Downwind sailing begins! There is no better feeling than bearing away with the sun shining and the whole boat flattening out, especially after our bumpy roller-coaster beginning. Today has however brought unique challenges for life on board. After two days of a precarious scent wafting through the starboard corridor, Sue took it as her calling to unleash her inner sniffer dog mode and sort out the rancid smell, cursing the starboard corridor. After many attempts of sniffing everything, clothes, lee cloths, food bags, the culprit was found. Cream for pudding had burst in its cartons in the day bag and been going off ever since – what a delight! Sue then continued in mega mode to open these dry bags, unearthing this scent in its full, unholy glory.
We then began to praise Sue, from afar, for her admirable efforts, and true strength of character in the face of adversity, to which she retorts ‘I have had three kids!’ Sue’s children, you must smell bad so please wear your finest aftershave or perfume for when you come to greet this lovely lady- what a trooper.
In other news, we are now in some tricky light wind conditions doing our best to keep the kite inflated, but spirits are high, and the stars are incredibly bright, guiding our ship slowly through this night. We have enjoyed culinary delights, from the well-known Spanish dish: sausages and mash, to bacon and REAL eggs for breakfast – no powdered (egg) shenanigans. Today, lots of rather underdressed crew members sweated it out, preparing not one, not two, but three spinnakers – as we tried our best to keep shuffling south (and put the wrong spinnakers in the wrong bags, causing a double hoist for the fun of it!)
We even created a new song, which maybe we will send a recording of your way when the time is right. Camaraderie is good. The scent is now more chlorinated than cream and that is a true delight. All is well. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but we will be back the next day to fill you all in!
Dan, Laura, and the UNICEF team