Saturday 1st January. 2011
New Year's Day, and we are still at sea.
As the clock stuck midnight, Liam popped the cork on the bubbly and our radio crackled into life as Becky from 'Stardust " wished everyone a "Happy New Year". The chorus of well wishes continued as our small group celebrated bringing in the New Year Atlantic Ocean style. On GWTW we sipped our half glass of chilled champagne whilst dancing under the stars to our old time favorite boppy tune, the Bee Gees's "Alone". Everyone had hoped to be in Barbados for New Years Eve but that wasn't to be. So there will have to be some serious partying once the gang arrives.
The combination of fresh sea air and the first day of January have brought us renewed appetites and today was a day of serious eating.
A hearty breakfast is a great way to celebrate the start of the new year and even though our trusty bbq, Liam's preferred method of cooking, has been in hibernation all this trip, we still managed to cook up the full catastrophe in the galley with lashings of tasty bacon, free range eggs and vine ripened tomatoes washed down with the remainder of our champagne cocktails. Now that certainly kept the wolf from the door for the next few hours. Did I say a few hours? Come late afternoon it was time to put the nose bag on again. Lunch,(like we really needed more food!), was lightly seasoned, gently pan fried, sumptuous fillets of recently caught Mahi Mahi served with crisp potato wedges and a fresh garden salad complete with Sicilian sun dried tomatoes , Greek Feta and luscious mango cheeks. A small glass of fruity Portuguese white wine complemented the meal perfectly. Needless to say no dinner, supper or any other food was required for the remainder of the day.
Our daily mileage runs are getting lower and lower as the winds stay light. What happened to the steady north east trades that were advertised in the brochure !!!
As of this morning's radio sked the distance to run to Barbados of the boats that we are keeping tabs on was "Stardust",( they did jump the gun by 3 days) 82 miles, "No Rehearsal" 120 miles, "GWTW" 231 miles, "Tehani Li" 240miles, and "White Rose" 640 miles.
 |
| Our GPS track shows that we are nearly in Barbados |
It's been another frustrating day out here on the course. Those ahead are reporting 20kt wind speeds and squalls while back here in the "private windless hole" GWTW and Tehani Li" are lucky to be getting 10kts, hardly enough to keep the kite full. We may have to resort to horse power yet again. The sea is very sloppy, making for rolly conditions and with little wind the temperatures are hot. A quick dip in the ocean hasn't been ruled out yet.
Tonight the radar is showing lots of squalls around us, and there are towering clouds with the tell tale signs of rain on the horizon, so as a precaution the kite has come down. We sure don't fancy tearing it at this late stage of the journey. A fresh water boat wash wouldn't go astray and it would be great to fill our water tanks as well.
There were squalls in front and behind us
So for the next little while until the wind starts to fill in again we will be listening to the hypnotic sounds of our trusty yanmar engine thumping away.
No comments:
Post a Comment