Day 14 – Friday

Today we found the wind and started to move west again at 6 to 7 kts. What a relief and long may it last.
I woke at 4 am to find Mark, Jean and Warwick, who were on duty raising the main sail. They main kept getting it caught as it was being hauled up in the lazy jacks attached to the stack pack( ropes that were getting in the way J) and in the dark it was hard to see when it was free. I heard the commotion on deck from my bunk which is in the open saloon and took a light with to help. They eventually got it up with a bit of sweat. We, at first, traveled east of north with very little wind. The wind picked
up for proper around 11am and then sometime later we jibed (turned) to go west. We are by far the heaviest boat in the race, we believe at 22 tons.
Maserati that crossed the line first in record time of 10 and 12 is only 12 tons and is about is a 20 feet longer at 70ft. Some other stats about Hot Ice:
Hot Ice is an Endurance 49 designed by Peter Ibold and built in Durban
4.80 beam (width)
15.95 meters in length
Draft 2.2 meters
1000 litres of water and diesel
We are now betting on when we will get there. Our Skipper, Mark is the most optimistic with us arriving on the 27th. Obviously he knows something we don’t.
Yesterday afternoon we called Mr. Delivery and this is what we ordered:
Spinnaker, new starter motor and Popcorn – Hot Ice
Jonnies roti and cold mango – Warwick
Cornetto – Shaun
Nandos chicken burger and wedges – Kevin
Sea food pizza – Jean
Two litre ice cream and 2 litre coke – Mark
Coke and ice – Mike
Some children to play with – Will Son
Castle Lager – Rob
As you might have gathered we are a “dry“boat. A choice preferred by the skipper and agreed to by all. But I can tell you there have been times when I could have murdered a Castle or sipped on a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Oh well, Brazil here we come!
We are now 14 days on board with the prospect of another 14 days approximately. Cabin fever is starting to set in. I took a picture of Kevin talking to one of the sheets (ropes). This how the conversation went:
Kevin – You are a piece of string, aren’t you?
Sheet – No, a frayed knot!
Mike cooked a beef stew for dinner, which consisted of cubed beef, lots of onions and potatoes. He added his secret ingredient brown onion soup, which he actually brought on board himself.
I went to sleep fairly early as I was on the 2am to 4am shift.

Postition [20 04 S 07 00 W]

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