Blog for the 20th of February 2016
2:30 am strikes and a rather jovial American came striding into my room to wake me up “wake up Kris it’s time to go on watch”. Josh is always happy, like a spaniel chasing its tail but this time it was just a little more than usual. Then I feel the boat getting thrown about like a feather in the wind and it strikes me, he’s just happy to be getting to bed and away from what feels like a hurricane outside. After dragging myself out of bed hitting every wall in the yacht and watching a rather depressed Matt H doing the same as myself we step foot outside and into a cauldron of wind and rain much to the amusement of Bravo watch who are off to their beds with a nice cup of cocoa and old man Macpherson to tuck them in. As always we have the initial look at each other to see who will take the helm of the yacht and Dan Hill being the man that he is, a man that never backs down from a challenge strides forth and takes the helm with distinction. Immediately Dan regrets his decision taking 40 knot winds to the face and water boarding of rain that some less desirable’s would have been proud of. Dan pulls off a heroic 30 minutes on the wheel; inspired by Dan’s heroics, Tony steps up to take the mantle. All goes well for the first 15 minutes, Tony is proving to be master on the helm like a young Schumacher of the sea’s flying along at 10+ knots but trouble is around the corner for the unsuspecting Marine. As his watch continues the winds somehow pick up and one very big gust puts Tony in a bit of a mental spin and the yacht veers way off course, myself and Matt H hold on like a couple spiders at the top of a plug hole with the tap on. Stephen our trusty Australian skipper is straight up in a heartbeat “Tony where are you going my friend? “ A rather flustered Tony yells back “I’ve got it hard over Stephen, its struggling to come back” Our trusted Aussie looks confused and runs over to help Tony with the wheel. Within a heartbeat of grabbing the wheel Stephen shouts over the wind and rain “You’re steering the wrong bloody way” it then dawned on Tony. He had done it again; he had got his port and starboard mixed up. He was then subsequently sent to Stephen’s naughty step with his tail between his legs.
All joking aside we are in the middle of some rather rough weather. This has many positives but also a few negatives. On the plus side it allows us to build up speed and race back to the Falklands and give our loved ones a call, it’s been far too long since we’ve heard their voices. On a more negative note as I’m writing this blog I’m sitting in the galley which is resembling and feeling like a washing machine at the moment.
To the boys and girls at Dalgety Bay nursery, everyone was really happy to hear you’re following our great adventure and no luckily our food isn’t freezing outside but Jack Frost is out and it is cold outside.
Kris