In Martinique
DOUDOU, the first French boat, arrived Monday night and anchored off Sainte-Anne.
SATTWA ETA is 1800UTC Tuesday
THEMI 50
THEMI arrival in Martinique
We crossed the finish line at 0012 UTC 25th January 2015, local time 0812 24th January. 2.640 miles sailed from La Palma, 3 engine hours total.
Am Abend des 24. Jänner um 8:12 lokaler Zeit (0012 UTC) haben wir die Ziellinie übersegelt. Weil es schon finster war, haben wir die Nacht in der Bucht von St. Anne verbracht und sind dann Sonntag früh in die Marina Le Marin eingelaufen , wo wir sehr herzlich von den Crews der Lahaine, der Roxy und der Serenity, vom Rally Commitee und vom Torismus Board mit reichlich Plantas Bunch empfangen wurden.
Jetzt müssen uns erst wieder die Landbeine wachsen. Vorerst steht aufräumen und Putzen am Programm…
Von La Palma bis Martinique haben wir 2.640 Seemeilen (4.885km) versegelt, waren 16,5 Tage auf See und haben insgesamt nur 3 Motorstunden (im Lee von La Palma) verfahren..
Grüße aus Martinique sendet die Themi-Crew!
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At sea
NEPTUNE II
Happy Australia Day. Started the day with freshly made damper and Vegimite. Australian trivia quiz after lunch, Dennis will probably win as he is from Denmark!!! Snags on the bbq for lunch, followed by coconut cake. Lots of beer in the fridge for later.
PENNY LANE
Getting closer – Anna’s Blog
As we edge closer to Martinique the excitement increases. Last night we even saw a boat, the first for about 13 days. This happened on Oscar’s watch, he woke us all up to tell us!
After the initial few days at sea we have really settled into a relaxed rhythm. I liken each day to a ‘lazy Sunday’. You tend to wake up a bit groggy from lack of sleep (similar to a hangover!) and then you very slowly launch into your daily activities. A long breakfast with several cups of tea and coffee, this is then followed by any chores and our daily workout.
This has always been a bit of a concern of mine, I love to go running most days and was worried that I would feel cooped up on the boat. Fortunately with Oscar’s pumping music playlist and support and encouragement (and occasional abuse) from fellow crew those sit ups and press ups are getting easier. There are usually a few entertaining moments caused by the boat’s rolling motion. The highlight for me was Oscar dramatically sliding down hill, head first into our bikes during his press ups.
Afternoons move seamlessly into more tea drinking and chatting, playing cards and movie watching.
Never in my memory have I had so much time to relax and hang out. There are no demands on your time, no emails, no social media, no long list of things to do. It is very very peaceful. I would like to recreate this feeling a bit more on land. Not sure it will be possible though, maybe we will just have to keep going to sea.
The sailing has been quite gentle for a few days which has slowed progress. Thankfully it has filled in a bit now and we are back on track to arrive in several days. We still have to be vigilant as this area is prone to tropical squalls, these are characterized by sharp increases in wind and torrential rain. You can clearly see them in the daylight and on your radar at night time. When one hits you preferably want to be ready with your sails already reefed.
When we spot one it goes something like this on Penny Lane:
Me ‘There is a tropical squall, lets get ready to reef’
Pete ‘That is just some clouds with a bit of rain’
Adam ‘Yeah, wind, lets ride it….’
Oscar ‘Pass me some soap, I need a wash’
In reality we have not actually experienced an intense one…..yet. But you always have to be prepared.
Back to the immediate concerns for the day. Time for a cup of tea and some baking. It has been voted that the last 5 bananas are to be sacrificed in honour of a banana cake. That will mark the end of our fresh fruit. Martinique here we come, we are keen for some of the fresh local produce and a wee tot or two of the rum. Maybe not at the same time though!
DOUDOU
J18 On nous avait pas dit que c’était ça, les tropiques !!!
Journée pourrie…..Ciel plombé toute la journée et une partie de la nuit,
pluie et vent se renforçant et changeant de direction sous les averses
tropicales. Beaucoup de manœuvres. Le bateau est bien rincé, nous ça va car
après réglage des voiles, sous les très gros grains, on se met à l’abri à
l’intérieur.
Avec tout ça, on a quand même bien avancé, on a fait 161 milles sur l’eau,
et il nous reste actuellement 45 milles pour atteindre la Martinique.
Eh eh, Le mug va enfin tenir debout tout seul !!!!
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