Whoops! (7th day/ night at sea to dawn Wednesday 18/8)

That's the block and now broken shackle that until around 1930 on Tuesday, had been holding the cruising chute haliyard to the top of the mast! I was having a pee when, out of the window in the loo, I saw the chute fall into the sea!

An hour and a half later after considerable effort, we had managed to get it back on board and bagged and have our much delayed spag bol dinner provided by Mick...

The Chef had requsted red whine for the dish and somewhat surprisingly the Purser had agreed. Of course, that then created the tricky problem of how best to store the remaining contents of the bottle. Conditions being benign, the crafty crew persuaded the skipper that crossing the half way mark and surviving a close encounter with a whale, were sufficient justifications for accepting their own suggestion. Dinner was therefore subsequently dispatched with even more than the usual enthusiasm! 

Not to be outdone, the Purser reminded the skipper and crew that only a measly 2 bottles of the red stuff has been loaded in Ponta Delgada and the remaining 1 was therefore under lock and key until the ship was safely in port!

The chute had finally been deployed at around 1300. The skipper having pleaded tiredness at the end of his night watch, when reminded by the mate, of his previous instructions to deploy the chute should daylight bring appropriate conditions. Until rhe chute has parted company with the mast, the day had been uneventful and we had continued to make steady if slow progress North Eastwards towards the Lizard.

Whilst the previous night had been a good deal chillier than previousl ones, high pressure had delivered another warm and sunny day. A further weather update from Ian suggested the situation would continue for the next few days and the main question remined whether we would make the Western Approaches to the Channel quickly enough to hitch a ride on the shallow low waiting for us over the Celtic Sea.