Log Entry No 5 - 3rd Oct 07. (Yacht Discoverer)

FROM THE CAPTAINS CABIN

Yacht Discoverer is making her way through the Doldrums and is now under 300 miles from the equator, morale continues to be good although Red Watch had to deploy foulies for the first time this morning..

The Afterguard hard at work.

NAV CHECK

Sunday: 164.6 Nautical Miles

Monday: 176 Nautical Miles

Tuesday: 153.4 Nautical Miles

Wednesday: 112.5 Nautical Miles

The Asymmetric goes away under the direction of Major Finch.

The last couple of days, in particular Wednesday, have been very frustrating for Yacht Discoverer.  At lunchtime on Tuesday we were becalmed and since then progress has rarely been made without the engine turning.  Progress until then, however, was good. On Monday we managed to keep the hourly mileage above 8 knots from midnight until 1300, a good mornings’ work. The wind then dropped from the Force 4/6 we had been experiencing to a Force 3/4 which continued into Tuesday before being becalmed.  The immediate action on a lack of wind was to call hands to bathe, the mainsail was dropped and the crew went for a swim, slightly wary about the 5kms of sea that lay beneath them! A slight Easterly supported our engine through the night but by Wednesday morning the wind was swirling below 5 knots of breeze.

Another hands to bathe was called on Wednesday lunchtime, as it was called a rain cloud appeared giving the crew an early shower. After lunch the frustration started as the generator stopped working, therefore preventing the water tanks from being refilled (we have on board a water maker that turns sea water into fresh). With skipper Andy working tirelessly to fix the generator – a problem with the water coolant flow – we could not use the engine as it would have made his job all but impossible. The knock on effect was an afternoon of drifting! It was with great relief that by evening meal, the generator was fixed and the water maker could start doing its job. Luckily the wind picked up just after evening meal to a light South Westerly allowing Discoverer to slowly restart making progress towards the equator. At 2300 last night the engine was turned back on and we were back on track.  After a relatively quite night Red Watch were given a shock as at 0500 this morning it started raining, foul weather jackets we donned and the watch enjoyed being slightly chilly for the next hour.

The wind is fluky but more prominently there are constantly localised thunder storms. Looking around the boat during the day you can be sure to see the impressive sight of a couple of cumuli-nimbus clouds formed and depositing their wears. The further we have moved south the more frequent they have become.  Last night was particularly spectacular as at one point we were heading into what appeared to be a wall of cloud.  When we passed into this wall the cloud thinned slightly but we were surrounded by massive thunderclouds on all sides.  It was a very mystical experience. The equator is now only 290 miles away, and on the other side the South Easterly trade winds await us. How long the Doldrums will go on for, who can guess but we can all see why they cause so much frustration for circumnavigators without the luxury of an engine.

Will having a rest - Comfortable!!

In Other News

It remains very hot on board but slowly the crew are getting used to the heat.

The crew have been giving presentations over the last couple of days, following on from Kris and Jade’s presentation on the Cape Verde Islands. Callum and Gav briefed us about world yacht racing – in particular the Vendee Globe and America’s Cup.  Blue Watch’s presentations was slightly more light hearted, by Andrew on Soap, Will on the bucket and Dan on the clothes peg!

Since entering the Doldrums we have seen an increase in the wildfowl but the flying fish have gone and we haven’t seen dolphins for days. After the call to bathe on Tuesday, we thought we had spotted a shark / whale, it turned out to be a transmitting buoy of some description!

We had a morale high on Tuesday as we received an email from the project office with some of the latest sports results. We had all participated in a sweepstake on the remaining fixtures of the World Cup.  If things go well, we might just squeeze into Salvador in time for the World Cup final,  however, finding somewhere to watch it will be a different ball game.

The morale of the skipper always effects the morale of the crew.  Skipper Andy Fernie has just won the America’s Cup on a Virtual America’s Cup Skipper  - very happy – crew is very happy!!!!

We might be pretty much in the middle of nowhere but that doesn’t seem to stop the oil tankers from finding us. One day we had 4 over a 24 hour period, one of which we had to alter course to avoid.

The crew is learning the harsh realities of life without a washing machine or a unlimited supply of fresh water (the water maker might break at any time) and have been washing clothes in salt water before rinsing in fresh water.

LT AJ COLQUHOUN

FROM THE MOTHER WATCH’S GALLEY

Sunday evening meal: Fish Pie with mashed potato and a variety of vegetables followed by fruit cocktail, cooked by Chris Davies, Gav Elliot and Lt Colquhoun.
Monday evening meal: Meatballs and Pasta followed by Bananas and Custard, cooked by Jade Dunham, Dan Surtees.
Tuesday evening meal: Steak Stew served with peas and Rice, cooked by Callum Ladell and Will Nicholls.
Wednesday evening meal: Spaghetti Bolognaise, cooked by Chris Davies, Kris Bhudoye.

The stakes in the cake race were raised on Monday when Jade and Dan produced a gastronomic marvel, the challenge is on.  The first homemade loaves of bread have just come out of the oven this morning and I can personally assure you they are very tasty – well done Kris and Chris.

Our first failure in the kitchen came on Sunday night when an attempt at fish pie was aborted at the final hurdle as the fish was deemed far too salty to even consider eating, a rapid recovery of frankfurters meant everyone had something the eat. An error in the poaching some might think!! so did we, until the next day where 4 hours were spent trying to remove the salt from the next batch, to no avail – the lesson is to never buy fish from Lanzarote! Never trust little fish!

The crew have gone through the juice very quickly and with now reserve flavouring to add to our water, so Will has stepped up to the mark and has started producing his own range of Iced Tea – very tasty.

LT AJ COLQUHOUN

FROM THE CREWS QUARTERS

From the Blue Watch

Chris D:
4/10 “The bread I made this morning was fantastic but it makes me think of home – I miss my mummy”

Will:
1/10  “ This afternoon we played Connect 4 which was a good laugh and David taught us table manners which was good. Hopefully we will do a bit of karaoke tonight.  I have enjoyed this trip a lot. It has been good fun and if you aren’t feeling up for the day, there is always someone to make you laugh or talk to. Everyone still seems happy and getting on. Roll on Brazil.”

Dan:
1/10   “We have had a couple of good watches last night but the most exciting thing that happened was when a huge oil tanker passed across the front of our yacht about a quarter of a mile away. I am on mother watch today and have just finished cleaning up so I’ve got a bit of time off until about half past five when I will start making dinner which will be meatballs and pasta.”

Andrew:        
1/10  “ I know the earth is 2/3 water but I never realised how vast the ocean is. I’ve also realised how important it is to get on with people you’re living with.  Even though everyone here is great, arguments can easily to be started, as well as gaining an appreciation for simple things at home – like washing in fresh water for example.

2/10  “We are still in the middle of the Atlantic. Yesterday we had to drop the foresail, change it and put the new sail up. What our watch did not know at the time was that it was a command task so we were left to it. We did well although none of us stepped forward and commanded the task.”

From the Red Watch

Jade:
2/10 1050  “Just finished mother watch with Dan the man. I’m back on watch in 2 hours – Get to have a shower this morning so am not looking as rough. Its getting hotter by the day… Today we have been swimming in the Atlantic, we thought we had seen sharks but they turned out to be buoys….am on watch again and its hot. Getting depressed talking about food, its nearly reduced me to tears (a conversation about favourite foods!)!!!”

Gav: 
2/10  “It has been good over the last couple of days, have improved immensely on the helm (steering the boat). The night skies are mint, you can see the Milky Way and everything. Getting closer to the equator, still not getting a good tan, but it should be alright as we still have quite a bit to go”

Kris:
3/10  “ We did some swimming off the boat yesterday and likely to do some more today. Made a razor for the ceremony on the equator. We had a proper little craft corner going. Had a long tortuous conversation about food we miss. Ice Cream Mars Bars would be my ideal snack at the moment… looking forward to getting to Salvador, but it will be a shame when this exped is over. It’s been an adventure.”

Callum:
1/10 0933  “We are now about 675 miles from the equator.  This is really cool but gosh its getting hot, hotter than myself. I’m desperately trying to tan my upper arms (the big guns of this boat)..people are getting along really well at the moment, it will be weird when this is all over. I have learnt some interesting phrases in Spanish with Jade.”