Odyssey Log

Atlantic Odyssey 2: An Alternative View of Life at Sea

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Pete has been getting a bit whimsical on his blog posts so thought I would share some of the reality of living at sea in the middle of the Atlantic:

  1. Food.
    My life preoccupation. Prior to leaving I was in a state of inner turmoil as to whether I had enough to feed 5 people, including three strapping young lads (Sam wanted to be included in this terminology, he is now 10 years old after all). A week prior to leaving I had an orderly spreadsheet and comprehensive shopping list. Everything was under control. During that final week I did several extra panic buying trips. Did I have enough, what would we run out off? There is no popping into Asda for that last minute item at sea.
    I may well have overdone the fruit stocking, especially when I found out that the lads did not even eat much fruit. I have been handing it out in a slightly forceful manner since our departure.
    We have a daily produce check, picking out all the going off food that then gets put in the ‘to cook’ pile. Seems a shame that we have so much fresh produce and our diet is made up of stuff that is almost going off. Oh I wish I had a freezer like Finally My Darling!
  2. Sleeping.
    I have a dream! A dream of a bed, a big comfortable bed, with big fluffy pillows. And ONE THAT DOES NOT MOVE. To get to sleep you have to brace yourself so you do not roll around. Lee cloths work well in the passage births, and Oscar thinks they could be a good invention for after a night out on the town. Maybe if we had a catamaran like Finally My Darling it would be less rocky….
  3. Smells.
    I am living on a boat of about 24 meters square with 4 boys. One has only just been forced to change his clothes after a week at sea. Do I need to expand…..
  4. Entertainment.
    This is easily taken care of, plenty of Irish and Yorkshire banter. Pete on the Ukulele and the last 30 years of ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’. Lots and lots of movies, and the odd trashy novel. We have unlimited SMS through our SAT phone so having lots of fun sending stalking texts to friends and family members who did not know our number. After we heard my brother was googling foreign spam phone numbers we thought we should fess up to who was texting. It would have been a shame to get our Sat phone number banned whilst we were at sea for being spammers!
  5. Sailing.
    I don’t think I will ever be unnerved by 30 knot winds again or big seas. Love the fact our boat seems to just trundle along in a relaxed manner, makes those looming waves feel quite benign, thankfully. We have been contemplating a gybe for a day or so now, should put one in soon. Might have a cuppa first though.
  6. Going Mad.
    Well according to Adam someone will go slightly mad before we arrive. Apparently someone always does. It will probably be me.
  7. Fish.
    I know it is sacrilege to cook a fresh fish from the Atlantic like this but Oscar and I can’t wait for Fish & Chips and Curry Sauce! We will have to catch something before the potatoes go off. Come on lads, surely we cannot sail all this way and not catch a fish?
  8. Did you also know that this is actually Pete and my honeymoon?
    Arrh the romance of it all…..
    Pete just said ‘Good work wench’, he liked the guacamole. He had better get used to it as we have sooo many avocadoes on board.

Anna
Penny Lane

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