Yesterday was Mexican Day. It did not, in fact, involve any mariachi music or hat dances but it did manifest itself in our food: chicken quesadillas for lunch and beef and steak fajitas for dinner, greeted by shouting that at least resembled Spanish. The weather was like Maine in the fall with a crisp breeze, and according to the log, Stuart thought it was time to go back to school. Sam and Pat took advantage of the sun and got sights both in the morning and at noon. Upon advancing their lines of positions from morning to noon both calculations were very close to our actual position, fantastico!
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| Captain Pat |
Late in the afternoon, with the wind gusting in the low 20’s and Pat at the helm, Stu flying the chute and Sam grinding for Stu, we were pegging the speed-o above 10 knots frequently. The game was to get up speed going diagonally across the following seas and then bear off in the gusts to surge down the face of a steep swell. There was a fine point as to when you had enough speed and pressure to bear off before running the chance of broaching. We entertained ourselves for an hour and a half before dinner called, changing roles a couple of times. After 14 days at sea, we are easily entertained! The longer we are at sea, the more appealing movies become. Last night we watched the second half of The Last Waltz (started the night before), and today brought the "Deep Sea" episode of Planet Earth and Pull, a ski movie. We are quickly exhausting our book supply, trading with each other as soon as one is finished to begin the next.
The baked goods keep coming, and every time we open the freezer we find more delicious treasures: mint brownies! Steak! Cookie dough! Sausage! With only a few days to go we only eat the best. Sam reports that we have now covered 2,422 Nautical Miles, with 250 to go. We all admire the chart in awe - we did... THAT? Hopefully Fastnet Rock will be in sight sometime tomorrow night and the competition is on for who will be the first to shout, “LAND HO!” If you are said winner, it is necessary to really bellow it out - you bet your boots it will awaken any not on deck. Keep your fingers crossed for this occurrence in daylight. We are actually starting a betting pool as to the distance until it is spotted. Calculations are illegal, only mental ponderings are fair game.
Ahoy to all our mateys at home, thanks for reading!
The Barra Crew (Post by El with help from Sam on the spinnaker description)
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