Well, today has certainly been very exciting! After a slow night with boats
over taking us we soon got our act together early this morning by reaching
up to the Barbuda laid mark with our big yellow spinnaker. We were creaming
along at 14knts trying to reach up to the buoy. We hadn't left much in the
bag I can tell you! We were fully on the edge with Derek showing us what he
can really do on the helm and Arien trimming that bad boy (I hope she is
talking about the spinnaker not Derek!). Everybody else was hiking as hard
as they possibly could as far back as they possibly could to keep the mighty
Incisor going. We reeled in Northern Child with ease and were hot on their
heels around the mark. At the mark we dropped to get some more height ready
for the banana spinnaker to be deployed. We held Northern who still had
their spinnaker up. After half an hour we launched the banana and were on a
tight reach again, however to fly the bloody thing we were 30 degrees off
course, but then again, we were going really fast and it was really fun.
After 15 minutes we decided that we better get on course and save that for
another day- the rum punches are a calling. After dropping we pulled away
from Northern and still continue to do so and are reeling in the next
victim. As well as hunting competitors down we are also currently trying to
avoid a great big coral bank which lies in front of Redonda. Once we have
rounded Redonda we will be on the home straight, and guess what, more
beating. Yay.
Jon (Bilbao Jon) made a delicious dinner last night. We gave him the
crappiest ingredients to work with and he pulled through! We had tinned
steak in gravy with baked beans, onions, and mushrooms all mixed together
with smash on top. We loved it but he said his mother would have been
disappointed, so we can't wait to see what he can rustle up with some proper
ingredients! Sam is currently preparing lunch on this tack and will cook it
on the next tack. This cooking and beating malarkey may seem all very
tactical but the cooker is one side and our only work surface on the other
you see.
As I say the next leg will be a hard 30 mile beat back to the finish line at
English Harbour in Antigua. The wind has picked up and we may have to reef
so hopefully we can maintain a good speed and heading to get to those rum
punches quickly!
Brace yourself Antigua Incisor are almost home - bring me that finish line!