Bobbing Along With Rope Burns

Maybe it isn’t going to end. We’ve no wind and we’re doing minus one knot. The air is close and it is baking hot. Everyone is tired and I’ve got a headache. I managed to give myself rope burns to the hand and we’ve run out of gas. Our destination is only 80 miles away and we’ve just been bobbing aimlessly. We hear on the radio that there is in fact a hurricane by Cabo Verde that has disturbed all the trade winds (we later learn that many of the ARC entrants struggled for days on end in the windless seas).

It wasn’t until late afternoon that the winds picked up and we were able to get the sails up again. Finally we’re on our way to complete the last part of the journey, and as I take the helm in the evening we can see the distant glow of the Caribbean and the leading lights of Antigua! Get the rum out!