Tuesday 1st December
Race Day 9
A word from the ARC Crew
After more than a week into our journey it is hard to imagine seeing anything other than the ocean, the sky and our 70 foot home. Even a container ship on the horizon a few days ago looked odd! It is also difficult to imagine life being more complicated than either being on watch or off watch. I cannot remember the last time I looked at my phone, set an alarm or wore shoes – bliss! Every morning we watch a beautiful sunrise off our stern and every day ends with the sun setting over the bow. Last night I was helming with a moon-less star-filled sky and on looking up at the wind vane saw another shooting star fly by – magic! One would expect life on board to feel monotonous, but for me at least there somehow always seems to be something different to do or see – I still haven’t tired of admiring the clouds/sun/stars. The sky seems to look so much better here! Getting back to reality on our return home is going to be difficult – so from a Challenger to a challenge.
Skipper Ricky Chalmers
On the first Day of Christmas…
The advent calendar goes up today, and I’m pretty sure I never thought I’d be opening the first few doors from the middle of the Atlantic. The weather is getting warmer and warmer and at times it is unbearable to be down below. Consuelo has resorted to sticking her head out of her bunk in an attempt to catch any breeze in the cabin – just like a dog sticking its head out of a car window!
It is sad to see the fresh fruit and veg hanging in the nets above the saloon table diminishing, but what remains is holding out well and the mothers have kept us all very well fed. Being woken for the 3am watch is still awful, and I am amazed by how Ricky seems to always be awake, even if he has been banned from caffeine.
Yesterday was the much anticipated half way party, with everyone in an excellent array of costumes. Rosie spent most of the morning carving out a giant butternut squash into some sort of diving helmet while everyone else got creative with cardboard, electrical tape and tin foil. The results were certainly interesting with pirates, a knight who says Nee, Rambo and even Poseidon making an appearance along with members of the roman senate. I think we all agreed that it was just as well we were out of sight of the rest of the world. A sing along was attempted as Wally (Dave) tried to teach the younger members of the crew the words to some “classics”.
A grim heads up
The other major event of the day was the blocking up of one of our two heads (loos) which, following a half hour discussion, Dave insists is worthy of inclusion in the blog. Despite his best efforts, it is still out of use. As I write a debacle is going on up on deck involving Ricky, Dave, Rosie (dressed in a black sack), Steve, hose from the heads, a long wire, a hammer and lots of buckets of sea water
Another flying fish landed on the deck to much consternation of Kirsty and Lucia, but once everything had calmed down the azure blue fish was safely despatched back to open water.
Dave’s question of the day:
Why is there only one Monopolies Commission?
Lots of love to everyone back home. Hope you’re keeping warm enough. Speak to you next week!
Jenny and Bruce
A word from Ricky
The cunning plan is not quite as cunning as I had hoped it would be. We have caught up on Challenger 1 and even more on those boats which have decided to stay “Oop Norph”. Challenger 1 has however escaped the lighter winds very efficiently and although we have been doing great speeds, I don’t think our gains, if any, today will be enough to overcome their lead yet. So now the end end game begins. With strengthening winds forecast through to the finish, who has the biggest kahunas to keep flying their kite the longest in the strongest wind?
Meanwhile daily life continues on our race boat. The fancy dress half way party was a great success yesterday. “The Port Heads are blocked” – never news you want to hear. So after some preliminaty investigation yesterday, the great unblocking will begin this morning lead by “Where’s Wallie” DJ Dave who is showing more and more hidden talents. Rosie, who “wants to see how it works”, and Steve have volunteered to assist. Meals continue to be fantastic and the crew discussions late at night are epic.
Ricky (Skipper)
If you fancy racing across the Atlantic join us next year on the ARC 2016
