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31o 57.8’N 69o 05.6’W
So it’s time for that usual transatlantic anthropological finger pointing and
the inevitable acknowledgment of the depth of differences between Us and Them
-- something that can only truly come into focus when stuck in a confined space
for an extended period.
The usual points of contention have been ticked off pretty quickly – Baseball
is a game called rounders played by girls at public (private) school, pants are
worn under trousers and not over underwear, Spotted Dick for pudding, I think
not; etc etc.
After a few days however the more telling differences start to appear, none
more so than the simple act of offering to make a cup of tea; an Englishman
will know it to be around 5pm, expect it to have milk, with the option of sugar
and possibly a biscuit. Offer tea to someone from America (North rather
than South) expecting the answer yes or no but more likely to receive a “sure”
before being bombarded with a stream of queries regarding it’s contents,
additives, flavour and, extraordinarily, even it’s temperature.
Our passage in Jem is therefore a voyage of discovery in more ways than one;
How else are we to learn that celery and peanut butter are natural partners and
they to understand that calling their first born Randy will permanently scar
the boy should he ever venture across the pond.
So here we are about 200 miles from our Bermudan
pit-stop (our final destination still remains in doubt, is it to be the Azores or the Aysores). Last night
was bad after a weather front strayed further south than forecast giving strong
winds from straight ahead and a large sea. However with the weather
charts predicting a wind shift to the south during the night we spent it almost
‘hove-to’ for comfort although certain team members would question that remark.
We awoke (well those of us whom managed to grab any sleep did) to a strong
southerly wind, beautiful blue skies and a warming sun rising ahead of us and
we are flying! Despite quite a big seas speeds are now consistently 7˝+ Kts so
“we’re comin’ home!” Yes travelling at 8 MPH
is quite good for us!
Gathering weather information from which we can pick our route forms a major
part of our lives and it is with bated breath that we await a new forecast – so
often what was favourable 6hrs previously has, for no apparent reason, changed
into something that we need to avoid. Our most useful source is from The
US government who broadcast synoptic and wind speed and direction charts over
the HF radio which, when plugged into a laptop, displays the sort of weather
charts with isobars, fronts and areas of high and low pressure with which you
will be familiar – from these we can change or confirm our strategy.
Because some of the charts cover most of the US and Atlantic we can
also see what’s coming in the next few days which is extremely important.
What’s really coming in the next few days however is hopefully going to be a
hot shower, a good night’s sleep, a quiet beer followed by many noisy
ones – It’s Mike’s birthday tomorrow, it would be nice to end it at anchor.
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