BLISS !

At last! Wonderful sailing. No purple patches on the radar, a steady F4 on the beam, full sail and ‘munching the miles’ at a sprightly 7 knots. We even have some patches of blue sky. All is well again.

Stephen, who crewed on the Trans-Atlantic to the Caribbean, contributed so entertainingly to the blogs, adding some levity to my sterile sailing centric accounts. He has clearly read about my tardiness in relieving Barry from his watch and has offered this advice in an Email:-

Dear Barry,
So sorry to hear that ‘He who shall not be named’ has slept through your attempts to rouse him. Being late on watch was a lashing offence on the last trip so I expect to see the pictorial evidence shortly.
In the meantime here are a few suggestions to help:-

1. The 69th Psalm at volume 10
2. Any Gregorian chant at volume 10
3. Dancing a jig on the Emperor sized bed whilst whistling a sea shanty.
4. Whispering ‘hello darling fancy a quick one’ into his shell like.
5. Putting matches between his toes lighting them and retreating to the cockpit.
6. Shouting ‘water in the bilges’.
7. Bucket of sea water launched through the hatch which can be blamed on a freak wave.
8. Leaving the kettle to boil after easing open the Palace door.
9. Flare gun discharged into the Royal Apartments.
10. ‘Happy’ at maximum volume over the speaker system.
11. “OGGIE OGGIE OGGIE!” which did have the effect of raising ‘The Master’ very spectacularly last time.

If you need any help don`t forget. Hejira Ensures Long Passages Made Easily
Me jealous …as if!
Safe passage
Stephen

There is little doubt that Stephen would have joined us in a flash had it not been for the wedding of his daughter, Amelia this Saturday. We hope it goes well and congratulations to the happy couple – apologies for my absence.

It is heartening to note that the blog is being read but the downside is that Helen, Barry’s wife, is now concerned about his nose so he has asked me to mention that it is much better now.

The weather and sea state has continued to settle and we are enjoying not having to scan the radar for the next approaching squall. The auto, set to steer to the wind has not alarmed as it had been doing continuously as another wind shift accompanied the rain. There is very little traffic with only Relentless and Awol showing on AIS and radar. We felt sufficiently relaxed that we even watched a film before starting our watches. I had never seen ‘Midnight Cowboy’ so now another of the many shortfalls in my education has been plugged.

Nick