I love rock n roll, put another dime in the juke box baby
Wed Jan 11 2023
And it’s a good bloody good job that we love rock n roll … that’s all we’ve had for the last 2 days. It looks like we’ve got the bigger winds and seas until Friday. The further west we go, the calmer everything gets …. Very much looking forward to that!
We’re all in good spirits, albeit tired and planning what cocktails we’re having once we get there.
Simon came up with the best way to describe big winds, boat surfing down big waves and all the noises that you hear on the boat “The night is dark and full of terrors”
Everything looks better and easier to put into perspective with the sunrise, which is incidentally when Simon goes to bed!
The advantage of this weather is that we’re making awesome daily mileage – we’re averaging 150 nm a day at the moment. The last 24 hrs has seen a new record of 165 nautical miles!!!
How’s everyone’s mental health you ask? Well, we’re at the stage of naming all the bits of the boat – Boat = Elice, dinghy = Judith Chalmers, the very needy autohelm is still under discussion – feel free to email us with your suggestions. Simon says that it reminds him of his mate Liam.
The weather’s definitely warmer and the bikini tops have come out – the boys do look rather fetching in their matching manikins and their tan lines are starting to join up nicely.
There were 2 more additions to the Flying Suicide Squad today and in honor of Masterchef – The Professionals – we’ve decided to keep the salt baked Elice on our menu.
Crash Band Wallop Part Two
Thu Jan 12 2023
Yo!
Welcome back to part two of how to not to seriously injury yourself whilst going about your daily business on a boat ! So…. Confessions first, I Simon@sea carried out a citizen’s arrest on the knobby lemon and a trial date was set for later that day. Whilst waiting for the trial hearing, the lemon was held in custody in the fridge. The jury were selected, and composed of the ships Captain and first mate. The Lemon was charged with Common assault , resisting arrest and indecent exposure. After 3 minutes of deliberation the lemon was found guilty of all three counts and surprisingly admitted to having a banana fetish. A sentence of death was passed, and on the last stoke of 1600 GMT the lemon was executed…… the last wishes recored were………not to be used in a G&T.
Anyway with that off my chest I’m feeling slightly less guilty, as playing god is not one of my stronger talents. Life on the boat does have many hazards as reported in PART ONE but carrying out simple tasks can also have terrible consequences, for example having a wee. You may chuckle but this is serious, there’s no way on earth you can stand up and go, it’s suicidal. But just getting to the stage we’re you’re in a position to sit and have a wee is exhausting, let a lone having to try and pull your shorts back up without banging your head or trapping you know what!
Making breakfast , lunch or dinner is a serious task ……. Imagine master chef but on a trampoline, now you see where I’m coming from. When I boil water for making tea I boil twice as much because I miss the cups most of the time . There is some good in all of this chaos, shower bags! Right because we’re in the middle of the Atlantic and we have limited access to power, ( we do have solar and run the controls systems of the prop alternator ) we have to be careful of what we use and hot water is down the pecking order , so we use shower bags, these are bags that you fill with water and leave out on the deck of the boat in the sun for a few hours and hey presto , you have enough hot water for a shower. You then hang the bag in your shower / toilet area ( another exhausting task) and with a little bit of pipe and a spray head attached to the bag ….of you go, amazing. This has given me an idea, because of the cost of living crisis,I could install a few of these in shed at home for the kids to use! ( I’ll stick to the en-suite on when I’m home ) Brilliant !!
Yours at the moment injury free
Simon@sea
Ps Big shout out to my wonderful wife, kids and favorite furry animals x
Eduardo the Dorado
Fri Jan 13 2023
I sat in the cockpit around midnight last night gazing up at the stars as Elice lolloped from side to side, occasionally looking forward to see the phosphorescence sparkle in the foam from the bow wave, thinking this might make a good blog post. It was as black as death at the time and I reckoned on writing about it, but the only part of the above that I’m covering today is “death”
We’d all had a fairly productive morning and I was taking a shower just before lunchtime when a cry went out saying “there’s something on the line”. Yes, that’s right, despite the fact that the sea state was still big and lumpy and not conducive with pottering about on deck, we’d put out a fishing line.
I was in the process of washing my hooves, so jumped up and immediately head butted the door before crashing back onto the loo. “Trev, c’mon, we’ve got something” the first mate barked, so I shouted up where the gloves were and that I’d be up in a sec!
Si, who at first thought there was nothing on the line, had taken some in, then felt a kick and by the time I reached him had hauled a beautiful Dorado about 60cm long. Sarah promptly handed me the net saying ”you’ll need to do this” and stepped back. I looked down at the fish praying that he might jump off the line and I wouldn’t have to do the inevitable.
I extended the net and after a couple of half hearted attempts managed to lift him on deck. My heart sank as Sarah handed me the screwdriver saying “soft spot at the back of the head” and I knew what was expected. I imagined them chanting “do it, do it” like a crowd at an amphitheater just before the defeated gladiator is dispatched. I didn’t sign up for this and anyway I’ve named him Eduardo now, so he’s my mate and you don’t do things like that to your mate.
I bit the bullet and did the deed before the crew lost patience with me and took over. I said “sorry mate” as I killed him, but it didn’t make me feel any less guilty. Even now, as I write this I’m fighting with my conscience. That said, we’re about to have lovely Dorado Thia yellow curry for tea and have plenty for another meal tomorrow, so all in all, result!!
Captain Mac
Food glorious food
Sat Jan 14 2023
I think about food constantly, like a hobbit would. I’m never happier to get the option of second breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, main evening meal and a light supper.
Being on a long passage gives you plenty of time to prep for meals, snacks, treats etc for 3 adults for 3-4 weeks. As part of the preparation we stockpiled some essentials whilst will back in the UK, then more from Portugal (50 cans of chopped tomatoes and I emptied Lagos of red pesto).
Imagine Simons delight as he lands in a warm Tenerife (ok so it rained the first day he was there, but I blame him entirely for packing bad weather before he left) ready to dive into boat jobs and start his adventure. First off … what can he do?? Wash the boat down, learn how the exacting Captain takes his tea, figure out how the toilet flushes … oh and head to several supermarkets for the ‘Big Provision’. His little face lit up as he realized he would not only get to walk with me, but look at a list and be sent on a search for tantalised milk, cranberries, rat & mice traps, cockroach traps, a 3 headed dog.
We’d managed to buy most of Superdino and they were so pleased with us, they delivered it back to the boat. After loading it all into the boat it was soon time to start lifting the floors and finding all the secret spots underneath and behind sofas to store it all. Then onto the big vacumn pack and freezer task – mince, chorizo, tuna steaks, bacon bits and enough chicken to startup our very own floating KFC.
A bit of pre- preparation making sauces with vegetables in them, aloo gobi portions & easy to eat muesli bars takes up another day and the very last thing I do is buy fresh fruit & veg the day before we go, so that we have options for the 3rd week of passage.
Food on passage goes a bit like this
Days 1-3 no one has much of an appetite
Day 4 – appetites return, albeit for smaller portions
The rest of week 1 everyone eats normally and bread making starts
Week 2 – everyone takes turns in cooking and making bread – always interesting when you are being bounced around. Imagine chopping ingredients on an SUP.
We also start to run out of yoghurt & fresh milk, so out comes the tantalised milk we bought and we start to make yoghurt.
Around the middle to end of week 2 I like to do a stock take about what we’ve got and what meals we can make out of it all. This is when the fishing lines go out and I breath a small sigh of relief that there’s protein for another 2 meals – thanks Eduardo!
Right, I’m off to make a stir fry with all the ingredients beginning with C …
TTFN
Sarah
The more I sleep the less I dream!
Sun Jan 15 2023
Napping has always been one of my strong points , especially during this sail when catching a nap between high winds has been important. However the last few naps have knocked my napping confidence. Going back to my primary school years , it was on a school trip to Tamworth castle. I was only 6 or 7 years old when I excitedly jumped on the coach with my packed lunch and wearing a blue waterproof anorak, settling into my seat and within a blink of an eye …. Fast off to sleep!. For a child that’s quite normal, the excitement zapping energy and a quick recharge required. It was when my teacher woke me I realized I had dribbled from the corner of my mouth and on to my anorak, not just a little but a lot …… there was no hiding the dribble patch on the anorak, the patch of dribble was darker than the contrasted blue material! I was Horrified, what will all the others think?, what should I do? I quickly stuffed the anorak in my bag and wiped the dribble from the corner of my mouth. The teacher called us to get off the bus and form a line outside. Sleepy eyed and yawning I jumped off the bus and walked over to where the rest of the class were lined up, I looked up at everyone and to my disbelief they’d all been dribbling, all except the teachers pet of course, a stuck up little so and so ( that’s story for another day …… she ate my crayons).
Looking down the line of kids with their dribble patches proudly on display gave me a strange sense of belonging, I reached into my bag and proudly put my anorak back on.
Any school trip I went on after Tamworth castle I would try to stay awake but needless to say I did have a few further minor dibble episodes.
In fact I’ve had a few recently.…… yesterday and earlier today to be precise , I’ve woken from forty winks and found a small but relative patch of liquid on my pillow ! Good god no, surely history cannot repeat its self. Why now ? In fact why at all? Is old age finally catching up or do I need to do some kind of mouth exercises to ward it off from happening? Needless to say I’m not giving up my napping.
Answers on a post card please !
I’m thinking of setting up a self help group if anyone’s interested called Wet Dreams Self Help Group!
Simonatsea
The Big Boaty Adventure Bonus Boat Stats Blog
Sun Jan 15 2023
Okay boating bobble hatters, it’s stat time! We thought you might like to know a few facts and figures about Elice, the voyage and conditions so far, so here we go:
Elice – Amel Maramu 1985, 46’ ketch
Number of full days at sea since departure – 12
Average speed for journey so far is 6.4 knots
Average daily distance covered is 154 nautical miles
Most distance covered in 24 hour period is 167 nautical miles
Average wind speed for journey so far is 22.7 knots (force 6)
Biggest wind gust recorded is 49 knots
Fresh water capacity 1,000 litres – amount used so far 390 litres
Fuel capacity 500 litres diesel – amount used so far 3-4 litres
Power provision is 4 x 105 amp hour deep cycle AGM batteries.
Batteries charged using 440 Watts of solar panels plus an Alpha prop shaft alternator. At no point has the battery monitor recorded less than 97% power capacity despite the auto helm, fridge, freezer, nav equipment etc being used constantly.
Sail plan for most of the journey has been a No1 Genoa (150%) with a No4 jib (75%) furled together, to help reduce rolling and maximize speed. Both sails are poled out and can be rolled together as winds increase in strength. The mizzen sail was used for the first few days before being reefed then re-stowed.
Grib files (weather forecasts) are downloaded daily. Each update provides data from 4 separate models that can be compared. The most accurate one seems to be ECMWF, but they’re all pretty close to one another. All models predicted lighter winds than encountered so far with typical predictions being force 4 when the reality has been force 6.
That’s enough dry stuff for now. Normal service will resume tomorrow.
Water Water Everywhere and All of it to Drink
Mon Jan 16 2023
Oh yes, it’s true, we’re now no longer dependent on marina’s for water, we can make our own!
The week before we left Santa Cruz was spent completing last minute jobs, one of which was commissioning the Schenker water maker, which had been pickled when we took ownership and not been touched up until now.
I’d chanced my arm hoping that Si would be able to give me a hand and thankfully he did. A couple of days before departure we starting digging down to the water maker. It’s buried deep down in the biggest locker and there’s a shed load (quite literally) of stuff to get through before you have access. After an hour or so we’d completed the dig and there it was in full glory.
To be honest, it was in a bit of a state. The installation seemed to have been carried out a bit hurriedly and the inside of the pipes appeared to be caked in a black mould. First thing to do was replace the filters and all the pipe work, then we’d fire it up and see what happened. A few hours of work and we we’re ready to go. I turned it on after studying the manual and seeking advice from my friend Liam. It all went well until the pressure gauge blew its top and it went very quiet.
It was too late to do anything that day so next day we visited the Chandlers on the off chance they might know where to get a new gauge. As luck would have it, they did and within a few hours Si and I were on a bus to an industrial estate. We found the plumbers merchants really easily, went in and immediately found exactly what we wanted for under €10. We were back on the boat in no time stripping the water maker in order to fit the gauge and before you could say “Bobs your uncle” (or Dad) we were done.
Due to the time and trying to get everything else ready for departure, we opted to commission the unit when we had some time as Elice has a large water storage tank, so it wouldn’t halt departure.
Moving on 2 weeks and for the first time we had less rolly seas and decided to try and get the water maker again. The cockpit and saloon were covered in locker stuff as we made last minute checks before flushing the system through with cleaning solution and fresh water. There was a leak from where one of the solenoids was fitted, but Si repaired it in minutes.
Finally we were in the position to taste the drinking water we’d made from salt water. It was clear fresh and just like real water. It was the last of the big outstanding jobs to do and we’ve done it. Simon we salute you!
By the way, we’ve completed 2,000 nautical miles in the last hour, so double celebration.
Captain Mac
2 men and a menopausal woman – A personal journey on the Struggle Bus
Tue Jan 17 2023
I woke up this morning thinking ‘I’m too hot’. Not in the way that you might occasionally catch a glimpse of yourself in a mirror & observe that you don’t look quite the version of Grotbags that you might expect to see – but more the temperature version. As we’re nearing Martinique this is a bit of an issue!
I then realized I’d fallen into bed after my watch at 4.30 in my shorts, tshirt and hoodie, plus I had the duvet pulled across me – that’ll be it then.
Living in really close quarters (46 ft is the total length of Elice, the living spaces are more bijou), has definite benefits as you build up trust, respect and close friendships. That said, throw rolly seas, lack of sleep, different personalities into the mix I can see how it leads to tensions on board.
I’ve managed to take myself downstairs for a bit of a read/quick 40 winks and contain my mood for a bit. I thought, quite smugly, to myself ‘on a scale of 1-10 I reckon they’d mark me a 3 on the Mardiness scale’. Only to be greeted to a solitary voice saying ‘over tired’ … not so sure about how well I’ve hidden this then!
When questioned as to how Simon shows his grumpiness he replied. ‘I don’t really get grumpy. If I’m a bit tired I just think, right I’ll go and have a nap’. It’s definitely worked on this passage – we wait for confirmation from Laura if this is also true at home.
I think that we’ve done really well to remain in good spirits for the majority of this trip. We definitely all have a laugh together and stand on watch when people need naps. The only bit of real privacy you get is when you’re on watch – usually at some silly hour of the morning. Everyone else is in their cabin and you have control of the iPad to catch up on emails & texts to people, play balancing games to keep yourself awake and think of all the ice cream flavors you’re going to try when you get to land.
To spend almost 3 weeks at sea in a small boat, with literally no where to hide (the evenings hide and seek games are finished almost as quickly as the daily I Spy game), is no mean feat. Being able to blend with everyone else, let any little niggles slide and learn to find the humour in all the daft situations has been one of the best parts of this trip for me.
I’m off for a nap to restore my humour
Our Big Boaty Adventure 