Wednesday 5th December 2012
1200hrsGMT ( 6th December )- miles is last 24 hours - 196 (1000 miles to go!)
POSITION; 16' 35 N, 43' 47' W
The day does not start well - Annie's noticed a smell from the egg store and on investigation finds maggots all over the egg boxes - an egg had broken, obviously some time ago.......The store is cleared out, eggs all washed and re-stowed - just as the last ones are being put away there's a huge wave and about 3 dozen eggs are launched across the main saloon , straight on to the cushions and floor...Aaaaarrrgghhhhh......the joys of life at sea! The 2nd clean up operation of the day - cushions removed and cleaned up on deck, Gordon on the floor with the kitchen roll, buckets of soapy disinfectant water - McPhail back on water maker duty. Eventually the job is done and we settle down for a very late breakfast of , yes, scrambled eggs. We have a wee beer stop to relax after the carnage of the morning and at the same time hold a crew meeting to discuss outstanding jobs, most pressing of which is sorting out the fankle at the top of the mast so we can regain control of the headsail.
The wind has dropped to under 20 knots so our dashing brave young Nathan volunteers himself, under no pressure whatsoever you understand, for the daunting task ahead. Before he gets a chance to change his mind, Skipper Dad has him strapped into the bosun's chair and makes sure he is securely fastened to double haliards. He also has a lifeline to keep him close to the shrouds and hopefully prevent him swinging out. Up he goes - it's still a rocky rolly sea and it looks very tough up there as he gets battered about the rigging. He manages to unwist the topping lift which has caught round the shackle holding the swivvle to the genoa haliard. Task complete, an exhausted and somewhat bruised Nathan is lowered back down. Annie has taken lots of action shots. He's done a sterling job so the least we can do is make sure he gets the extra chorizo in his paella tonight! Next task is to repair the tear in the headsail with a combination of gaffer tape and sticky sail repair patches. We drop the headsail on the deck, Skipper, Frank and Annie do some neat repairs using the dinghy as the repair table, then Ronnie's arms are nearly pulled from their sockets while re-feeding the sail into the foresay as we re-hoist.
We've gained 1/2 a knot as the headsail is now fully unfurled. In the midst of all this there is another 'hafftle'.(for those who don't remember - 'hooked another fish failed to land')....later when the line is brought in we have hooked a very large eyeball (which we'd be fighting over in the liferaft!). Skipper discovers the boys have hidden his lure as they're afraid he'll win the fishing competition........
Wildlife - some of you will have noted that there has been little reference to wildlife so far, this is because there has been a significant dearth of any sightings of interest - at least until today when Frank spots a large black fin gliding through the water. We also see a large fish chasing flying fish, and a few wee birds - we marvel at what on earth thay can be doing all the way out here......
We've continued to do a steady 8-10 knots throughout the day but at night there's a drop in the wind and it's starting to veer round to SSW. There's a lightening storm, which eventually comes round us - Nathan is concerned that our big mast is a target and asks Gordon what should be done to take avoiding action , "pray" is the reply........By dawn the sea is much flatter, 8-10 knots wind and we're crawling along at 7 knots - much debate as to where we go from here...............