Cleone ARC 2024 - SITREP 5
Another slow day
with much too much motoring, but some good sailing. And for one brief moment,
our Latitude and Longitude were the same.
During the
previous twenty four hours despite running the engine for over 7 hours, we
recorded a mere 114 miles run. But all of those miles were along the Great
Circle route towards our target of St Lucia, and now there are a mere 2,225
miles to go! Given that what wind we have had has been fair, and we have enjoyed
either sunshine or clear night skies above us, you might ask what is there to
complain about? In the big scheme of things, nothing. But of course there are
all sorts of niggles, big and small. These divide into two categories; people
niggles and yacht niggles. The latter are on the whole more easily dealt with
than the former and sometimes they overlap.
Aboard Cleone,
people niggles are little things. Clothing and equipment get left around in
places which, although convenient at the time, is sometimes not where they
should be. Chores, range from steering and sailing the yacht to personal
hygiene, and include rigging and fittings inspection, washing up, radio
schedules and writing personal emails. These are basically distractions from the
Main Effort, which is to keep Cleone up to speed, shipshape and sailing in the
right direction. But the small things are all important and must be fitted into
the day. The people niggles fit around these chores and their allocation, and
can be exacerbated by how the individuals feel and how much sleep they have had
versus how much they need. Coping with them is made easy because the crew,
although young, are all old friends. They all speak their minds, and all share
the one quintessential quality for all offshore sailors, a keen sense of
humour!
Although new
ones arise every day, on the whole yacht problems are easier to fix
people-problems. Todays' yacht tasks have included physical measures to try and
reduce wear-and-tear, chafe, and risks when working on deck, changing stowage
plans to take account of newly acquired gear and suggestions from the crew, and
finding the Skipper's reading glasses for him every time he has removed them
from the end of his nose.
Finally, apart
from mentioning yet another vintage dolphin display, here is the Announcement of
the Day for 30th November 2024. At 1127 UTC Cleone's position (albeit
very briefly - Ed) was N22deg51.7min AND W22deg51.7min. For all you doubters out
there, we have photographic evidence to prove it, and will publish it once we
reach St Lucia.
All are well on
board, and all are doing their utmost to conjure up more consistent
winds!
Best wishes and
love to you all,
James,
Francesca, Louisa and Kaya
Yacht
Cleone
At
sea
Position at
1200UTC on 29 Nov 2024: N22deg51min: W022deg53min