" A LADY" trip around the world ,,, ( presently sailing from St. Lucia to the A.B.C. Islands )
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Thu 7 Jan 2010 14:16
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WEDNESDAY 6th January 2010............. departure
day..
06.30..We all got out on deck and prepared "
A Lady " to go to the fuel dock for Diesel ,
We were the first to arrive at the fuel berth, ( by
just a few minutes only) and when they opened for buisness at 08.00 we filled up
with 700lts
of diesel and filled the rib tanks with
petrol
09.00 we returned to E3 , our marina berth and
docked there for the morning,
We had already cleared our papers for leaving St.
Lucia , and Philip was on his way to the top of the mast to change the light
bulb in the tricolour
fitting up there. this took about an hour or
so.
We topped up the water tank and washed down the
cockpit while the hose was still on deck.
The two tanks on board ( one for diesel and one for
water ) hold 1 ton of liquid in each tank,
We treat the water with a capfull of bleech, and
the fuel tanks with an " enzyme fuel treatment" and a " diesel
water absorber ".. These additives
keep the fuel clean and free of water and
condensation.
We checked the Chandlery for the new water pump
for our generator, as we have a small leak in the mechanical seal of
the existing genny.
but it had not arrieved, it was in the system
somewhere but we were not going to have it before going to sea.
However Peter
Turner on " Asolare " would hopefully bring it with him to
Panama as they would not be leaving St Lucia untill 18.00 hrs
12.00 THE START OF THE AROUND THE WORLD
TRIP
The wind was easterly and we had a good start in a
fleet of approx 34 boats, the first and only mark on the course was
outside CASTRIES
harbour and we were 3rd boat around the mark, just
ahead of a swan 72, skippered by David Mc Arthur from Bunchrana,
Of course Donal knows his father, who it seems was
very much involved in the setting up of "FRUIT OF THE LOOM "
( thats my man , DONAL, he knows everyone , and if
he dosent, he will surely know someone who knows them anyway, )
DONAL dident waste his time in the RAF flying or
anything like that, HE WAS NETWORKING for the future.............
Anyway, after passing the mark at Castries, we set
a course for the A.B .C, Islands , Off the northern tip of
Venezuela.
A B C stands for the islands of :- Aruba,
Bonaire, & Curacao, These Islands are supposed to be beautifull, so we
will have a stopover there
before going onto the " San Blas " islands near
Panama. .............A distance of approx 500 miles...
15.00 We were goose winging along in17knots of
breeze and doing 6.4 knots over the ground.
Then it happened,, always some feckin thing to
spoil the day.
WHAT WAS TEARING, we looked forward and sure
enough, the " Yankee" headsail got caught in the " jump struts" ( diamond
stays )
and ripped the Leech
Line off the total length of the sail . however
the skipper decided to roll up some of the sail and we would carry
on,
which we did in fine style.....
21.00 Dinner ( a stew prepared by Donal
himself) was served in the cockpit, under a beautifull starrey night sky, with
the milkey way
particularly visable and
spectacular.....
THURSDAY 7th January 2010
01.00 hrs Kevin ( not feeling so good )
and the skipper were on watch. the Moon came up around that time and brightened
things up .
We passed a number of ships travelling out from
panama , heading east along...
02.00hrs The wind was rising and now blowing
27 / 28 knots , so we reefed in some of the mainsail, which helped balance
her up alittle, but
overall she was rolling like our dogs used to do in
the cow shit years ago, especially when we would go to " Crookhaven "
02.30 hrs Donal , appeared in the hatch to
relieve the two on deck,
06.00 hrs the skipper got up to another beautifull
day, walked the boat for a bit of exercise, and collected the 6 flying
fish
which had come aboard over night,,
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