"I am staying in to clean the fridge" was an all too common response by girls when I asked them for a date when I was younger. Last night I was on mother watch preparing dinner and had to put my head in the now defective fridge to retrieve a meal I had pre-cooked a couple of days ago. I was greeted by a smell I can only describe a 'gippin'. Don't know the meaning of the word but it seems have the correct tone to describe the smell.

When I went back for the second half of the meal, nausea struck. Charley Streather then tried. Same effect on him. The day was rescued by Dave Baker, a man with an iron constitution. He retrieved and Tim cooked. I escape on deck to helm for half an hour in a strong breeze.

The evening proved to be exciting with hail, rain and a heavy sea on the beam of Juno. We stuck to 30 minutes on the helm as it required balance, strength and concentration. Balance is one the biggest problem for peg legs on yachts. At one point when Tim Palmer and I swapped helm we only had one good eye each due to the hail and sea spray. We could barely stand up for laughing. Blue watch slept soundly after the night's efforts.

"Head south until the butter melts and turn right for St Lucia" is the traditional Atlantic trade route. We only have marge on board which melts at a lower temperature than butter, hence our more northerly route. Most of the marge is at the bottom of our dysfunctional chillier. So what is Dave Baker doing today? He is staying in to clean the fridge.

As for the crew. Today is a good drying day!

Brendan
Yachting World, 29 November 2005