‘Lancelot’, at sea.

20 30.65N  37 09.17W

Day 7

Mick writes:

Chrismas came early for Lancelot last night - as darkness fell the wind & swell  steadily increased with the wind-speed topping out at 29 Knots. With full main & 1.5 oz spinnaker we   were treated to a sleigh ride not soon to be forgotten. Jacko & I have a watch each - I am looking after Eugene, Connor & ‘Mondo’. These fine Irishmen  are not sailors however they are coming on leaps & bounds & their helming skills are improving day by day in conditions that would put many experienced yachtsmen to shame. However last night was a bit over the top & in the interests of safety & boat preservation Jacko & I did all the steering until things calmed down. Tiredness was replaced with Adrenalin & we flew. Jacko nearly replaced my record of 17 knots with a 16.3 after the boat leapt off a wave with inconceivable ferocity. He will beat my record for sure - in 35 years of sailing I have not been on a boat with a better helmsman.

It is now mid-afternoon & we are sailing in a gentle 15 knot breeze. After many days of sunshine we have had our first rainfall. Jacko’s watch (Debs, Des & Terry) are on deck  & the boat is closed up to keep out the water. From the comfort of the saloon I have just given them some appropriate music via the ipod - In the Summertime (when the weather is fine!),  Purple Rain etc, etc. We have a video of Jacko dancing as only he does - truly awesome - & it will find its way onto uTube for sure..

This crew is very special. On a long passage it is not ideal  to sail with people you have only just met. Small irritations can soon become major issues, & once we had put a stop to Eugene slinging food around the saloon whilst preparing meals, everything was fine. Joking aside, we have been treated to some excellent meals prepared in circumstances that would make that fellow on Hell’s  Kitchen stop his gob. We are all getting along fine & I think there will be some lifelong friendships made here.

That’s it for now. Tomorrow you will be treated to Jacko’s take on things, so love to all at home……

Mick

Position         20.14′.38 N       040.10′.56 W

Speed             8.5 knots

Heading          272

Wind speed    20 knots

Afternoon everyone, I hope it is as hot and sunny for you as it is on the good ship Lancelot! :- )

After the fun and games of the strong winds the night before last, things have calmed down slightly (which is not un-appreciated!) We have had slightly lighter winds over the last 24hrs however things are starting to pick up again. The wind has slowly tracked around to the east now which has allowed us to gybe over and head on a direct (bar a bit of weaving!!) course to St. Lucia (some 1249 NM ahead at time of writing so over half way there!!!!!!!)

Sailing conditions this good don’t come around that often, we have been surfing along with the spinnaker up for 6 days solid now without even a thought of dropping it until earlier on today. Mick and myself decided that it would be worth while combining the gybe with some checks of the ropes and spinnaker itself so we elected to drop it (for all of 10 minutes!) now re-hoisted and back up to top speeds I hope you will all be pleased to hear!

Spirits have been amazingly high aboard for the whole trip which I put down to, partly the sailing conditions, but mostly to the crew who have got stuck into every part of boat life without any complaints. Since day one started the abilities of all the crew has come on in leaps and bounds, everyone is more than happy (or at least is very good at hiding their fear!) at surfing down waves in pitch black conditions which is great to see (…or not see because its dark?!?!?).

Talk has now started about are arrival in St. Lucia (even though we are only just over half way!) with the main topic of conversation being from Eugene about where will be the best place to go and eat some fish when we get there as, yes, you guessed it, we still have not caught anything, I think it must just be that we are sailing to fast that the fish can’t keep up!! :- )

Anyway, enough from me, love to all friends and family back home from all the crew of Lancelot, see you all soon

Jacko

Connor, Debs, Des, Des, Eugene, Terry, & Mick