Day 391: St Helena to Salvador, Brazil – 01/01/11

We are still going painfully slowly, although according to the net broadcasts, so is the rest of the fleet.  Most boats are motoring but not hard as there is a need to conserve fuel if none of us wants to run out before getting to Salvador.  Apparently there’s a chance of some wind on Friday - we’ll see.

Mike lets me sleep in late and it’s almost 1 pm when I wake up.  As it’s so late we have a snack for lunch instead of our usual main meal.  Mike has noticed that the starboard engine noise is different and realises that he needs to tighten up the fan belt.  An hour later, when he emerges from the engine room covered in oil and muck, he is again sent outside with a bucket of hot soapy water and told that he won’t be allowed back inside the boat without his body surface being totally inspected for black stuff.  Sure enough, even after 10 minutes of scrubbing, I can still see black marks and he is sent back for another go.  Where’s the swarfega when you need it?

Photo:  Mike (aka Pig Pen) covered in muck

Photo:  Scrubbing down on the back steps

Having got him almost clean, just before his shower in the evening, I pin him down and cut his hair.  It’s like sheering sheep.  I have to clamp him down between my knees so that he doesn’t escape and he moans all the way through.  He likes looking scruffy and I hate it.  He mutters about not having a shave but gets sent down to the bathroom to have a very close one.  Little pig pen!

Mike takes the fishing line in as the sun starts to go down.  Immediately he starts to reel it in he knows the lure has gone.  This was a brand new one that was specially jointed to make it wriggle in the water.  When the end comes out of the water, it is obvious to see that the bloody thing wriggled so much that it wore out the clip at the end of the line.  Damn.  To add insult to injury, looking down there is a skipjack tuna swimming along between the two hulls of the boat.  He stays with us for well over 15 minutes, falling back and then advancing from the rear, taunting us with his presence.  Maybe it was his wife we ate the other day.  Maybe he has delusions of grandeur and has watched the film ‘Orca Killer Whale’.

Photo:  Laughing at us – a skipjack tuna swims along

I cook spaghetti bolognaise for dinner and we settle down to yet another very calm night.

 

Our position is:  13 deg 54 min S, 28 deg 34 min W

Distance so far:  21456 nautical miles