17/11/12 - Lord Nelson

Day 30 17th Nov

It was a hot and steamy night and sleep was hard to be had. No funny ideas – it’s bloomin’ hot. Emergency fan measures have been drafted in normally only used for drying sails. There’s a very large caterpillar coming out of the galley (not livestock on broccoli but the extraction hose for the foc’sle heat). Opportunity knocked an hour ago in the form of a volunteer needed to help hose down the decks, so I quickly slipped into a swimming costume and oh dear accidentally squirted both me and lots of willing sunbathing volunteers with lovely warm seawater. All in the call of duty of course. A relaxing yoga session on the deckhouse roof completed a welcome afternoon off. Aft Starboard are now on the 4-6pm Dog watch, Richard is ably helming us under sail going 5 knots, lookouts are doing their best but there’s not a lot except seaweed and occasional flying fish around us. A crew of pink pressganged paint chippers are still working hard preparing the Aft deckhouse for new paint, having had the night in bed in lieu of watchkeeping. Actually a night watch is the best place to be now as there’s a lovely warm breeze on the bridge compared to a sauna down below. PJs and any warm clothing are now as useless as a chocolate teapot. After motoring last night and going 8 knots it is lovely to see the masts full of 'white’ flappy things against a partly blue & cloudy sky even if we are only going 4-5 knots. John T is currently talking to himself on the stern (Sam did ask him to record a video diary), Big Al’s Father Christmas laugh can be heard from the starboard lookout, Luke is involved so the mischievous marines are clearly plotting some dastardly deed. There are reputedly a few murder game victims still alive. The tuna caught the other day was shared for aperitifs & we all hope to catch more soon. Aft Stbd signin out – Sue, John T, Mick, Richard, Noel, Steve, Luke & Al.