Hummingbird - English lessons for the Aussies: Jollup, the third person, and talking around the subject

Hello again from the recalcitrant Aussie DJ John. 11 days at sea and approaching the three quarter mark with the pina coladas ever closer. Today I learnt a new word from the Brits on board: JOLLUP used to describe a thickened liquid such as sunscreen and ketchup. Interesting, but not as interesting as the UK aversion to the words yes and no and the constant reference to the third person …must have something to do with the Queens English! The spinnaker events continue to dominate the night watchers so that most of my sleeping is done foredeck in the afternoon rather than the sweaty bunk at night… as Chris in his dulcit tones whispers "John are you awake? (at 2am ) we have an issue with the spinnaker..."

The No 1 one spinnaker has been retired from active service. I have requested that it be chopped up as souvenir for this stoic crew (yet to be agreed to by the skipper). The no 2 spinnaker almost came to the same fate at 3am last night when for some reason best known to the skipper only, she decided to teach one of the spinnaker wrappers (aka Chris ho ho) the finer points of advanced light wind spinnaker sailing… why oh why? Luckily the situation was salvaged by excellent foredeck work from the Celestial and Non-Chef watches.

We successfully jury rigged some shade to protect us from the biting sun, the construction of which was halted for a large pod of dolphins who played off the bow for 30 minutes ...pure magic. Erica spent most of her time splayed across the pulpit Titanic style. Finally Last night saw the meal of the trip finely produced by the Celestials usurping the masterchefs from meal of the voyage. The competition is fierce for guessing closest to arrival time with some pushing for motor time … over my almost dead body and I expect the skipper’s too ...now back to the deck and more DJ ing

DJ John