1st mid-ocean blog (#2 a little bit late.. sorry)

1st mid-Ocean blog


It’s been an interesting [in the Chinese idiom] couple of days since the ship and five crew left Road Town at 13.45 on the 22nd. With fair wind, smooth seas, good food, what could go wrong one might well ask? Please don’t. Attached is a picture of the ship’s chief medical officer operating on his first patient; our brand new, fresh out of the box, 3 hour old spinnaker, hoist at 19.00 and ripped at 21.45. The culprit a tiny bit of wire poking through the protective taping on the pulpit. On to plan B, sailing under Code 0 and a relatively poor day’s run of 161 miles, a few meteors during the night watch, a delicious seafood pasta to follow the traditional departing meal of chicken rotis. Fastest time of the Day 13.8 by Dalit; the ruggedly handsome skipper is determinedly optimistic and has left an, admittedly small, space on the first page of the log titled ‘space reserved for future fish’. We live in hope.

Day 2 started well with the INSEAD MBA’s on watch but once the RHO skip was in charge, the lashing holding the foot of the Cody to the furler parted, all hands on deck to retrieve the unfurleable blue beast. The owner, worried he was about to lose his small but feisty mate overboard [don’t worry José, we’re taking good care of her] threw himself on the flogging canvas with the result of bang – out popped the right shoulder – followed by a quiet ‘oh bother’ and – bang, in it went again. Dr Alex back on call with anti-inflams, painkillers and ice and an objet trouvé an old shoulder support doing the trick. Code fixed, long manoeuvre to rehoist involving hoisting main, jib, Cody, dropping all 3 and then rehoisting Cody finished at 9.45 when the owner disappeared to his bunk. The CMO’s skilful handiwork on the spinny was finally put to the test at 17.30 and, as these words are being written, so far, so good. Minor details of the day’s activities are: day’s run was a respectable [in the circumstances] 187 miles, FTD was 15.8 by Dalit again, dinner was yummy kosher spare ribs and ‘twas another fishless day, despite the attractions of Norwegian smoked salmon skin being added to the hook.