At last the rain lets up!
For the last four days everything has been damp, inside and outside the
boat. It rained more or less continuously for nearly three days, the only
advantage of which was that it washed some of the salt out of some of our
things, including the sails, which would not have minded that at all. But
our waterproofs and clothes were doused in sea water some days ago, so will
never be properly dry until they are rinsed in fresh and get some sun on them,
which won't be until we reach Mauritius.
Last nights band of thunderstorms passed in front of us (at least the
Skipper thinks they did - we saw no sign of them). We had a relatively
peaceful night, though we were ready for the threatened squalls.
Wash-boards were in place (we needed them anyway for the rain) and the Skipper
lay prepared to jump out of his bed and straight onto the foredeck or wherever
else was needed. In the event, all was well, and this morning we've shaken
out a reef or two from the genoa, hoisted the mizzen again, and are wondering
when it will be time to put up a bit more mainsail. The sun is out, Norfy
is on lunch - an omelette is promised - and the only fly in the ointment is there
is no fresh food left and the Skipper will be cooking supper this evening.
Under seven hundred and fifty miles to go, so in theory we could arrive in
five days time. Could be six, though; we will keep you posted. And
we will lose another hour today, bringing us ever nearer to you, at UTC plus five
rather than six hours. We should be able to add another 160 miles plus to
our total by the time our 24 hours is up.
All well with us, and best wishes to
everyone,
James, Norfy (Chris) and Alex