A DAY IN THE LIFE OF SKYELARK 2.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF SKYELARK 2.

So Dan, our Skipper, has asked for an outline account of ‘life at sea’ to give some idea to those family and friends who are following this adventure, what exactly we are up to.
As there is no real start or end to any particular day (they seem to all just blend one into another) I thought I would start at 0700 and imagine it is a midweek day at home.
Each member of the crew has a roster position whereby we continually swap from 3 hours ‘on watch’ to 6 hours ‘off watch’ 24/7. That roster continues throughout the passage until the day in the week when each crew member is allocated to be “mother”, or more correctly amongst the ranks of this all male crew....”father”.

‘Father’ starts the day roughly at 0700 by preparing breakfast. Usually this has been proceeded the night before by discussion as to whether it will be porridge, bacon and eggs, cereal or all three. Mostly it seems that porridge prevails but then there can be further debate about porridge with or without tropical fruit, or dried fruit and nuts. The task is not made any easier by the twelve ‘expert’ opinions on how porridge should be made; the oats to water ratio seems key but God forbid that you might suggest adding a little milk. That aside it seems to make little difference as everyone seems to eat whatever is created be it ‘their way’ or otherwise. Those who have just finished a watch at 0700 may well have declined breakfast in favour to getting their heads down and so consequently would catch up with cereal when they wake. Its amazing how tiredness affects ones appetite so dramatically (or not in the case of Gavin!). Fresh coffee/tea will be made and the galley cleared and tidied away.

‘Father’ then gets the joy of choosing which ‘lucky’ lure is cast in the hope of supplementing our rations with fresh fish. Today is day seven and to date we have managed I believe, four Mahi-Mahi and a single skipjack tuna. The tuna was pan fried with roasted new potatoes served with ratatouille. All of this is checked and advised upon by Dan who has firm views on what constitutes or doesn’t constitute any particular dish......but he can’t be everywhere all of the time so each chef has their own opportunity to create their unique signature dish. It would be fair to say that there is certainly a degree of ‘master chef at sea’ going on. We’ve had chorizo with butter beans, Rod’s pork stroganoff, pan fried mahi-mahi and todays leftover lunch of chilli and ginger fishcakes, made with coconut milk mash and served with a mango and pineapple salsa by our vey own ‘Delia’ aka Gavin, closely supervised and advised by Richard and Neil!
It would be fair to say that mealtimes are a highlight of the day but in between we manage a change of sails now and again which is always expertly organised, controlled and directed by Dan. ‘Safety’ is the keyword and to date all has been well. ‘Father’ then has the delights of cleaning the communal heads used by six of us and generally tidying up the lounge area. Three of the crew have opted for ‘business class’ and deal with their own heads as necessary.

The occasional visit from dolphins is a unique and warm experience and their playful behaviour remains consistently captivating. Then a shout goes up.......”fish on” and a scramble occurs to reel in tomorrows lunch or supper. We’ve had a few that have been lost but when they are ‘landed’ then they are swiftly dispatched with a hunting knife, filleted and the remains thrown overboard to continue to the food cycle. Rod has generally ‘blessed’ our meals via his ‘God’ who so far seems to be doing a good job. There is no reason to be hungry and the variety and imagination applied to each dish has been fabulous. So lunch will be followed by coffee with cake and a debate about weather, progress, tactics. On good days the sun shines brightly and the wind keeps blowing us largely West and towards all of you whom we love. Being away from you all gives us time to cherish what we miss and yearn for what is to come.....well for me at least!

The afternoon hours pass with us counting down distance ‘done’ to significant milestones (last night we passed the first 1000 miles......roughly a third of the way there), snoozing, tanning, reading, washing or sleeping.....each to their own dependant upon where they are in the shift cycle. All of this changes this evening as we adjust out clock back one hour in preparation for the final adjustments as we continue west.

Twice daily we assist with a citizen science organised by ‘Sealabs’; we measure water temperature, salinity, pollution and the like which together with a number of other boats will contribute to a better overall understanding or the state of the sea and the pollution being caused. Happily, Skyelark 2’s contribution is minimal; organic waste is drop over the side and EVERYTHING else is cut up in sufficiently small pieces to compress into empty milk cartons, these are sealed with gaffer tap. Cans are crushed, glass is stored and all awaits deposit in St Lucia. Quite amazing how little waste is created when you consciously make the effort to do something positive.

‘Father’ and the various sous-chefs will be organising food for ‘service’ to be started at around 6pm. The sun sets either beautifully or not from about 7pm and by 8pm the communal lights are dimmed to red to assist in our night vision and the process of night sailing commences. The noise of sails and winches, shrouds and sheets never stops but fatigue largely overcomes the disturbance as each of us manages to grab a couple of hours sleep between ‘watches’. The night sky varies from brilliance to overcast and the moonlight plays a game of ‘hide and seek’.....and in a few hours time another day begins with a beautiful dawn rising in the east.