3 February 2011
We have now into our thirteenth day at sea and it is beginning to seem like a long time. I suspect that some of the others feel that too for I have noticed in the daily roll call that they have begun to use the engine more. Yesterday for the first time since day three a no. 5 appeared in the 'wind' column on, our log sheet. It felt fast and exciting and I got the definite feeling that Voyageur knew she was on the home straight. With the twins flying she is beautifully balanced with an easy motion. As her bow carves deep into an oncoming wave she means business. If the promise of Salvador wasn't so enticing I would almost be sorry to see the end of this passage but of course it doesn't last. By late afternoon the wind has once more become a mere zephyr and she glides along struggling to maintain four to five knots. At this rate we will never get there. Alas, it is time once more to deploy the iron sail.....
At this stage I start to fantasize about land life, about ice cream, a thick juicy steak (very rare), a full night's sleep, clean bed linen, fresh towels, dressing up for a night out, sharing sundowners with friends, a nightcap in the cockpit under the stars, and ..... INTERNET. Ah! The internet! We have three weeks to chill, not in the physical sense though, for believe me as we edge closer to the Equator it has become fiercely hot, but to gather ourselves together for the final long passage of the trip, Recife to Grenada, a distance of 2080nm.
Today we had our last two oranges from South Africa. But we are still enjoying salads with iceberg lettuce also bought there, a month ago now. But most amazing of all is a bag of onions, stored in the bilge, still in perfect condition, and lasting all the way from Richards Bay, in the early part of November! I have made two important discoveries. As an experiment I froze red and green sweet peppers with astonishing success so from now on we may never go without. I put bananas in the fridge in a lidded plastic box. Now two weeks later they are still in the condition that they were purchased and have not turned black. They would easily last at least another two weeks. Why has it taken me six years of cruising to discover this? As with our arrival in St. Helena, Voyageur has been given the once over and apart from a couple of loads of laundry we are quite ready. The floors are washed, the heads and galley cleaned. We feel rested and ready to hit the fleshpots of Salvador City which I have heard tell is a very interesting place indeed. That just leaves the laptop to be fixed and to put David up the main and mizzen masts for a rigging check for one final time on this trip, having just added another 3700nm of ocean passage making.
The SSB radio net has become much more orderly and efficient in the past few weeks. There are still those who do not wish or perhaps forget to participate but at least should a problem arise there are enough of us checking in to hear and perhaps offer help. There was a time not all that long ago when it was just Bevs from Tucanon and myself. These days neither of us can get a word in edgeways! It doesn't need to be a long drawn out affair either as John from Tzigane proved last night. He completed the roll call in 9 minutes, surely a rally record!
Susan Mackay