frequently spotted in a jumpsuit of sorts with reinforcements in certain regions. Depending on the light, he looks like a mountaineer / skydiver / ghostbuster / rapper. 20 points to Holly and John for their efforts working this out.
Some of us are eager to maintain high standards in preening in this heat. Nail clipping, eyebrow tweezing, even shaving – all these things are possible onboard. As you already know, we can quickly turn the galley into a Hammam, so perhaps an on-call massage service is not that far-fetched.
Rachael is very much aware of people’s desire to shower and has secretly been using this as a bargaining chip / motivation tool to get our gears cranking. We have all earned showers, having appeased the Dragoness with impressive kite-flying, overtaking two boats today!
Hummingbird is moving like a cube of butter on toasted crumpets. With such great helming aptitude displayed by each watch, Rachael was able to arrange two lessons outdoors, up on deck. “Charting 101: How to Hold a Funky Ruler” for Chris and Gina, and “Celestial Navigation 101: Heavenly Bodies Beyond the Gym” for those wondering what the heck Holly, Jennifer, Nicky and Chris are doing with their very confusing-looking apparatus resembling a mangled periscope.
Later in the day, there was time for the off-watch crew to chill out on makeshift hammocks at the bow. Pilot whales, probably curious to investigate Michelle’s singing, came alongside and provided much excitement and excellent company as the sun sank into its own hammock of clouds.
Dinner prep is getting increasingly competitive between the three groups. We have gone from single dishes, to main plus dessert and today, we had starters and mains thanks to Nicky and Michelle. John abandoned his olive chopping duties to entertain and serve up food, which is just as important in the food, as any restaurateur will tell you. Fraser’s disco headtorch will be playing a very important role in the coming days, you can just feel it. By the way, he has impressive planking skills, which he demonstrated during plank-heats this morning. Well done mate, 55 more points to you.
Bruce, if you are still reading, please could you look into fitting a gelato maker, thank you.
Tonight’s post is dedicated to Michelle’s special man, who is no doubt watching her enjoy this crossing from his seat above amidst the stars.
The bioluminescent plankton beam you their love from the Atlantic. X
Gina