Day 5 – Thursday 13 February.

By Cathleen Hughes.

Early morning shifts are always the most difficult because it’s dark, you’re half asleep and boredom is always lurking around the corner. As the previous crew learnt, a cup of tea usually takes the edge off things. During the 3am shift, Lorraine very kindly made herself and her watch partner a cup of tea. She took a sip of her tea and told Rory that hers tasted a bit salty and wanted to know if his was the same. Rory was still half asleep and was so glad to have a cup of tea that he took a huge mouthful, gulped it down and suddenly he realised that it too was very salty and spat the remainder back into his cup. One of the crew members had boiled salt water in the kettle to wash dishes and instead of using it all, they left half a pot. Lorraine then put the kettle on the stove in her sleepy state and made tea with sea water. It was a shock to the system but at least they were awake for their watch.

The first week of a long trip on the ocean always consists of fresh food simply because it doesn’t seem to last longer than one week. So waking up to a bowl of fruit in the galley is a rare occasion and one that needs to be appreciated. There were pears, peaches, bananas and even a complete set of toes. This struck us as a rather odd occurrence because we know everyone on board likes jam but toe jam is just on a completely different level. The top bunk on the port side is one of the shortest bunks on the boat and therefore allocated to the shorter members of the crew. But on this particular day Ashwyn had taken a snooze on the top bunk and as a result of his height his feet stuck out of the bunk, into the galley and unintentionally rested them in the fruit bowl. It provided a rare photo opportunity that we took full advantage of.

For the past few days we have been pawing over the GRIB files trying to decide the best route to take home especially since there has been rumour of a storm developing just to the South of us that is due on Friday night at 21h00. We have had suggestions to go to Tristan de Cunha, an island almost half way between Africa and South America and three degrees below Cape Town. It is much further south than we expected to go which means the temperatures may drop quite low. Also the island does not have a protected harbour, only anchorage spots that are exposed to the weather so going that distance for protection from the weather would be pointless. The decision is still pending.

We put the spinnaker up for four hours today and made some wonderful speed as a result with the boat speed peaking at 10.2 knots. It provided a chance for the newer crew members to get a feel for the Spinnaker and how to handle it. The winds then began to pick up and we took the bag down again as a safety precaution.

Dinner was penne pasta in a tomato and herb sauce with mixed veggies and Brazilian meatballs. Some said the meatballs had a gamey taste while others said it tasted like pork and almost instantaneously the bets started on what meat was used to make the meatballs. There was a wide range including donkey, goat and pig. We also had our first Brazilian dessert which was canned figs and cream. The figs were delicious but sickly sweet and the sugar went straight to the heads of many of the crew members. We then needed tea and coffee to wash down the sweetness but whoever was on kitchen duty made the coffee with two spoons of Jacobs coffee which sent Renier on an energy rush. Rory wasn’t so pleased with the strong coffee and passed his onto to Renier who then had a double dose of extra strong coffee. The crew wasn’t surprised to hear him chatting away throughout the night to his cabin partner Virgil who had also had a cup of this coffee earlier.

During the night the wind picked up to 20 knots which caused us to reef the genoa. Cumulonimbus clouds were developing all around us and we were sure we had come across the storm early. Luckily the clouds kept passing over us and only the winds and the building seas were remaining. Besides all the weather warnings, the crew is holding up well and keeping high spirits. Regular stories are told around the feast area of family and friends and the good times they’ve had over the years.