Monday, July 22, 2013

What A Difference A Day Makes!

 The first wives support group was in full swing yesterday as all the messages from the guys were coming in describing the last 4 days of high seas, seasickness and their frustration with the lack of progress towards the destination. It's been great to have Tricia, Cheryl and Alicia to commiserate with knowing they are going through the same emotions I am and are just as eager to have the crew make landfall as I am.
Thanks ladies!

About 1:00 Alicia heard form Bob and we all breathed a sigh of relief since things were starting to look better:

Quick email. Been very rough last 48 hrs. A little better now. I dont think any of us has eaten much since lunch Sat. Just ate a freeze dried meal. We are motoring now. Hopefully can continue. Swells overpowered the motor so we've had to sail mostly in wrong direction but about 1 mile per hour to target vmg. So speed was 4.5 but vmg was 1 or less. Now vmg 2 with 379 miles to Brighton. A French sailboat that looked like the Sail magazine "best around bouies boat" at Charleston tacked on the horizon and closed in on us at 7 knots, then tacked behind and I think he was going to sail beside us until he realized he couldn't go that slow. He radioed and asked if we could call his family bc they were late and the sat phone was down. We called and left a msg, they promptly called back and we told them the boat would be in La Rochelle France in 72 hrs and to please relay to the crew family. We radioed the skipper that the msg went thru and he was gone in a flash. Got to go, it's too hard using tablet. Love you and pp. 

and then this from David via Tricia:

After a very heavy night we are finaly seeing the seas and weather subside. We are now beginning to edge our way east towards the Scillies and then the channel and Brighton. Movement on the boat is much easier now, but we will probably experience those thunderstorms later.

Hope all is good with you, take care

Love,
David


This morning I checked the tracker and realized what a huge difference a day makes. They are so close now and headed right into the channel! 
July 22, 2013
And then an hour later I looked again and saw the tracker message (you can click on the image to make it larger and read the message)
July 22, 2013
I'm imagining they must be having a huge breakfast of SPAM and chicken broth (sounds like that is mostly what is left onboard!) and dreaming about showers and beer. 

Luckily for me we had a cute kid invasion here at the cottage this past weekend to help keep me distracted! My cousin was visiting with his wife and 2 boys. We played with monster trucks and scooters just like the good old days when Jordi and Eric were little and had a great weekend.






4 comments:

  1. Glad to see they are making progress again - although we have only met you a couple of times at LLSC, we have been quiety reading your wonderful blog and watching progress. As we are originally from northern England, we are curious about where you are going to be keeping the boat after the trip? Also curious about what method you are using to get emails from the crew.
    Fair winds
    Neil D.

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  2. Hi Neil!
    thanks for following along, it definitely feels like we have a community cheering for the crew. We will be keeping the boat at the Tidemill Yacht Marina, in Woodbridge on the Deben river when she arrives. I posted a short video about the Deben river at the end of this post: http://gritstocrumpets.blogspot.com/2013/07/creeping-bit-closer.html if you want to take a look.
    Also, we get the e-mails through the Sat phone. Alan rented the phone to be able to keep in touch with work and family during the trip. I'm not sure of the logistics, but they can send and receive e-mails using Alan's e-mail address. I'm sure he will fill you in on the details if you are interested.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you - I will take a look at the video tonight. I am not real familiar with that part of England as I grew up in the northwest of England. I would definately like to catch up with Alan at some point and get details on the Sat phone.
      Neil

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  3. Karen,
    Alex's Mom is a knock-out! One of those women who ages beautifully. I can Alex and Eric in her face.
    Congratulations to Nani, her crew, and her support team as they sail the English Channel. I feel like they have arrived! I'm so proud of them! Alan gave his parents a travelogue on Sunday of his time aboard Nani and the pictures and videos were great. I know he is putting together a lot of it on flash drive for you.
    What a great boat you have! There was much interest in here while she was in the marina in Horta and I'm sure she will turn heads as she sails along the English Coast! Nani, so capapble...

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