Crew Blog

Slip, Slap, Slop

03 May 2008

The sound of sunscreen being generously applied to all sun exposed body parts dominated the airwaves today. As we continue down the Mexican coastline, the air temperature is up to the mid twenties and the water is now thirty degrees. The sugar scoop at the stern of the boat is once again the designated shower area. Nothing more refreshing than a warm water rinse as you speed along at 10 plus knots.

Our little blackbird has flown the coop, but we did see new wildlife. A sea turtle was sighted swimming just off the port beam, and just before he ducked under the surface, he gave us a little wave of his flipper just to say hi.

We have gybed in a bit closer to the shore line to take advantage of better winds. This also keeps us closer to the rhumb line, and helps reduces our distance to finish. Most of the fleet is still packed fairly closer together, and we are doing our best to take miles off the leaders. Our 12 and 24 hour runs have been very good of late, and we hope the trend will continue.

As day nine closes and we settle into our night watch, the stars are in great form, and the boat is planing along at 12 knots. Nick has constructed a wind sock for the forward hatch to help ventilate the crew quarters, ensuring we all have a gentle breeze below decks to keep us cooler as we sleep. The acclimatisation process has begun, and with only 1600 nm to go, it won’t be long before we are ordering cool drinks in our best Spanish.

See you on the water.

Dave and Libby