Johanem - Shooting Stars and Land (very nearly) ahoy.....

I am sure that each of us will include the sky at night on our list of highlights from this trip .... we have spent hours trying to identify the constellations, tell the time from the stars, work out just how large the universe is and, of course, wonder how many other planets have intelligent life and how many of them have "people" bobbing about in a boat looking up to their sky to see us! To top it all, last night we were treated to one of the most spectacular displays of shooting stars that any of us have seen. Apparently, Dec 6 to 16 is the best time of the year to spot Shooting Stars, and the Atlantic has to be the best place to see them... on our watch last night we must have seen 25 or so, one or two leaving massive trails in the sky. A fantastic finale to our time on board.

And it should be a finale because, if all goes well (and as we know, it rarely does), this will be our last night at sea.... As I type this, sat in the global telecommunications center, we have a mere 114 miles to go, which the computer tells us should take another 19 hrs 23 mins and 47 seconds. Unfortunately the wind has died again so we have had to resort to the engine for a while... though we fully intend to sail across the finishing line if nothing else! We have decided to push on under mechanical power in order to ensure that we do not miss a Saturday night of parties - the thought of other crews enjoying ice cold pints and rum punches without us is just too much to bare... That and the fact that there is a special Kareoke party which Nick says we have to attend! By special request (i.e. Nick), the Johanem "Voices of Angels" Choir will be putting on a special one-off performance of all of the old favorites including "Oh Danny Boy", "Jerusalem", "The Boxer", "Good King Wenceslas", "I Dont Want to Join the Army" and "Summer of 69" which should ensure that there isn't a dry eye in the house. Hopefully the Choir's CD and DVD Christmas specials will be with you in time to give your Christmas celebrations that extra boost....

Guessing that this will be my last blog, I would like to thank Nick and Boo for being the perfect hosts, the Motley for being great company, Johanem for being so tolerant of our schoolboy errors at the helm, and all our family and friends for humouring us as we undertook this rather bizarre way to have fun.

Ian