How do we do to run the good ship Stormbird - 6th January 2024
Part 1
We are own world on Stormbird and have to look after ourselves to survive, bearing in mind the nearest land is beneath us and at times we will be thousands of miles from land. I thought it may be interesting over the next few blogs to cover as to what that entails.
Sailing/Operating the Boat
As stated we have 2 on each watch (I have set out the watches in previous blogs) responsible for this and ensuring we have the right sail area for the conditions and to prevent collisions and accidents etc. At times depending on the situation others may be required and for example with the Red Baron it may require all of us. It is therefore important that we all are on time for watches and there is a proper handover from one watch to the other. The 8.00am -12.00 noon watch carries out a daily check of the whole boat and checks for example for chafe, that safety equipment is in the right place, that we have sufficient power and water etc. It would take too long to go through this but it takes if done properly a good hour to an hour and a half. Most days we find a few things that need fixing or we need to keep an eye on. This reduces the risk of failure and accidents and it is very good way of getting the crew to know the boat so that can spot things that are not right.
Food & Eating
We made a big shop before we left – as you can imagine shopping for 6 for over 3 weeks (in case we are be calmed) is quite a lot of food. We tend to think of a number of meals and prepared a number of meals before we left so the first few meals are done and there are a number of meals ready in case of heavy weather should we encounter it. We therefore have cupboards full of food and lots of fruit and vegetables hanging in baskets inside the boat. These can go off- some quicker than others so we do daily check of the fruit and vegetables and eat those first before they go off. For example broccoli goers off quicker than cabbage. Eggs need turning every few days. We have a large chest freezer on board which takes all our frozen meat and ready-made meals, we have a large chest fridge and a small day fridge for butter and milk etc which is easily accessible. We have a gas 3 ring hob, oven and grill. We therefore need to carry enough gas for what we need. We have a double sink with a tap and can get hold and cold water although we have to make our hot water – more about that later. We have a vacuum pack machine to seal perishables.
Having a well-fed crew is a happy crew and so this is very important. Breakfast is typically cereal and/or fruit (melon or paw paw) or bacon and eggs. Lunch sandwiches or wraps and/or salads. The main meal is in the evening which we all rotate making, where we all get together and eat as a crew. We generally eat out of nice dog bowls due to the swell as we cannot eat off flat plates.
We have a naughty cupboard with chocolate, crisps and biscuits etc which we can help ourselves to within reason. We make our own bread which is great and there is nothing better than being in the cockpit with the smell wafting of fresh bread. We make our own brownies, flapjacks and cakes. Food is a moral booster and
We chat through things and there is a moan section- so if anyone has any issues they get it off their chest and we resolve the issues. We may have a topic- such as most interesting places visited and why. It is a social boat and it is important that we all work well and get on together.
Today
It was a lovely warm morning with little cloud. As our course that we could sail on our starboard tack (wind on our right side) had been taking us to far west we gybed (turned) so that the wind was more on our port side so we could aim for a waypoint south of Cape Verde to ensure we stayed in the wind. This entailed bringing the Red Baron across the boat on to the other side and we were then soon heading in the direction we wanted to go.
We were seeing more flying fish now although no one had yet landed on deck. Robbie and I had the 8.00am shift so we did the boats daily checks and internal cleaning. There were a few things to sort out and fix. Keith made a loaf of bread which was delicious – see picture. Mark helped us make some soft shackles in dynema and we passed the day chatting, reading, sleeping and eating. Ian did a sterling job making lunch and dinner which was Cottage Pie. The weather has been good, the wind not too strong but enough to push us along quite nicely between 6-8.5 kts. Our 12.00 noon run for 24 hours was 172 nm. We ate whilst there was another lovely sunset.