N14:04 W60:57

 

Dear Readers

A number of you have asked where is our final blog but despite repeated requests of my self indulgent crew I have to draft it myself. I can only apologise for their dilatory behaviour yet again. As soon as their feet hit terra firma they have lived in a haze of rum punch.

Well we finished at 10.06 on Wednesday 12th and thus the owner controller won the sweepstake with his guess (he claims carefully calculated) of 09.40 and he gets a free dinner. Average speed for the 2816 miles we travelled was 7.8 knots. The rhum line distance was 2790 miles so we did not travel too far off line. We were 70th boat in which included some 30 boats that had started 2 days earlier. We now know that our skilled seamanship and love of the boat served us well as apart from the electrical issues we sustained nothing that slowed our progress. The crew did valiantly repairing things as we went along. Other boats did not fare so well. Broken booms abound but on a downwind run that is not as serious as it sounds though does hurt the pocket when ashore. One of our sisterships lost his boom after the goose neck fitting exploded. The crew of owner and wife only had to manhandle boom and flogging sail down to deck in 30kt winds. Our other sistership was in the racing division and had 9 crew aboard so they were trying quite hard. They carried coloured sails most of the way and achieved 17 knots maximum  Amongst other things they broke 6 halyards and had to send a man up the rig 4 times. They have now discovered that the inside of their hull is delaminating where the tie rods are fixed. That is a very serious issue. There were plenty of other horror stories in what was the windiest ARC for years.

We are now ensconced in our flat on the waterside in the marina area here in Rodney Bay and are able to keep Patience on a private dock just outside the house. Unfortunately we have just discovered that the marina is tidal. After dinner yesterday we returned to find her well aground but still upright and assume there is a muddy bottom so no harm done.

Not to overdo the complaining but arriving early meant we had to sleep onboard until our house was ready. It also meant that we have uneaten food and more seriously undrunk beer and wine but we are making up for lost time now and entertaining the crew of other boats we have met. We are hearing dark tales of the weather in the UK and Jersey. We wish you to know that the chef is struggling to cope with the stifling heat. A swim in the bay yesterday kept him cool. Life’s a beach, don’t they say? Various activities are being planned as I write. Golf for those who can and geocaching for those who can’t.

Anyway that is it for now. May I and my crew wish you all a merry Christmas and happy new year.

The Owner