Morning all! Well there were a couple of noteworthy events yesterday. We put the ship’s clocks back for the first time, so we’re now on UTC (GMT) – 1 hour. A clear sign that we are making progress westwards! We also think we’ve arrived at the Trades – not that they’re signposted or anything.
Good morning all from Mercator Squared – this is a phrase I’ve come up with to describe being as far north of the equator as you are west of the Greenwich Meridian, a position we passed through a few minutes ago.
Sealegs are starting to make an appearance now, although I’m not yet up to sitting below decks and typing up a quick copy of “War and Peace” (you’ll doubtless be pleased to hear that!).
The first log from Trucial Coast is going to be a short one out of necessity: I’m still finding my sea legs and anything apart from being on deck scanning the horizon makes me distinctly queasy! Our first day has been pretty interesting.
It’s 22nd November and tomorrow I fly to Las Palmas in the Canaries to sail across the Atlantic. Having signed up to do this right back in January, and had it as a major focus in my year, it still seems to have crept up on me very suddenly! I’ve had my last day at the office till after Christmas, handed my house keys over to my cat sitter, and said goodbye to my girlfriend: it is now very real and I am very nervous!
Early last year I heard word through the family grapevine that my uncle and aunt would be sailing their 46’ yacht, Trucial Coast, across the Atlantic in December, taking part in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. After a speculative email to him and a chat with my boss about being out of the office for all of December, (and potentially even longer!) I was signed on as the third member of the crew. We’re now a year on and the rally is over. The three of us set of from Gran Canaria on 25th November and arrived into St Lucia about 18.5 days later. In that time we used our engine for just 1 hour and sailed for the remainder. On corrected time, after boat handicaps had been applied, we finished 85th out of 169 yachts in our division – something we felt was a credible performance especially as we only had 3 crew members. Immediately after arriving in St Lucia, having battled our way through three hours of the worst weather of the trip, we were basically too tired, wet and fed-up to feel anything. As we readjusted to life ashore, there was a certain sense of relief crept in. However it is only in the last few days that I’ve really begun to feel any sense of achievement – I just purchased the Admiralty Sea Chart covering our route, and it was an awfully long way, with no possible respite – there are no conveniently located islands halfway across: something I was very aware of during the crossing! I’m now in the position where I’d definitely consider undertaking something similar again, especially as I now have a much better idea of what to expect: but I would really hope for a slightly easier ride than we had this time. As we crossed, I wrote a daily blog for friends and family following the crossing: these entries have now been loaded up on the Audley blog if anyone is interested in what goes through your mind as you sail across the Atlantic….
My family’s history is so interwoven with the Subcontinent that it seemed almost familiar before I arrived. My grandparents honeymooned in the Himalayan foothills, they were stationed in Calcutta during the days of the British Raj, and my mother was born there!
We’re delighted to announce that Audley has once again secured 3* Responsible Travel status from AITO, scoring no less than 100 points out of a possible 100!The three star award is the highest level of Responsible Travel recognition offered by AITO and means that we have demonstrated successful implementation and continual improvement of our Responsible Travel policy.
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