Skyelark of London - Day 8

Blog 10
BETS ON FOR ST. LUCIA TOUCH DOWN
And before we apprise you of the betting situation, first an update on the fish competition. Four Dorado landed and 1 tossed back as sacrifice to Neptune.
Dan ... 1 with lure Little Beauty - the smallest lure caught the biggest fish.
Chris ... 1 with lure Next Step Tuna
Nigel ... 1 with lure Pink Lady
Tonny ... 1 with Jack the Ripper

Today has been a gorgeous sailing day with following seas and winds 14 to 18 knots and clear as a bell blue skies. We just finished a scrumptious fish and shrimp pie made by chef Chris and his sous chef Tonny.

So far overall, to me, life aboard Skyelark with her Captain and crew has been very pleasant and peaceful. Without our phones and internet gadgets, we are getting along great with just the chat. My watches consist of the first two hours with Mike, quiet and reflective, and a third hour with Soren. Need I say more? We were laughing so hard the other night tears were running down about how busy our days are, and truth is, they are so busy we don't have much time for anything else! Cooking, eating, doing our watches, fussing with sails and course changes, occasional baking and as needed laundry, and, of course, fishing! We don't think our friends back home could possibly understand what busy bees we are on Skyelark.

And now, as promised, upon our halfway mark yesterday, Captain Dan passed the hat for our bets on arrival time at the waypoint in St. Lucia. This waypoint is about 3 miles before the finish line. The sailor whose bet is closest to the actual time wins the prize of skippering Skyelark across the finish line. Naturally, we all are very enthusiastic to win this honour. The process of placing our times was secret and inspired much intrigue among us all. Once all bets were placed we learned the order as follows. Amazingly we all decided on the same day, Tuesday 11th of December.

Chris 04.30, Mike 0715, Soren 9.30, Connie 10.15, Tonny 11.12:18s, Em 12.15, Nigel 16.45 and Dan 18.30