day 124: peddle to the meddle
Jamie here: another day, and the planet xcomm is one day closer to being liberated by aliens thanks to our noble captain Crum. Always got busy important captain stuff to do on the laptop… This morning we had a spa day, complete with face masks, ambient music and massage from our professional massage therapist/ chocolate maker Miriam ( no you can’t have her). Another bloody fish got on and off the line. We’ve dropped 4 fish in 2 days… after inspecting the hook turns out the ends blunt and the barb is all but gone. Maybe we will change it out tomorrow, cbf today. Winds just dropped a bit just now and we have slowed somewhat. Can I have a lamb bhuna and a garlic and cheese naan with a mango lassi when I get to Fiji pls mum? WOD: Delicious. Delicious- a description of maximum yummyness. Usually used for taste but can extend to other things. Used in a senny: after eating dinner the children fill the sink with hot water and wash delicious. Father sits in his chair, spectacles halfway down his nose, reading the sports section of the newspaper. Mother is out at jazz dance practise. The neighbours dog barks, irritating father. He raises his head, frowning at the wall in the direction of the noise. The fire place crackles merrily. Oh, the cricket results.
Naomi here, This morning we gybed and finally got to head rhumb line exactly towards Suva ! We had about 20 knots of wind and with full sail we were averaging 7-8 knots and unfortunately proceeded to make all sorts of calculations on how long it would take us to get there. Now the wind is a mere 9 knots and we are trying to drown out the sound of the sails flogging with some Lizzo. This morning my crew decided it was spa day, I can only imagine they decided to do it during my watch as my skin is already nourished glowing and youthful due to my strict skincare regimen of 2 teas and 2 coffees a day as well as 50 ml of water every second day. I kept the boat on course at a steady 9-10 knots while down below all sorts of lavish rejuvenating processes were indulged in , all while no doubt discussing how envious they were of my already perfect skin. Todays menu has been fresh bread! Hot with butter and later with Nutella and or peanut butter. Mango juice ! And a fantastic miso veggie soup with eel like noodles!
Miriam: I am thrilled to be introduced to the wonders of the sheet mask. I’m positively glowing. The delights of the day also included being fed canned rambutan (similar to lychee) while on watch by the ever so considerate Megan who stayed for a lively convo that made the 3 hours fly by. Thank you Megan! And we got into the lemon tarts. We still have enough dessert to see us through, at least if the wind picks up again.
I haven’t sailed many boats but enough to know that Bluebird is a dream, her helm (steering) super responsive, quite swift even with low winds, a true joy to sail. I’m really enjoying noticing how she responds in different conditions to my steering and learning to be more subtle in my corrections in the never ending game of staying on course, trying to really gauge how much to turn the helm and how quickly or gradually to do so. The wind speed and direction, the size and direction and organisation of the swell (wave) patterns, and how much sail we have out all change the equation and it’s fun to have new variations on the same puzzle to solve every day. Today that rhumb line to Suva involved keeping a compass heading of due west (270) which required holding an apparent wind angle just aft of the beam (meaning angling the boat so the wind was coming from behind us at an angle just behind the widest part of the boat) which is not the easiest to hold and made for some fun, dynamic sailing. Thank you Bluebird for being such a fun dance partner!
Bula, Megan here. I am transitioning to a Fijian greeting in order to feel closer to our fair destination. A day of earthly delights! Our spa day was a great success. The combination of a sheet mask, Brian Eno, the smell of baking bread, and the gentle rock and cool breeze of the ocean made for a supremely relaxing experience. As the spa began, I did enthusiastically suggest that we might join Naomi on her watch, to bask in the sun with our masks. Somehow we instead left her to bake while we luxuriated downstairs. Likely as Naomi said, due to our envy. Naomi is like an exquisite clay pot that we abandoned in the kiln in order to glaze only ourselves.
Miriam then gave me a truly exquisite neck, back, and head massage, and I fed her canned rambutan. Always make time for self care, folks.
Tonight on night watch, we saw a fishing ship, which was very exciting. Not least because it was another vessel, but because it added some light to the desperately dark, first shift of the night. The moon does not rise until past 9. This evening I was feeling sort of edgy and cool and decided to try out a new playlist as my soundtrack. Typically I listen to quite breezy tunes. Tonight I listened to “dungeon bops.” For about one song, I was feeling very macho as planned, as if I might return to that fishing boat and swagger about and unleash my cannons. Then a rather large black shadow streaked across the cockpit and my heart nearly stopped. My feet reached for imaginary brake pedals as I reeled back from the wheel. But the thing was gone. I think maybe it was a bird? I couldn’t find a fish. I could also have been hallucinating thanks to the strain of staring between the illuminated instruments and almost complete darkness (thanks also to our slow but inevitable descent into madness). Back to muzak for me anyway. It makes the world less relentlessly threatening. Ni sa moce!
Bluebird out!