Connoisseur

We’re starting to think of the end of the trip. which is a mistake because we still have over 400 miles to run and that’s quite a distance, but I suppose it’s inevitable.

In the Merchant Navy it’s a phenomenon called ‘the channels’, because traditionally it occurred after a long trop worldwide and when running back up the channel before paying off in London or somewhere close to home.

We’ve been running in wind sensing autopilot for about 16 hours now - we have the autopilot keeping the wind about 125 degrees on the starboard side which is just enough to keep the headsails full, sometimes we are going a bit too far North but mostly we’re going in about the right direction mostly at a reasonable speed.

We had a simple dinner of pork chops last night with the remains of the mash and butternut squash from Burn’s night and baked beans for a vegetable. A bit of a boys dinner I suppose.

I’ve had a wash and shave and clean set of clothes on this morning and feel like a new man although it’s a bit hot and sweaty anyway so I guess the  just cleaned feeling won’t last for long.

We’ve had the most beautiful bright moon for the last few nights, it was almost like daylight, a lovely night with small puffy cumulus clouds, non threatening ones ie no gusts coming from them and we spent most of the night doing 8 + knots.

When it came to drinkypoo time last night Stephen and Alastair were wanting a red wine, now; they are both a bit less tolerant of odd tasting foods and wines than I am. We had opened a fresh bottle of wine a couple of days ago, a jam shed one, not great but not terrible, I had mentioned that I had found an opened bottle in the wine locker that must have been there for ages, this was a Trivento one. Stephen, obviously worried that I would try to give him some of this decided he’d pre empt me, found the open bottle of Jam Shed and ditched it.  So… when I was looking for the OK wine last night and started asking if anyone had seen it he was looking. a little like an embarrassed sheep and said he may have thrown it out, thinking it was the older one. We ended up ditching the Trivento too which was a mistake because I want some vinegar to free off a zip and we don’t have enough to spare  of ordinary vinegar and could probably have made it into some. We’re therefore on our last bottle of half decent red, after that it’s one euro cartons of stuff from lidl which is fine for me but may be offensive for the more discerning palate!

I’m hoping for a decentish high 170s run today but the others think it’ll be just about 170.

I’m reading a great escape story at the moment about a Norwegian commando in the war in Northern Norway, he’s swum various fjords, been left for dead in a snow hole has cut off his toes which had gangrene and hopefully is about to escape to Sweden, We Die Alone by David Howarth is it’s name, a  jolly good read.

Yesterday’s run to noon was 169 and we’ve 402 miles to run.

Many Slaintes

Jock and the gang.