TNS456 11/02/2016 

Today, all but two of the voyage crew have gone off in skiffs around the mangroves of Drake Bay. All of the permanent crew and the two remaining voyage crew have spent the day working. I would just like to highlight the amount of work carried out by the crew behind the scenes, that few people get to see or appreciate. The fore T’gallant sail is off the yard and mostly in Godfrey’s lap whilst he sews and carries out repairs to it. Barbara & Ali have spent all day splicing new fore T’gallant sheets, involving splicing spectra rope, whipping and milking the rope into its correct rigging for the mended sail. The Chief Engineer Shiny prepared the crew and equipment for a full blackout drill which involved stopping the main generators and preventing the emergency generator from starting, demonstrating to the other crew how hot it really is in the engine room and how dark, with no power, before restarting one of the generators. The other engineer Gaz has had Matt the Cadet under his wing all day, checking the engines, bilge alarms, restocking the bar (essential when the rabble get back regaling us with tales of wildlife & mangrove stories) along with other maintenance snags off the job list. The watertight doors have all been tested, tested and tested again it seems to me by the noise of the bells all afternoon.
Chris, (our new Bosun’s Mate) having helped tighten the shrouds and backstays yesterday, literally spent all day serving the bottle screw threads to protect the steel from damage. His hands are covered in tarred marlin off the string, delightful.
Ben has been epoxying the outside of the hull whilst we are at anchor and relatively calm. Rowan has spent all day staring at charts making corrections so we don’t get lost or mistake an explosive dumping ground for a safe anchorage. Our Medical Purser Carol, on top of the normal amount of laundry she has to do, has also washed and rehung all the shower curtains from the entire ship, cleaned all the shower floors and checked her drug cupboard. Emily, our other Bosun’s Mate has spent all day sanding the fiferail by hand, ready for a new coat of varnish. Ali, the cook, has spent all day, mostly on her own, preparing another supper which will no doubt be eaten on deck, watching the sun go down in the west.
The two voyage crew haven’t had a complete day off, we scrubbed the upper mess floor, caught some rays on the foredeck and joined the crew for a quick dip to inspect the ship’s hull from bow to stern ahead of lunch. Everyone really has worked very hard to keep Tenacious ‘shipshape’ and many thanks to them for their endeavours behind the scenes today, and for the rest of this voyage.
Louise & Fiona – who have tours booked around the mangroves, once this voyage is complete, that’s why we didn’t go today 🙂 Brace yourselves for the wildlife count to follow shortly.
Fwd. Stbd & Aft Port