Day 31 – Monday

Land ahoy! At the end of today we are only 30 nm form what we hope will be our first sighting of land in 31 days.

I woke up at 5.30am to fantastic winds and the first completely overcast day in some while. We were travelling at 7 kts and for the entire day it varied between 6 and 7.5 kts.  Everyone aboard was quite upbeat and for the first time in a while there was no sleeping during the day. There was a constant banter in the cockpit. Later in the afternoon the sky cleared and we had a perfectly clear blue sky so even the sky was not being iffy today.

As we approached late afternoon we started to see the first oil and gas rigs on the horizon and by 10pm at night they lit up the sky in all directions. We counted 22 of them at one stage surrounding us. They are huge and lit up the sky like mini cities, while the occasional one burned extra bright as they burned off excess gas.

Warwick, an environmental engineer and activist at heart felt obliged to share the following: That man is drilling for oil in 3km of water shows how energy hungry our consumer driven society has become. Sure big industry can clean up their act – each time we switch on a light, take a bath, get in the car, buy something, we’re voting for the future of our environment. The choices we make as consumers can pressure industry to become more eco- friendly. Getting creative at home can also make a big difference – we can all reduce, reuse, recycle. As we’ve seen over the last month on the Atlantic it’s a beautiful world out here; let’s save it for the kids! And if protecting the ocean isn’t enough encouragement to use water wisely; the person you Love is 72% water:) We finished the day with a 120 nm to go which means if the wind holds approximately 20 hours to Rio! We should get in just after midnight tomorrow.

Our food has lasted quite well considering we have spent an extra 6 or so days more than planned. We ate our last vegetables for dinner and our meat situation is down to packets of bacon and mince. The refuse is now piling up under the floor boards and the plastic drums, into which we shove plastic and other non-biodegradable items, are starting to swell from the rotten gas inside. We throw only biodegradable into the ocean the rest we have to store on board. You can’t imagine the amount of waste 7 humans can create in 31 days when you have to store it!

Ric is no longer and Kevin is back after shaving his head bald. He has retained his beard and so has the rest of the crew so far.

Will’s son is still sitting pride of place in the cockpit and although he has flown around the cabin a few times, he is still looking remarkably good. Speaking of flying around the cabin – we had a “man overboard” last night – Mark flying out his bunk head first and crashing onto the cockpit floor which bought about some laughter. The only damage was a sore head and interrupted dream.

Jean made roast chicken pieces and butternut for dinner.

The evening breeze kept us cool and the stars and gas fires kept us entertained.

The saying goes “All good things come to an end” but on the other hand “All good things come to those that wait”.  MMM that beer smells good!

From the gas fields of Brazil… Till tomorrow

Position [22 59 S 41 31 W]

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