Day 9 – Sunday

First good sleep in some days, and rose at 6am. Groundhog day again! Now that we are over the storms of the first few days and entered the trade wind zones, the days are settling into some sort of routine and are looking the same.

A typical day aboard goes as follows:

4 am – wake up – From eight to eight in the morning we are all take shifts of 2 hours each. Those 2 hours move forward every night so you are not doing the same to hours. The boat starts to wake from at dawn which was round about 4am but when we first started. It’s a little later now. Mark the skipper is always one of the first up as he is sleeping in the cockpit. First thing after ablutions is coffee, which tantalizes Hot Ice with her rich aromas.

6 am (weather check) – At about 6 every day we check the weather by downloading the GRIB files from the internet over the satellite connection.

6am to 8am(write blog) – I usually write the blog during this time.

8am (Position Reporting) – Our position in Latitude and Longitude is sent by mail to the RCYC.

7am to 9am (breakfeast) – at everyones leisure. Usually cereal unless Mark is making his special herb eggs and sausage.

9am – to 11am. The fishing lines are released of the back of the boat and everyone sits around chatting. Those that were on the early morning watch wake up. Some tidying up and cleaning occurs and some washing of clothes.

11am to 1pm (lunch) Usually quite light and easy to make.

1pm to 4pm (quite time) Everyone tends to find a spot to be on their own. Either siesta or reading or just lazing around on deck.

4pm to 8 pm (dinner) Dinner is made by those that have volunteered for that evening. The rest of the crew just socialize.

8pm to 9pm ( settle the dinner) Chat and enjoy the beautiful wonders of night time at sea.

9pm to 4am – Sleep apart from the 2 hours on watch.

Of course should we need to react to the weather or the sails need to be changed this would be done at any time.

We did not see any other yachts or even ships yesterday, we were quite alone once more. We headed north west for the entire day in fairly light winds doing about 6.5 kts. It was over cast conditions again but we can feel that are getting closer to the equator as the air is getting warmer as well as our shower water which comes from the ocean. We crossed the tropic of Capricorn yesterday.

In an earlier post I eluded to the fact that Warwick is dedicating his crossing to all the youngsters and people involved at Ethelbert Child and Youth Care Centre. I have asked him to provide a contribution and tell us a little bit Ethelbert and their projects.

Here we go…

“As we’re seeing aboard Hot Ice – everyone is much happier when we’re all contributing and working together!(Does Shauns singing really count as a contribution tho?:)) Ethelbert is home to about 60 beautiful children in need of a place of care. The staff are incredible and Love abundantly. Indeed I have many happy memories from the few years I lived there. Each day was a new adventure. There are many special people who selflessly made massive differences in my life.

Fortunately after years of hard healthy work I’m now in a position to return the favour once extended to me. We’ve recently started looking at projects to encourage and enable the children to pursue dreams. These have included a dream board art workshop – where each kid designed their own piece of art about their dreams which we will exhibit, then mount at the home as a continual reminder to dream big. The interaction with local artists and volunteers was priceless. A Christmas drumming workshop which the kids Loved – was also great for them to meet the talented owner of Durban’s African Drumshack – a man leading by example doing what he Loves.

From funds we are raising, we are looking at implementing some sustainable business projects to lower the centre’s operating costs such as a vegetable garden and solar water heating. This ties in nicely with the work I do as an environmental engineer at Sasol and contains many good lessons for the kids! However we choose to contribute in our daily lives I believe it’s important we all do our best to give of ourselves and share our unique gifts and talents to create a happier and brighter world! You might even change someone’s life today:)

Thanks for the opportunity Rob – two good causes – one boat – it’s really great. The website is www.ethelbert.co.za if you’re ever interested.”

Thanks Warwick for the post on this special day for you.

Shaun and Kevin made dinner yesterday. You can tell the have spent a lot of time in Kwa-Zulu Natal as the made a very tasty chicken curry from what they teased was a secret recipe. Strangely enough the wind seemed to improve after dinner.

Till Later…