16th May 2014

A Room with a view!

We slipped lines on the Atlantic side of Panama at 19.00hrs on the 14th; we motored through the night to rendezvous with GB and Mission who had been held up in the Lake system of the canal until 22.00hrs..

The race to Jamaica was a   Le Mans start at 07.00hrs on the 15th. Le Mans is a very exciting start as all the boats jockey for position to the line. The actual lineup is predetermined by the lead boat, not sure how it is done. There is a 10 minute whistle, 2 mins whistle and then a countdown from 60seconds..

All crew have to be positioned behind the main grinder. All yachts have the same sails raised and they must remain with these sails on a predetermined setting for the first 10 minutes. We started well, 3rd or 4th over the line.

We were one of the first to change course, it"s quite dramatic to head off one way when everyone else is heading towards Jamaica!

We have been heeled over for 26hrs. It is exhausting. Moving around the boat below decks is like  doing an  obstacle  course in a sauna, above decks is cooler but getting around and sitting on the rail for 3 to 4 hours in the hot sun is painful. Changing sails, something we do quite easily when the boat is level took an hour and a half. All involved getting thoroughly soaked by the waves over the bow  and  we all were exhausted.

I have just come 'off watch' and It looks as though we have at least 24hrs to go until we 'hit' Jamaica. I tried to plot our position on the chart but somehow I managed to show us as having passed Jamaica!  

We have just changed the Yankee 2 to the Yankee 1, a reverse of what we did this morning even more exhausting.

Looks as though we have dropped from 3rd or 4th to 9th or 10th, inexplicable.

Since entering the Caribbean we have seen very little wildlife, just a few birds. What we have experienced is several squalls; it's great to rinse off all the salt from our bodies. The water maker isn't making water, I believe it's because we are so heeled over the water intake is out of the water, who really knows, everything on board is a guesstimate !