Speed: 7.7 knots @ 260.02°
Position at: 05 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
Lat/Lon: 22° 12.53 N, 041° 6.14 W
DTF: 1261.9 NM
3rd in Racing B
Well, no sooner had we pressed 'send' on yesterdays Blog, high on the adrenelin of catching another large fish, but disaster struck. A squall and high wave combination, and our spinnaker tore in half. We scrambled to bring it down and put up 2 replacement sails but consequently lost speed over night.
This morning - which is technically Day 11 at sea not Day 10 but seemingly one of us cant add up - started bright and remained hot all day. The sea was relatively calm and some of the older members of the crew took the opportunity to sleep through most of the day, recharging run down batteries/avoiding chores/whimpering etc.
Come this evening, the wind has dropped considerably, and conscious to maintain our pace, we pulled our secret weapon - Mr Norris - out from his hiding place under the bunk in the forward berth. Mr Norris is a replacement spinnaker of significant proportions. He is not easy to handle but when controlled delivers great forward thrust. Just what we need. Whilst we have covered a great deal more than half of the actual distance to St Lucia, 2,700 miles, we are today technically half way there. Our progress having been impaired by the influence of the gale and unhelpful winds, we are now on a direct course to the island. Our only major outstanding hurdle - we believe - is an area of High pressure ahead that could see winds drop to nothing. Much debate today as to whether we should circumnavigate the area by going North, adding more distance, but in the end we decide to plough on and drop to the South if we needed to.
Other news, the suspected outbreak of scurvy amongst crew in the rear cabin turned out just to be a combination of mild indigestion and dry skin and we believe we may have identified the source of a particularly nasty smell of decaying plankton which it turns out wasn't anybody's wet gear after all, but a blocked drain.
