Friday 8 December 2023
The Adventures of Tin Man
Andy Topp & Steve Arnold
Fri 8 Dec 2023 22:08
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14:41.82N
56:55.67W What three words: thatch.tented.springs
Now it's really starting to feel like we are on the home
stretch. The miles keep counting down - I just checked and we have 242 miles to
go (as at 20:47 GMT). We are now into the hours countdown with estimates ranging
from 40 to 44 hours until we arrive. I've spent much of my free time today
committing to memory as much of this experience as is possible.
In preparation for our arrival and to minimise the post
arrival jobs we are working through as many as possible and we have done a
pretty deep internal clean of the communal areas and food cupboards today. We
have some stuff that will need sorting when we get to St Lucia which means we
will have to work around the boat yard as they look to make some fixes and do
some maintenance. Overall though, mostly we have had few issues which is nice.
We think we have an issue with the solar panels not producing enough power which
we need to get checked out and we have a vibration from the engine and sail
drive but nothing major.
We went into the night watches last night feeling a
little apprehensive given the day's challenging conditions but pretty soon the
wind completely died leaving us no option but to put the engine on and motor;
something we haven't done for over two weeks. The complete lack of wind was a
real 180 degree from what we had experienced earlier in the day and it was a
little frustrating too. The boat doesn't move well when motoring; it fights the
waves and jerks around a lot more so even though there is no wind and not much
swell it is pretty uncomfortable. I tried to get some sleep after dinner before
my 1am shift but failed and by the time I was up on deck I was pretty tired.
With the engine still running and no wind to speak of it was going to be
difficult to keep myself busy and awake. I tend to sit at the very rear of the
boat by the starboard helm - there's a little seat there that is reasonably
uncomfortable so I don't feel sleepy and allows a good view of the stars and
also the instruments. A bit of rain prompted me to turn on the radar to see if
any squalls were visible in the vicinity. We watched them form and go past us
again forming a line out to our port side, marching past us and depositing their
rain and wind elsewhere. We picked up the tail ends of the wind but with so many
squalls around decided to keep motoring until they had gone - but each time one
went past another formed behind it.
Then we noticed one behind us. Just a small patch on the
radar but it grew and grew until it spread out to our port and starboard sides -
it looked like angel wings on the radar and we were right in the middle. It
wasn't too bad in the end. Jooj and I got very wet as a torrent of rain cane
down for about half an hour. We huddled under the spray hood and watched waiting
for it to get worse but we were spared the nasty winds. We did get a visitor
from another flying fish straight into the cockpit and down by our feet. I won't
ever get used to that - the thud and then the frantic flapping noise as it tries
to figure out what has gone so wrong in its life. Jooj, bare footed, was up on
the bench in a flash as we scrambled to turn on our head torches to see where it
was. With one swift move using the dustpan, the fish was launched back from
where it came - never realising simultaneously just how unlucky and lucky
it was.
We have had some excellent sailing today - the
conditions were right to get the big code zero out so we have had that up all
day, lowering it just now as the sun set ready for our night config. Tomorrow
will most likely be our last full day out on the open sea. I continue to have
very mixed feelings about the trip coming to an end but at the same time, two
months cruising the Caribbean is also a pretty exciting prospect!
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