Day 31 – Some Rough Weather

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 31 of the voyage. As forecast the weather deteriorated quickly overnight and all of the watches were kept extremely busy reducing sail, setting storm sails and quickly putting sea furls on those sails not in use. At its peak we were getting wind gusts of 35-40kts with a 4-5m sea but the crew just took all of this in their stride. Everything onboard has now become second nature to them and when asked to do something they just get on with the job which is very pleasing. The conditions have now slightly moderated but we are still experiencing wind gusts of up to 35kts. Tonight given these conditions I thought for sure that I would be writing the Captains Log as no one else would be crazy enough to want to sit in front of a computer screen in rough weather, I was wrong!! Whilst on watch Hannah approached me and happily volunteered to take on this task with Grace offering to help the only catch is they wanted to write it in ‘Pirate Speak’. So here you have it tonight’s Log kindly written by Hannah and Grace. Enjoy!!Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain Gav  20 January 2015 – Day 31Ahoy there me’heartys and landlubbersOur day began at the sparrow’s fart when we was woken in our racks by ye olde ka-blueies. Upon laying our eye/s upon their dripping gortex and slack faces, we knew Neptune had finally stirred! We was hardly up on deck before a coupl’ a brave souls were sent to the formidable topgallant in an attempt to tame the beast of a sail (gasket it). Shouldering the 30 knot winds and blistering sea spray, our merry band continued to take on the elements by furling the jib – a task not to be scoffed at in these seas.  Today’s orders from ye captn’ were to ‘stay safe and stay warm’, so planned daily shenanigans were canned. Crew took up the call to arms of laying in our racks without catapultin’ out (with varied success). We was also able to watch a moving picture on our new fandangled “television”, much to our jolly delight.  Our battle with ye elements continued this arvo, with the jib bucking our salty sea dog Michelle off her feet, before breakin’ loose and wreakin’ havoc on the foredeck. The rascal of a sail was quickly tamed, an’ alas ye spectre was torn clear away – rendering it ruddy useless until we be blessed with calmer seas. Not to be outwitted by Neptune, we cast loose the topsail with haste an’ harnessed ye winds once again.  Ushuaia be (approx) 4-6 days away, an’ our thirst for land (an’ fresh grub) be growing stronger. But with the promise of The Horn on ye olde horizon, our thirst for adventure grows stronger again.  As I write this, me clumsy pal Grace has showered me with me own brew after being thrown off kilter by a rogue wave. This is her second spill for the day, after butt-sliding across the café due to the darn 30 degree lean on a starboard tack. Such is sailing!Yours ‘arrrrrrg’Hannah and Grace  PS – We’d like to give a shout out to our hardworking engineers and unsung heroes of the voyage, Shaun and Lindsay. Thanks guys!PPS – Hi Caley! Just want to let you know I’m thinking of you and can’t wait to speak to you.