Adina - One that got away.

Day 12 - St Andrew’s day - 14 degrees 01’N 34 degrees 35’W
We continue to head west and have just over 1500 miles to go. With trade winds of 15-20 kts behind us we are well set up, still wing-on-wing, and may not need to gybe again until 12th December. We are crossing the Gambia Abyssal Plain - a mere 5000m deep!
Carole and Pete have finished their whodunnit audiobooks - SPOILER ALERT - it was Ashleigh!
Our fresh water rationing regime is going well and we are yet to need the watermaker - sea water is being used to initially do the washing up and this has resulted in an additional bonus freshwater shower day for the crew yesterday.
Mid Atlantic Marmalade - homemade at Laundry Cottage in Scotland - has been well received by the crew, especially on fresh bread made by the breadmaker.
Power consumption is being closely monitored by Andrew (at all times) but the combination of the Watt&Sea and solar panels are generating over 500 Amp hours per day. The Watt&Sea - called Mona Lisa as she moans all day to those sleeping in the aft cabin - is doing a great job generating power and so far the generator has not been needed.
Lucy - the hydrovane - continues to steer us straight and true, waving at the sun and moon as the miles tick by.
Our minor Genoa sail repair we carried out two days ago has held up well, but we will continue to closely monitor it’s condition. The spinnaker is yet to leave it’s bag and if this wind continues it is likely to stay on deck. Andrew was dismayed to see a washing line had appeared on deck when he came on watch but accepted the additional sail area benefited the crew overall.
White cabbage appears to be long life champion fresh vegetable of our trip - 12 days in and it’s still as good as the day we brought it.
Pete has continued to deploy his culinary imagination and Andy has had an unsuccessful close encounter with a big fish that took out all his 100lbs fishing line and then broke it, escaping for another day - we have now developed a procedure for slowing the boat down to help us land fish - he’ll try again another day.
Since our Pilot Whale inspection we have not seen any wildlife apart from birds which we continue to name - none of us thought about the benefit of a bird book. West of 34 W we have noted the presence of floating seaweed - strange that we did not see it further east.
Beard growing is continuing but a number of the crew are starting to get fed up with the itching.
Overall we are all fit and well and have started dipping into our tinned food, which will be helping to lighten the load and lift Adina out of the water.
#adventuresofadina