Faced with a blank screen, I always sit here wondering what would be of interest to the folks at home. I never quite know how much technical sailing information to include or how much to focus on life aboard. Looking over the blogs I realise that it might seem that we are (or I am) obsessed with food and once again I start with a report on the Juno diet.
Stephen was in charge of breakfast and took full advantage of the flat calm conditions. He deviated from the menu to surprise us with toasted bacon and egg sandwiches! The magnitude of the appreciation cannot be measured on the conventional gratitude scales. The two Keiths turned out an impressive Bolognese last night with plenty for seconds. Also, the elaborate game of hide the tea bags' has ended and normal hot beverage services have been resumed.
The crew have been engaged in fantasies relating to that first alcoholic drink ashore. Findlay, Teatime, Keith, Dave and Jay - a pint of Stella; Stephen and Vernon -a pint of real ale; Jim - rum and coke; Axel - gin and tonic; Theo - a glass of Cabernet; Keith (W) - a glass of Rioja. So in short... If, as we come alongside, anyone can sort out seven pints of anything wet and four fruit-based drinks the Juno boys will be over the moon. We are nothing if not easy to please.
We tacked away from our previous bearing sometime in the night, I was already asleep but heard the familiar sounds above. The engine must have been switched on some time after. Jay, Axel and I stood the 6.00pm - 9.00pm watch. This is my favourite pattern because it is followed by 3.00am - 6.00am. This means that you get to see sunset and then sunrise. When we came back on watch we could see two trawlers both in the distance, identified by their lights (green over white). We passed quietly to the east of them. These were the first vessels our watch had seen since leaving the Azores.
When our watch finished I came down to look at the chart. The North Atlantic Ocean chart had been replaced by the more detailed Western Approaches to the English Channel. chart. At 0644 (local time) we had run 1120 miles from Horta and were at 49'' 08' N 008'' 33' W, approximately 125 miles South West of Land's End. The computer estimates another forty three hours to the Needles at the current speed.
The winds are still light and the engine is on. Findlay has very cleverly rigged up an autopilot, by lashing the wheels together with some spare rope. We plan to get some cleaning done while it is still flat and calm. VG.
