Hi Everyone,
Firstly the great news, we have now passed the 1000 mile mark and in doing so have completed a third of this leg. Due to this the skipper kindly rewarded us by allowing us to help clean the boat (I never previously realised how useful cotton buds can be when circum-navigating the world!)
Whilst cleaning the boat, we encountered a few problems. Stephen managed to throw Bruce's yachting monthly magazines overboard, thinking they were rubbish, when in fact Bruce had not even started reading them yet. At one point,I thought, if I did not look busy, I would be going overboard as well, hence my writing this email.
Stephen apologised, and did the only thing gentlemanly, offered Bruce a beer!
Whilst sailing I have had the opportunity to read a few books, at the moment I am reading Robin Knox Johnstons story. He was the first person to single handily circum-navigate the world. During reading this book I have come to realise how well equipped Kasuje is and having the time to be able to actually tidy the yacht is a privilege. Just having a wash was a task in itself for Robin, he used to dive in off the bow and then get back on the boat via the stern whilst the boat was moving, then he would apply the soap and to rinse himself would again dive off the front of the boat.
After completing the first 1000 miles of the journey, the crew has realised that we are heading further and further into no mans land. As half way between the Marquesas and the Galapagos islands is, we think, the furthest distance on Earth from land. Does anyone have any other suggestions of a more remote spot? This has further been re-iterated by not having seen another boat, plane or other signs of human activity for five days. We have seen however, many flying fish and birds and last night for about 10 hours we had the pleasure of an extra guest on board in the shape of a booby bird sitting on our pole (it does sound like a tabloid headline for a Peter Stringfellow club!). The Red footed Booby perched in the same place for the whole night and then set off again in its hunt for fish in the early hours of this morning.
Today we have made slightly slower progress as the wind has slightly dropped and also its' position has made it difficult to set our sails to work optiminally whilst maintaining our course. This slower pace does make doing work on the boat a lot easier, and gives us more time to appreciate the wonders of the Pacific ocean.
All the best to everyone,
Kind regards,
Ruby, Skipper Steve and crew.