Day-4-Atlantic-Crossing

somewhat. The swell is up to 2.5m, the wind has been up to 22 knots
which creates waves on top of the swell and makes for uncomfortable
conditions. But – so far NO seasickness how good is that!
I didn’t sleep again, so after my watch from 3am to 6am I slept on the
day bed in the pilothouse while Robbie did his 6am to 9am watch. I sleep
much better here.
I woke up when Heidi came up so we toasted the onion bread we made
yesterday for breakfast, the boys had Pate on theirs and Heidi and I had
Raspberry Jam. It was a nice change from fruit, yogurt and muesli.
So now there is a competition between Starlet and Southern Star – who
can catch fish and then let them escape.
We heard there was a hilarious story about a fish on Starlet yesterday
but the truth never evolved. So it got the better of Robbie this morning
and he asked for details. Apparently, Mark was filleting a nice big
fish, and as he tried to turn it over to fillet the other side, it slid
through the scupper (an opening on the side of the boat with a hinged
flap on it to let water out) and a wave caught it and sucked it out!
It’s all on now Robbie is dead keen to catch more fish. The fishing line
is trailing behind the boat almost at right angle because of the swell
and current.
Menu – lunch today is left over stuffed capsicums,( they were delicious
last night) I cooked extra Basmati rice last night and made fried rice
with it for lunch. For dinner Spaghetti Bolognese which I already made
for the passage and it’s filled with vegetables zucchini, mushrooms,
carrots, capsicums, onion and garlic. I am loving the way you buy mince
in Europe, you pick out a nice piece of rump steak, the butcher cuts off
the fat in front of you and then minces it in front of you. It’s just
pure beef and no additives. I guess we can do this in Australia too but
when I was working it was just easier to buy the meat in the
supermarket. So all we have to do for dinner is cook the pasta.
Not many yachts on the SSB sched today, the guy with the broken
alternator yesterday was able to fix it and they sounded real happy
about that. I guess they would be, no power on a 14 day crossing would
suck. Robbie said we have a spare one we could have given them but I am
glad they got it sorted anyway.
We are getting a few emails which is good, we get one from the weather
router each morning and some from family and friends. It’s good to hear
from you guys!! Jessie sent us a seasick fairy so no one gets seasick
and its working!
We are getting some really big waves coming through now, the seas are
building that’s for sure. The stabilisers do a great job but the big
waves are coming from our starboard stern quarter and they pick up the
back of the boat and it turns and twists on the wave. It’s like riding a
roller coaster. There are still some noises from the cupboards when this
happens that I need to resolve. The last time we had waves like this was
from NZ to Vanuatu.
This day, one year ago we were in Langkawi, circumnavigating the island
with Robbie’s Mum Elsie, and his Sister Gill aboard, this day two years
ago we were in Carey’s Bay Dunedin berthed on the rackety fishing
berths, where we left the boat to fly back to Australia for Scott and
Sara’s wedding. This day three years ago we would have been at work. At
that stage, I would not have thought that I would have been crossing the
Atlantic Ocean in a boat!
We had to pull in the fishing lines it’s too rough. Played a few hands
of 500 to pass the time and take our minds off the conditions. All in
all, a pretty uneventful day. We have the Ipod connected to the stereo
listening to golden oldies. Heidi and I thought about doing some
cleaning jobs but it was a mission just making the fried rice and you
really need 4 hands to catch the things slip sliding around. We have big
squares of non-stick on the kitchen benches but some things particularly
if they are tall, fall and slide e.g., the kettle, the 5 litre water
container etc It Keeps us on our toes!

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