In the middle of the night, Mike wakes both Jim and I – the genoa has come undone from its starboard goose wing position and he needs help putting it back in its place. Once back, we go off to bed. I only do the one watch, 1am to 4am. Jim and I are taking it in turns – one night I do two watches, the next day I do one and Jim does two. This leaves Mike only doing one watch each night but he sleeps in the salon and wakes frequently during the night to check things so this is only fair.
When I wake up in the morning I turn over and immediately realise there is something wrong – my back spasms. I had been increasingly uncomfortable during the night sitting at the helmsman’s seat – I have to sit with my legs to one side, twisting my back as otherwise my legs dangle. I have obviously pulled a muscle. I lie and panic for a while and then cautiously get up. At least I can tell it isn’t the old problem, it really is ‘just’ a muscle. As long as I am careful today I should be OK.
I sit down to write my blog and within minutes feel seasick. This coupled with my dicky neck which plays up if I bend it forward for too long makes me realise that I probably need putting down. I swallow paracetamol and Kwells and hope for the best.
Again we have no luck with the SSB radio when it comes to giving our position and speak on the VHF radio to John on J’Sea who is actually having more problems than we are. Today when we try to send our position, David on Voyageur is actually aware that Mike is speaking but just cannot hear anything clearly enough. Hopefully when we get to Panama we will be able to get this sorted.
During the morning we are averaging 7.5 knots which goes up by lunchtime to 8.5 knots. The winds are still almost dead behind and relatively light so this speed is pretty good. We haven’t touched the sail layout since the 2nd day and it seems to be working well for us.
I take some movie footage to show people what it is like to sail on open water and will upload this when we have internet connection in Panama.
I am settling into a pattern which involves lots of sleep. I sleep after my morning watch, I sleep after my lunch and I sleep after dinner and between watches. I must be averaging 12 hours a day!
I feel much better after my afternoon sleep and think about what I want to make for dinner. I decide to have a go with the flavoured soya mince and make spaghetti bolognaise. When it’s ready to serve, none of us are very hungry but we eat a little and it’s really very good. I can tell it isn’t beef as the texture is a little softer but it’s great for the boat as I don’t need to worry about cold storage. I will definitely buy a lot more.
Our midday position is: 13 deg 20 min N, 66 deg 09 min W
Distance so far: 307 nautical miles
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