Rhapsody - Rhapsody - Day Four: Alarming amounts of pasty flesh

Life onboard has settled into a smooth routine onboard Rhapsody. The green monster has gone, leaving all crew happy, hungry and eager to get involved.

But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Our initial excitement at seeing our poled-out headsail turned to consternation a few hours later when a loud creaking sound indicated the pole track was being slowly wrenched off the mast. Riveting it back in place turned out not to be an option as the rivet gun is too big to fit into the track, so we resorted to the tried-and-trusted method of lashing it up with a bit of string. It’s worked so far. Only another 2,000 or so miles to go…

Fishing has proved similarly frustrating. We’ve been working our way through the various lures onboard, naming them as we go. Fred, Ollie and Stan have been underwhelming. Tomorrow is the turn of Marilyn, on whom we’re pinning many hopes. Other boats make this look so easy. How hard can it be?

The weather is slowly turning warmer, with layers being shed during the day to reveal some disturbingly pasty-white skin. Liberal amounts of sun cream are being applied, and we’re hoping the crew will be looking slightly less alarming for arrival photos in Rodney Bay. Blair even managed exercises on the foredeck, so he’ll be looking not just tanned but fit. Though if he keeps producing burritos like the ones that emerged from the galley this lunchtime, he’ll have a lot of excess calories to work off.

In other news, Kitty and Izzy have been reading through the guides on celestial navigation and yesterday had their first turns with the sextant. They both successfully managed to take a sight, which elicited squeals of delight from Izzy. Tomorrow we’ll do a merpass and check whether the GPS location gear on the boat is really as accurate as it claims to be.

For now, there’s just stars, gently lapping waves and the sound of sails flapping a little in the inconsistent breeze. A bit more wind would be nice, and from just one direction, but there’s nothing really to complain about.