Stop the presses

At 23:44 yesterday evening the skipper not only found the kettle, he actually put it on and made a brew!  Why is this so odd? We have been on board the boat since 1 October and it is the first time it has happened!

This down wind sailing malarky is a bit of a breeze - we have got this gybing stuff well and truly sorted out and we can now do it under 60 minutes, if we really concentrate, and this includes stopping half way through for a brew!  We got the idea after seeing steam coming out of the skippers ears ie steam equals tea!

This was really put to the test tonight when a huge squall came through (apparently- as the authors of this blog were safely tucked up in their respective bunks) and the guys on deck had wind, rain, skipper's shouted commands to get the spinnaker down, get the foresail poled out and put up the staysail (the sail between the mainsail and the foresail) all in about 20 minutes - as the guys wanted to get off deck by the end of their watch, and decided to forego their brew.  However, all the crew had to help pack away the wet spinnaker which meant that by the end we were all wet.

We are now nearing Barbados and looking forward to the first case of cold beer - each.  We have champagne in the fridge and would you Adam and Eve it the fridge has packed in - so only semi cold champagne to look forward to  We rufty tufty sailors have a really tough life.

Morale is high and our mental state is good.  We sing " the wheels on the bus go round and round" with the hand actions, obviously.  We hear the skipper saying "muppets" under his breath - he may need counselling when we get to Bardados - but it won't be anything we have done.  But one sign is him at the pointy end of the boat (does anyone know what it is called?) first staring into the water and then taking photos of it  What is that all about?

All in all we think we have been a brilliantly efficient crew- quite capable of sailing in all sorts of conditions.  As long, of course, that Duggie, Julian and Rory (the 3 proffesionals) are there to yell at us which bit of blue rope to pull in or let out!

On a serious note - on behalf of everyone who has sailed on Diana on this epic adventure - we give our heartfelt thanks to Duggie, Julian and Rory for looking after us, making the trip such a pleasure and getting to Barbados(or at least, 50 miles away) safely.

Finally - hi to all the crew who have been on the previous bits of the trip.  We still talk about you and the various incidents!  We hope that you have enjoyed these blogs.

Hope all is well for everyone at home and for Juno, Minerva and Isis.

Jim and Rowena