Today saw the three watches battle for seamanship bragging rights in the long-awaited and much anticipated ‘Quest for the Broken Spoke’. Good job all round, but special mention to the 8-12 for their outstanding Star Wars costumes; 4-8 for entertaining (scaring) the judges with a Tongan Haka; and 12-4, the eventual winners, for demonstrating their slightly superior seamanship in such testing tests as an egg and spoon race to test their sea legs (sea ‘eggs – gettit?), competitive serving (but not with a serving spoon), knots, steering and most importantly of all: attempting to make decent coffee. Thanks and kudos to John Boy for making the magnificent and much coveted trophy.
SHIP’S WORK: Half day today! Wooden boat KARL mast and planking continues; tabling on KARL sails; scrape, sand and vanish on the quarterdeck rail; cut in green on the quarterdeck sky-light hatch; end-for-end starboard main sheet.
FROM: Mindelo, Sāo Vicente, Cape Verde
TOWARDS: The West Indies
TIME ZONE: ZD+3
NOON POSITION: 16°14.5’N /052°16.6’W
DAYS RUN: 90nm
PASSAGE LOG: 1,671nm
DISTANCE REMAINING: 500nm
COURSE AND SPEED: West by half South (CMGT 270°T)
WIND: Force 2, East South East
WEATHER: 7/8 cloud cover (cumulus, cirrus), air temp 78F (26°C), barometer reading 1019 millibars, visibility good
SWELL HEIGHT & DIRECTION: approx 1-3 feet, East
SAILS SET: All square sails to the royals, the mainsail clewed up to allow the breeze to reach the fore; fore topmast staysail, inner jib. Braced square and running downwind.