Skip decided at 3am that a sail change was required so a moonlit drop of the genoa and hoist of the parasailor was performed. 5.30am saw the main sail being lowered as we seek for the ultimate sail plan......and everyone said this would be simple downwind sailing!!
8.30am martin prepared scrambled eggs with hot bread, jam, and coffee for the majority of the crew who were awake. Top Job. Then to the commissioning of the washing machine...no simple task. Take six blokes,one new washing machine, one french instruction manual and one spanish bottle of Ariel and what do you get? A challenge. Solved easily of course...about two hours later.
Then all hands on deck for the lowering of the parasailor as the spinnaker pole was to be moved over to the port side. A small tear was noted on the wing of the parasailor so the needle and thread came into action before a succesful re-hoisting. Bread, cheese, ham and pickles for lunch and just as the ring-pulls on the ice cold beers were clicked back the fishing line started to run. It does have this knack of taking off just as we sit down to eat. Anyway, I was given the honour and succesfully landed a 4/5 lbs Dorado to add to the young wahoo fish caught after dinner the previous night. Phil has certainly mastered the art of Atlantic fishing as our boat total for succesfully landed fish reaches 5.
Everyones spirits remain high as we continue to make good progress in the race. Still 2nd in our class and just about holding on to the top 20 overall which is certainly exceeding our expectations. Fingers crossed we can keep it up. Rob is in great form and regularily climbs the saloon steps to enjoy a cigar in the cockpit. He has taken to holding up his marker board with 'FWA' printed in large initials accompanied by a broad grin and a thumbs up. We know the 'A' stands for 'awesome' but remain unsure about the preceding letters. We think it best left this way.
Another spectacular sunset ends the day with the smell of my good lady wifes preprepared sweet and sour pork wafting up from the galley. It will soon be time for the night shifts to begin and the now heavily suntanned crew members will await the next performance enhancing instruction from our ever competitive skipper. Its a tough life!
Love to all back home
Andy
Glad your all safe and enjoying your trip!
ReplyDeletevery jealous back in rainy leeds!
sending love to all- especially papa..you'll be glad to hear i am actually working and got a first in one of my essays last week
see you when you get back and hope everything goes swimmingly
lots of love
Mimi xx
Great diary! we are so enjoying your adventure
ReplyDeletethe beauty of being mid-adlantic with the sail power,the waves, stewart up the mast, your shark free dip and the excitement of catching those fish is inspiring. Over halfway and second in the fleet - wow, keep up with the cooking and the french washing! Can't throw any light on FWA though, will keep you posted. Can you give us a clue Rob? love Tesa, Ken and Nola xxx
Hi - I've just got it!! : "FULL WIND AHEAD!" and I hope you are referring to the speed of the boat and not 'the heads' which on shared fanily holidays used to be called 'nuclear disaster areas' by John Remfrey. Hope I've got it right Rob, bet I have, amazing what a cigarette by the fire can do for getting a brainwave. Any prizes for guessing right? love Tesa
ReplyDeleteNow I can't figure why the skipper went up the mast...isn't that what the crew is for? As for the washing machine...is this a sail boat or what? Best of luck to Stuart and the crew on this super maiden voyage. Philip, Constance and family.
ReplyDeleteJean says...
ReplyDeleteGreat to read blog and get idea of day to day activities.Sounds very relaxing with odd exertion when Stuart wants more speed.
Culinary delights as well-perhaps you will all want to keep going and not return to real life at all!!
Glad Rob managing a cigar or two-hope the supplies kep up.Are the pumps doing their job OK?
Not missing much here-rain,rain,rain ...
Lots of love
a very good blog giving a flavour of your life aboard Jasmina.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure Phil is catching these fish - as i remember a very good Dorada in Gran Canaria!!
Have you a freezer as well as washing machine?
Peter Madden
This is a message from holly faj because she doesn't have an account:
ReplyDeleteAhoy there Sailors!
Looks like life is pretty dandy out there. I am seriously jealous of your tans, it is vile back here! Glad to hear that your success in catching the fishies is just as much a shock to you as it is to us! Of course the pictures show the little blighters in all their glory, we were beginning to think you were just feeding us with lies to save you the embarassment of yet ANOTHER sailing trip with very little caught. Though I am sure 5 fish makes up for 8 years of little more than a bite!lol!
Clairey is revising hard for exams. I have just enacted 'a pregnant teenager, who is 33 weeks gone', the things you do for your housemates hey! Kate is in Newcastle for hopefully the last week and I am still stacking shelves!
Hope the banter is flowing and you are not getting too fat from the mums cooking.
Look forward to seeing you when your back
Lots of love
Hol xxx
P.s Not sure if you have seen the news, but some british sailors were taken hostage of the Iranian coast. We were rather worried that your chief navigator had taken a wrong turning!
Great news on your progress! I am very envious, a far cry from Solent sailing back here!
ReplyDeleteI have been reading the blogs (slightly edited in places!) to my crew/children- three of them, all under 7! They love it - I have explained we will do this one day! Despite the sailing and adventure, smallest one, (Arthur, 2 and a bit) is very concerned to know whether you have a RiB for whizzing around on tucked away somewhere?!!
Sorry to hear about the cruising chute, but glad to hear you got it sorted. Hope the Parasailor is just as good.
Look forward to more instalments - as do the kids as it's much more fun than normal bedtime stories!!
Best wishes
Julian