Wednesday 16^th May

Pete is using his time as an invalid to track our trip on a GoogleEarth map, using the logbook as his main source of information. We kept such a thorough log; everyone who visited would gasp and stretch their eyes.  “You kept it HOURLY??” they would say, looking at us in disbelief.  “We are lucky if we do it daily!”  I was the real Log Nazi behind the scenes.  It felt all wrong if we missed an hour…

There are many reasons for keeping a log.  One of them is to satisfy the impulses of people like me, who like to know when are where they are at all times.  It is also a good thing to do for purposes of insurance, and safety.  James Headlam looks at our battered book and says, “It’s your Black Box, isn’t it?”  Yes indeed! 

At the beginning of the day we log the temperature and barometric pressure, and thereafter, every hour on the hour we note:

Time

Position (ie latitude and longitude, to several decimal points)

Wind speed and direction

Sea height and direction

Engines port and starboard revs (plus - are they OK or are they heating up and about to EXPLODE because there is seaweed in the filters???)

Instruments port and starboard

Wind angle

(And maybe something else along the way…I haven’t been keeping the log for a few weeks now…)

And then there is my favourite column, which is not quite big enough for someone who likes a lot of detail… But it is where we can say, “Many dolphins!  Albatross!  M is sickety sick!  Both sails are up but we are about to take the mainsail down because…umm because that is what happens when you put sails up; you take them down again…”

So our log is thick and full of information, making it all very easy for Pete to track our progress across nine and a half thousand nautical miles.

Except…he has just a bit of trouble…reading my writing… I am of course quite crushed by this; I try so hard, even when we are wobbling about on the high sea.  But this is no excuse; my writing is almost as bad (well probably just as bad… on dry land.  Which is why the computer is my BFF!!!