Infinity of Yar.
Blog entry No.8
Time: PM Monday 27th November 2017
Location: Lat: 18.14 North
Long: 25.27 West
'The Trade Winds at Last'
"Permission to shout hurrah in a loud and annoying voice" as George requested of Captain Blackadder.
After six difficult and mostly windless days we have finally reached and found the trade winds. On Sunday morning the previously light southerly breeze first veered
through 90 degrees and then backed all the way around the compass to give us a North Easterly.
Now, dear readers, if you have been paying attention you will remember from an earlier blog that ancient mariners from around the globe tell you that when crossing the Atlantic from East to West you should "head south until the butter melts and then head West".
Good advice it seems; but it turns out that this only works if you first remove said butter from the fridge! It is to your author's good fortune that there are now aternative ways to navigate otherwise I might well have been keel hauled by now.
Over the last 24 hours the wind has strengthened to 18-20 kts and today we have had the geneker up averaging 8.5 kts.
St. Lucia here we come!
So, readers, what else has been going on on the good ship Infinity of Yar? The stories of "the one that got away" are coming in thick and fast. Yesterday a lovely 12Lb tuna jumped ship just as he was being landed by Kipper Kearns and his support team - photographic evidence does exist!
Today the brake on the reel of Kipper's fishing rod was overpowered by some unseen but clearly mighty beast. The reel screemed, came to the end of the line which promptly parted with a bang. The unseen monster from the deep took off with our prize lure and 100m of 50lb line.
A couple of nights ago when becalmed our youngest crew member Oli "Step Aboard" Davey displayed considerable celestial prowess by telling the time from the stars using a formula learned from the wonderfully clever and delightfully bonkers 'Stokey'(sic). You will remember, if you have been paying attention, that Stokey Woodhall held a celestial navigation seminar back in Las Palmas. It turns out that 'Step Aboard' was paying attention.
By drawing an imaginary line from the plough to the North Star, putting that line on to a clock face, doubling that number and adding 2x the month of the year and then taking that number from 41.5 gives you the time - I think!!
Now, for this to be of any bloody use at all to my faithfull readers you would need to:
1) Be outside after dark on a clear night.
2) Be outside on a clear night with no light pollution
3) Be outside on a clear night having left your watch and phone at home.
In the unlikely event that all of the above should occur you will also have to be sober enough to remember the formula and do the mental arithmetic - fat chance!
With the trade winds set in we have just over 2,000 miles to go and the book is open to place your bets for the date of arrival. The crew have placed their bets ranging from PM on the 8th November from the ever optimistic 'Nemo' to AM 13th November from his more cautious brother 'Step Aboard'.
My money, readers, is on PM 13th November.
Life aboard has settled into a routine of cooking, cleaning, maintenence, reading and quizes with a bit of nmavigation and old fashioned sailing thrown in as well, of course.
Now into our second week at sea the true characters of our crew are developing with some interesting results. Your ever vigilant author has been on hand taking notes and as the days go by I will share these observations with you.
All will be revealed in these pages next time but until then:-
" To Infinity & Beyond "