Day 5 – Wednesday 08 January 2020
By Mika Wessels
Waking up at 00:00 in the morning to do a two hour shift is sometimes difficult, but that’s when Josh and I have our shift. For the last couple of days it has been quiet. The wind has turned itself down a couple of notches these last two days, such that we have only managed to cover a third or fourth of the distance we usually do in a day. What that makes for is two youngsters lying in the cockpit in their sleeping bags and kept awake by their duty to be on watch and with the constant flogging of the sails due to the rocking movement of the waves. On those types of days the highlight of the evening is the hot chocolate and tea that Josh makes for both us and the pair on watch after us (Nick and Max). It’s also what keeps us together for a little while longer before we head off to bed at the end of our watch.
The sun then arrived to see most of the crew (except those on watch) turn around to a dark corner of their bunks and seek some more shuteye. The wind stayed quiet, which lead to another day lazing around on deck. To spice up our lives a bit Ewan decided to do a spontaneous rig inspection and was hoisted up the mast and fortunately found that all was up to his standards. The only thing he found lacking was the wind speed, which unfortunately is one of the few things that us scouts can’t fix, no matter how much duct tape we have. One of the positives that the lack of speed brings and can result in a wonderful event for the day is that of fishing. The sound of a reel spinning is a is phenomenon that reaches the darkest and furthest corners on board and wakes up even those who are sound asleep. A horde of lads suddenly appears on deck as they sprung up from every nook and cranny, like mosquitos to a light. It was all hands on deck. The thrill of the chase took hold of all of us. The way we fought that thing and took it in was a piece of art, the crew working in coordination with high spirits with Josh on the fishing rod and Max on the gaff. With all the might we could muster we reeled in a beautifully blue Dorado with just enough meat to provide the crew with a decent supper. “Extraordinary” commented our resident chef Dom in anticipation of cooking this wonderful fish. After all the hard work of catching, filleting and braaing the fish, we deserved some rest and relaxation. With our low boat speed we then threw out a rope and decided to jump in and have a swim. Watching the boat trailing you a few metres behind it with the relatively cool, refreshing and ever-blue Atlantic surrounding you on all sides with absolutely nothing else in sight is a remarkable feeling that is difficult to describe. It’s one of those moments that are so personal and delicate that you’ll keep it close to your heart forever.
The crew had an absolute blast swimming with Max being the most adventurous while Daniel and Matt kindly kept the boat on course and safely under control during their time on watch while the rest of us were having a jol. After a race around the hull to the bow with Nick and Dom, Max then decided to go on a hunt to find the impeller near the keel that measures our speed through the water and runs the boat’s log. It took several snorkelling attempts before he found his target and then apparently managed to spin it round to check that it was indeed working properly. Later in the afternoon we put up the hammock chair again and had a blast of a time being rocked around by the waves, suspended in mid-air, giving even the rowdiest cowboys a run for their money. Night then came, mellowing all the sharp edges that the sun had exposed during the day and giving them a different kind of beauty that was promoted by the ensuing silence.
