This morning, just before breakfast, we popped open a bottle of bubbly and celebrated our achievements of making it to the Equator. We still lacked wind and were slow but it was worth spending a bit of time to enjoy the moment.
Neptune Rex appeared after lunch to hold his royal court. Our slimy Pollywog crew were tried for their crimes (sleeping on the low side, not replacing the toilet roll ....), they were given an opportunity to redeem themselves by pleasing Neptune with a song or poem and were then punished with food which consisted of this morning’s porridge and left over mushy peas and tomatoes. The crew became mighty Shellbacks one by one and Neptune’s court grew to include a baby (who was covered in marmite and kissed by Pollywogs and a barber who would give the Pollywogs a makeover. I certainly enjoyed myself and know for a fact that the Greenings round the world crew, who will hold court again on Leg 5, already have some plans for the joining ‘leggers’.
We are now starting to get a bit more wind and boat speeds have increased.
During the night a reef went in, we will see what tomorrow brings.