Location: 35°11.631S 20°10.001E
It’s been another rough day at sea here on vela–lee cloths have become our best friends. It seems as though everyone had the same conversation on watch today: what are your Christmas traditions? Maybe because St. Nikolaus (AKA the goddess Leoni) visited us with bags of treats taped to the side of our beds. Despite our extended summer, we are all still rallying to get into the Christmas spirit before we get home. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas has begun with freezing weather, especially on watch. We have resorted to hiding down below to eat our meals and only coming up for watch; we are essentially hibernating now. Our uniforms have changed from swimsuits to lots of layers and full foulies, rain or shine. It is not uncommon to see us bundled up in blankets on watch in what we like to call “cuddle puddles” to escape the cold. Since we ‘hauled ass’ (or as Tom says, we were “bloody hooning”) yesterday, barely dropping below 11 knots the entire day, we are set to arrive in Cape Town tomorrow night–though I may have just jinxed us. The seas are supposed to get rougher, and the wind is supposed to pick up. Nonetheless, we are all on avid shark lookout.
In other news, we have begun creating a book for future Vela crew with advice, funny stories, and more. Everyone on board gave an answer today at our lunch squeeze. Advice ranges from funny, such as one PFD wedgie is funny, two is annoying, and three is full-on war, to serious, such as never wish a bad day away. We are all in good spirits as we approach Cape of Good Hope and hope to be seeing land very soon!
Happy St. Nikolaus Day!
Emily
Photos: Trey’s Selfie Series