Horta is not yet on the horizon but the crew can sense it is getting closer. Ocean habits are starting to form, the little things mean a lot and everyday more and more sailing experiencing is gained. Here are the latest thoughts and observations from the FCS crew on Challenger 2
Skipper’s Midday Report
Date :17 January 2018
Time : 12:00 GMT
Position :36.58.33 89 N 44.41.81 W
Destination Horta
ETA 21 January
Morning all
The wind has dropped as predicted and we are still motoring, it looks as though this will continue today and possibly part of tomorrow before we pick up the southerly winds on the leading edge of the Azores high, this should be quite a ride to finish our voyage to Horta with, crew are briefed and exited to be having our first gale to sail in.
Its been quite relaxed as we motor along in flat seas, everyone has had a shower the boat smells nice J, bread and cakes have been made in significant quantities.
Plans are underway for ‘dinner in the storm’ along with heavy weather tactics. I haven’t yet had the heart to inform them that the forecast has now changed, instead of 35 – 40 kts we are now only expecting 20 – 25 but a plan is a plan so we will stick to it, all be it in less wind.
We are also doing well in inventing recipes that involve sweetcorn; we haven’t quite managed to sneak it in to breakfast but are working on it, the overall idea is that by the time we get back to the UK we will have less than a years supply on board, the mountain of jam however is not going down at all, the 5000 tea bags are slowly going but we have a rebellious crew that are insisting on drinking herbal tea.
One major systems failure happen yesterday as the Starboard heads toilet brush lost its head and was briefly stuck in the bottom of the pan, thankfully Howard (the brush breaker) acted quickly and removed the brush using pliers thereby avoiding potentially embarrassing moments.
The sun is still shining by day, night skies are starry (if a little colder), crew still smiling and the sea is still wet Challenger 2 is a very happy boat J.
Regards
Neil, Skipper, Challenger 2
Horta Here We Come
The fact that we have a little over 900nm to go has made everyone very cheery, that combined with the sunshine and the occasional visit from dolphins has meant we have had a great 6 hour watch. Baked potatoes and beans for lunch and the afternoon to catch up on sleep and the pile of Christmas books. Looking forward to getting to Horta for a beer and a chat with everyone at home.
Lots of love speak to you from Horta (probably Sunday) X
Nick
Mate, Challenger 2
Tips Kisses to the Sea
Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance concluded that it is the travelling that counts, not arriving. There can be no better way to travel than cross oceans and deal with whatever comes your way and work with the elements. The sense of freedom is immense. It’s a privilege and pleasure to be part of this team and shared endeavour. In the words of Awolnation – SAIL!!! Or maybe Motor as we are currently.
Update from Iain Blair, 1830 UTC Tuesday: motoring at approx. 8 kts on 084 to Horta which is 900 nm to the East.
ETA Sunday. All is well. Daytime pleasantly sunny, nights cooler. Regards IB >jab et al – Evening Watch: Sun faded to the left/ Orion, belt tilted/ Tips kisses to the sea. xxx (after MB)
Hey Lesley!
A busy morning for our watch, starting off with a brief overview that we would be changing one of the foresails and tidying the sail locker. Whilst preparing for this a half dozen, dolphins/porpoise turned up, of course the Go Pro was down below, so went to the bow to have a look just for the sheer joy of watching the cheeky little blighters have good fun dancing in our bow wave, but little was I suspecting that there was another cheeky little blighter on the wheel at the same time!.
So after managing to turn away from a few splashes coming at me over the bow whilst watching the porpoise leaping around, Tony managed to find a wave and stuff the nose of the boat into it sweeping me a good 2-3 foot backwards down the deck with the wave coming at least waist high, to say that I was glad to be wearing my oilies is an understatement.
Onto the sail change and Steve being the kind and sharing man that he is decided I would be the right man to have a sweat shower with him in the sail locker while we sorted and re-stowed the dinghy, spinnaker, various bags, warps and fenders.
Once we had this all sorted it was time to stow the stay sail and get the storm stay sail rigged, ready for any incoming weather over the next few days. Where I was glad that I had my oilies on earlier for my porpoise watching sea shower, our intrepid watch mate Nigel decided that they were made from a tougher sort in the old days and was up front helping with a the sail change bouncing around in just his oilie jacket and life jacket (no salopettes) , right up until he got drenched by a wave.
I think Nigel found this to be a learning moment and he now wears his salopettes.
Tony and I share a cabin on our watch and it has become a definite thing to get excited about when it’s a clean Pants and T-shirt day, it’s the little things that are making us happy.
For the last two hours on watch last night we tried to break up the time by doing a 3 song helm switchover, which made the time fly, so switching over every 10-15 minutes or so makes the time go fairly quickly well that is until you get stuck with a really long Bjork song .
We have also decided that we can now pretty much sleep anywhere at anytime, what with our heads being 2-3 foot away from a running diesel engine, on a slope, bouncing around, the main worry that has been recently voiced on our watch is what will happen when we get to land, will we get land sickness, will there be too many people?
One thing that made me giggle this morning, for breakfast the other watch had done a fine job on scrambled eggs on toast, and pretty much all our watch sat down like real Gentlemen and Ladies in a proper restaurant and eat with knife and forks from a plate.
No spoons from a bowl this time, well that is apart from Steve and myself who just loaded up the toast and started munching away like it was a breakfast pizza, and with a spare slice of toast going I followed it up with toast and jam (or as our kids Adam and Sarah call it breakfast pudding).
On the food front we have hit a disaster stage in that we have run out of Worcestershire sauce, Nick is holding up to this very well, but we are on the lookout for any nervous ticks appearing, is so we are exploring the possibility of a UN aid drop to the middle of the Atlantic, we did see a sailing boat behind us at around lunchtime today, so there maybe a possibility for launching a pirate raid to see if they have any Worcestershire sauce.
Especially as Nick and Neil were talking about getting the main storm sail out the the looker, just to inspect it. I actually suspect we could be going into a Forest Gump situation where someone gets lashed to the mast in a storm, until the Worcestershire sauce situation is resolved.
The rest of the crew is about to mutiny over tinned sweetcorn with every meal, as we have had no luck catching fish with the rod and lures, my suggestion is to throw tins of sweetcorn at the sea and see if we can stun any fish instead.
Budgie
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