1920hrs
Well since 2000hrs last night we have been becalmed int he middle of the Atlantic. The 'wind' is here slightly now so we're doing... JUST OVER 2 KNOTS... Last night we came up for watch at midnight and the sea was dead calm, with a non-exsistent horizon. Very very strange. The previous watch had only done 3 miles in 4 hours, so we didnt exactly have high hopes. We centred the rudder & tied it in place so there was no need to helm. Then the 4 hours ensued...
At 0100 it was log time (however the actual log hadn't moved since 2000 or earlier) I accidently shone the little white LED torch at the water and discovered this set off the phosphoresence! So that created a good 30 mins of entertainment for everyone. Next came spitting/dragging a rope/pouring tead etc. to create beautiful patterns in the water. It really was stunning and its a memory I will not forget for a very long time. The stars were exquisite and the milky way was a celestial cloud reflected in the satin water (could I get any more poetic? debateable)
We then found the red torch and made shadow puppets on the sail, Nele then took night portraits of everyone. Spaghetti next! I also though quite a few low stars were ships as we couldnt actually tell where the horizon was. Oh and we saw the waning moon set, it was cool to see as the dark side was visible. It turned orange and looked like a dissapearing yacht with its sail lit up. Total mileage? 4
Today...
Well the water was flat... flat, flat, flat! Calmer than it had been in the Bay of Biscay in 2006. After much deliberation (and following ship cleaning as it was indeed Thursday... Cleaning Day!) it was decided that we would be allowed to go swimming at 1400hrs. It was the most fun I think all of us hadd had in ages! However as we had 2, 1.5m Barracuda circling the ship since 1300 we were constantly on the look out... also for Portugese Man O'wars as an encounter with one of those would not be pleasant. But I took loads of photos of people jumping in and under the water using Seamus' water proof camera.
We finally got out of the water at 1530ish. I then played Phase 10... a bizarre day as we didnt move towards Bermuda at all... we just sat. It was a lot like sitting by the swimming pool, playing cards/sunbathing. No one at the helm. 35C in the shade, and a lot of sunburn going on. No epic peelage (touch wood) Almost too hot to eat at 1800UTC... because of course we're going back in time so we're geographically speaking 2 and a half hours behind. I'm sitting here at 2000hrs and the sun is no where near setting. Nele and I are sleeping on deck until nightwatch as its obscenely hot below decks. I'll write if anything amazing happens on night watch...
Ciao for now!
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