Frustratingly, lighter winds do not necessarily mean weaker waves – at least not yet. I’ve withstood the eastward pull today, but didn’t get much west. Hoping I don’t lose too much tonight, so I can be up early and carry on the push west without being too sad about my position.
It was nice to have gentler weather though, and if things had been going more in the right direction it would have been a fantastic day. Feeling peckish in the afternoon, I suddenly remembered a last-minute addition to my food store that Steve and I had made – a block of Parmesan cheese!! I treated myself – a big chunk as a snack AND some shavings of it in my ‘Mediterranean Vegetable Pasta.’ At last my deck knife is getting some proper action.
This next bit of news is for everyone, but especially Justin:
On my boat I have a water intake tank by the main hatch, for the watermaker. It means that even if the boat is rocking a lot, I won’t get air bubbles going into the watermaker and causing trouble. I’ve allowed it to stay full for the past couple of weeks, to add ballast to the boat and give it some stability in the big waves, but today decided to lighten the boat a little in the attempt to push west. Inside the water tank is the lever to close it off to the sea, and i was about to reach in and close it off when I saw this:
Fishies! In my water tank!
There are fish in it! I’m not sure how long they’d been hanging out in there, but I doubt any of us were thrilled with the idea of them getting mixed up with my water making. It was tempting to keep them as pets – they’re really funny swimming around – but I think they probably prefer the ocean, so I’ve scooped them out and said goodbye (a trickier task than expected, as they were wriggly and good at eluding capture).
The big highlight of the day, though, was calling in to say hello to the London gathering of GPR supporters. It was SO lovely to speak to so many people while I lay curled up at the foot of my little cabin in damp waterproofs. It sounded like a fantastic gathering of people – thank you all so much for your support! 🙂
Messages and support
Please keep messages to Elsa coming – and consider attaching them to oar strokes to power Elsa westwards! Just £0.10 each – please support generously, she has a million to take!
One thought on “Day 22: fairer winds, but where are the following seas? or, FISH!”
Hi Elsa, thought someone would have fun relaying this message, could have sung this to the little fishes in your water tank :-):
Come here, maw little Jacky,
Now aw’ve smoked mi backy,
Let’s hev a bit o’ cracky,
Till the boat comes in.
Chorus:
Dance ti’ thy daddy, sing ti’ thy mammy,
Dance ti’ thy daddy, ti’ thy mammy sing;
Thou shall hev a fishy on a little dishy,
Thou shall hev a fishy when the boat comes in.
Elsa Hammond 
Hi Elsa, thought someone would have fun relaying this message, could have sung this to the little fishes in your water tank :-):
Come here, maw little Jacky,
Now aw’ve smoked mi backy,
Let’s hev a bit o’ cracky,
Till the boat comes in.
Chorus:
Dance ti’ thy daddy, sing ti’ thy mammy,
Dance ti’ thy daddy, ti’ thy mammy sing;
Thou shall hev a fishy on a little dishy,
Thou shall hev a fishy when the boat comes in.
Keep it going lass!
Jo
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