1st December, 1999
And here is the news from the middle of the Atlantic. Since my last e-card, we have now been at sea for almost 14 days, sailed 1,520 miles towards Antigua and have 1,118 to go. The only trouble is we were supposed to be nearly there by now. Hmm.
We did pass the 25% and the 50% marks and were going to have our next treat but because the boat was at a particularly silly angle (which is where it has been since my last mail) no-one really fancied the cake. As for the smoked salmon and steak, it just didn't seem right to eat it out of a clutched bowl, in the dark, with the boat and all things in her doing a cross between the twist, jive, polka and Johnny Rotten's punk rock head bang. So we've decided to wait until things become a little more civilised before treating ourselves. We did drink the champagne though :)
The wind has been 15 to 25 knots either on the nose or just south of it, meaning we have had to beat and tack all the way. Tacking across the Atlantic is just not cricket! Absolutely NOT what was in the brochure. Not a hint of a trade wind anywhere.
Sleeping has been interesting. I'm on the top bunk with about five feet to climb up into it - and to fall out of it. There is a clever mechanism where you tie a piece of specially designed sail cloth up to the "ceiling" to stop you falling out. With the boat at an angle, the mattress and cloth form a kind of V shape in which you bounce up and down and sort of roll up hill to the bulkhead and then crash back down again. Eventually, you bang your head on the ceiling, knock yourself out - hey presto - sleep!
Cooking is fun too. There you are, happily chopping things up, kind of wedged between the engine room door and work surface - you turn your head for a second to get something and whoomph - your veg is on the floor and your head is stuffed in a cupboard. I have a permanent dent in the top of my head where it has connected with the extractor hood.
The loo. It's a race to see who gets to the seat first, you or the toilet lid, as you stand on your head trying to hang on with one hand, get your shorts into an appropriate position, keep your feet stuck to the floor (wet and slippery). And then, when you've made it to the loo seat, the lid gets you again in the back. A most entertaining experience.
It all sounds a bit trying, but as you all know me, you will know I really am having a lovely time. This is FUN!
Weather forecasts are for the wind to back around to an easterly today. The GPS is predicting we will arrive somewhere between the 11th and 13th December which is not very handy for my flight leaving on the 12th December. Will keep you posted.
Everyone is in very good spirits in certain knowledge that we will get there... eventually!
Danimal