Daily Life

PSN: 38S79E
Date 18-19 January 2012 Day 32/33

I remember when I told my friends that I would be going on this journey, with some reservation and laughter one of the things they teased me about is that I would keep a journal and on day one I would capture so much and on day 2 just as much and then by day 30, I would say... “refer to day 1” ha ha! Those of you that were there, I am sure will recall this. Well... pretty much it is just that – only thing is – thankfully I am not seasick like I was in those first few days. There is also obviously only so much one can do on a boat. Sasha and I laugh a lot and try to see the good side in everything.
Our biggest bugbear has been the lack of wind. It is the most frustrating thing and on days you just feel like screaming with frustration – we do at times – and then we laugh! In the first few days at sea when we did have wind we used to joke that at the rate we were going we would catch the Volvo yacht race!! HA HA – Maybe next year’s race yes!
Once again, for the past 2 days we have had no wind and are travelling at a rate of 2.5 knots if we are lucky!! At this rate we will get to Adelaide in 60 days!!! When the wind doesn’t blow like this, the boat creeks and groans and the sails flap and flail around. It is most annoying. Yesterday the mainsail was making the most incredible noise, Sash said it was the car that the sail moves along that was lose and making the noise. So I went outside to tighten up the car and for one second not concentrating, I put my head over the spray dodger to see if the car was tight and the boom swung across and hit me on the head! WOW! It was painful. It knocked me clean off my feet – I was then very thankful that there was no wind behind that boom. It would have been a serious accident if there had been!

We are exactly half way into our journey. When the wind doesn’t blow it makes you feel down in the dumps because you are not getting anywhere! I also think having ST Paul to look forward to over the last couple of days kept me excited and now with it behind me we are just back to masses of deep blue beautiful sea – and a long way still to go.

We have managed to watch a couple of movies which has passed some of the time. We still spend most of our days in our beds, it is definitely the most comfortable and safe place on the boat. Only thing is obviously you get a bit tired of it. My bed has pipes running along the top of it and has this damp smell in it all the time. So, thanks to Charlotte Rhys “St Tomas” pillow spray (which I am so grateful I thought to bring with me); I have bursts of refreshment which helps a lot!

We have NO access to internet and getting mails out to our loved ones is trying and expensive because the phone keeps dropping the signal. It costs every time it tries to reconnect, so to send one small e-mail can cost R100 if not more...

We are struggling to keep variety in our diet because we just don’t feel like anything. I am absolutely craving tomato, cottage cheese and fresh veggies... I think after this trip it will be a VERY long time before I eat 2 minute noodles...

Other than that, life on the boat is good. I am completely loving the experience and so incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity to live it!