Day 28 – Strengthening Winds

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 28 of our voyage. As forecast the wind is strengthening and we are continuing to make good speed and as I look up at my chart plotter and wind indicator I currently see that the wind has increased to 21kts and our boat speed to 8.5kts, so we must be getting a little bit of assistance from the Antarctic Current. Today has been another normal day onboard YE with all of us keeping our watches, keeping warm and most importantly enjoying the experience of sailing the Southern Ocean.  Filling you in tonight with the latest news is Michelle and Connie who kindly volunteered to write tonight’s log, so please enjoy!  Until tomorrow, take care.Yours AyeCaptain Gav  Hello everyone,  The day dawned cold, wet and early. The Blue Tealers witnessed what must pass for a sunrise – a slight lightening of the clouds from black to grey. This Guts watch had been unusually eventful with a change in the wind resulting in us heading rather further south that desired. Therefore, our detailed Morse code lessons were interrupted by sail trimming. The square sails had to be clewed up and four bold seafarers braved the brittle cold winds to climb the mast and tie up the gaskets, only for the sails to be reset two watches later – such is sailing.  When our watch ended just before 0400 hrs, we all welcomed the sleep-in we were to be given today. We arose in time to enjoy a delicious lunch, but found that the weather remained foggy and overcast during our afternoon watch.  Meanwhile, down below decks, our game of Ship’s Assassin came to a grisly conclusion. Robyn (from Blue Teal) succeeded in taking down Sandy with a huge group hug, leaving her as the sole survivor and winner of the game. Well done, Robyn!  The 500 Tournament had also concluded yesterday, with Connie and Caitlin defeating the experienced Kenny and Lindsey. With the success of both these games, Kenny graciously announced that further tournaments are to be held, not only in 500, but also in chess and the traditional navy game of Uckers. Our afternoon brief was followed by a particularly thorough Happy Hour, when we “scrubbed the tub” with certain challenges of communal living in our minds.  It was also noted that the ship’s cook Aaron gave in to the cold and put on a pair of long pants yesterday. Despite that, he managed to cook us another scrumptious dinner. Special mention must also go to Julia and Robyn who baked us a mouth-watering banana, date and chocolate cake. It was so irresistible that many of the crew proudly announced themselves to be “double duffers” after taking a second serving of dessert.  At the moment, Blue Teal is once again on watch, with the ship under sail some 1350 nautical miles to Ushuaia. So here we are, still a speck in the ocean, the white mists obscuring everything but this little world on which we live.  Until next time, Michelle and Connie  “