Day 7

Speciality of the house Chocolate cake

Disappointment of the day, 2 good fishing lures lost and no fish.

At last we are half way to Barbados and after several days of tracking Egret the rudderless English yacht we finally spotted them on the horizon. They popped up on our AIS but we couldnt see them. We had been in radio contact all day. By 3pm we thought we should be able to see them. I called them to see if they could see us. Amanda could see us on the horizon going straight for them. Another careful look from our fore deck and there they were.

The diesel was ready to go, Alan and Juan had transferred it into cans we didnt need back, we sacrificed some of our half way chocolate cake and a couple of other bits as a present and we were ready. Once we came along side, careful not to get too close to their steering drogue, the whole process took about an hour.

It was a bit of a mission and we couldnt have done it with out a 3rd person on board, The old muscle..Alan... rowed the dinghy over to Egret, we had a line attached..We took three goes to get it right I was steering and Juan the young muscle operated the line to the dinghy. We were a little surprised as to how the dinghy behaved because the wind was from behind we thought the dinghy would blow across easily but no it seemed to shoot out astern of both yachts. Juan had to haul Alan in again, the rope acting as a break made it difficult rowing. Then on the third try I got Tuatara quite a bit ahead of Egret so that got the dinghy closer and easier for Alan to row then between the old and young muscle they pulled the dinghy back to Tuatara. The sea state meant getting the dinghy in the water from off the bow was a little dicey as Tuatara rolled with the side on swells, the couple of minutes to get Alan and diesel into the dinghy was a little tense. Getting back on board was also a bit of an act. Alan can move quite fast when he wants to! Once we left Patrick and Amanda we sorted our selves out, tied down the dinghy, and eventually got the sails up again. By that time we were about mile or so on from Egret the sea was a lot flatter, the wind died some more and at last we seem to be having nice trade wind sailing. A little slower but more comfortable, no more bruises.

A cold beer and then wine with dinner was well deserved, Between watches we all slept soundly.

Day 8 On the down hill slide.

12 deg 46 N 44 deg 26W The wind is still eased about 15 knots, the MPS is up with the big drifter poled out the other side. The African haze is now behind us. The sun is out and we are hot. Alan is making a lure so may be fish for dinner.