Day 47 – Long Pilotage into Buenos Aires

Hi EveryoneWelcome to day 47. Sorry as we are right in the middle of conducting our pilotage into Buenos Aires I will have to handover to Rose for tonight’s Log. As per our normal port visits a Captains Log will not be done whilst alongside in Buenos Aires.Until the next Log, take careYours AyeCaptain Gav5th February – Day 47I felt a little excitement during our overnight watch, being tasked on the helm to avoid the shipwreck of the Kim Sung. We passed well to the east of the wreck, battling with wind-whipped swell almost directly on the nose. Ploughing into waves sends sea spray everywhere, and cries of “Wave!” on the bridge with everyone ducking in a vain attempt to stay dry-ish. When we plough through a particularly large wave, the ship (and the crew) shudder and everything vibrates. Thankfully, conditions eased overnight and conditions are now prime for motorsailing with very little wind or swell. The weather heading north has warmed rapidly, and we have hit a maximum temperature on deck today of 27 degrees Celsius. The shoes are off and the shorts and t-shirts are out, and the days of fog, drizzle and cold are becoming a distant memory as we approach the tropics. Instead of seeking out a warm deck space in the sun, we are now seeking cool deck space in the shade (available to a lucky few) or lounging in the Café or our bunks. There are a few sunburnt faces (and legs) but with a few sunscreen enablers among the crew, we shouldn’t arrive in Rio as crispy fried versions of our former selves.  The number of other ships has increased as we are well within the shipping areas for Buenos Aires. We passed Monte Video and the hills of Uruguay this morning, full of regret that this was not our destination. So close, but alas not close enough and so we continue on to Buenos Aires.  At the time of writing, the Young Endeavour is under pilotage to Buenos Aires. Our pilots boarded at 1145 and will continue onboard until we reach Buenos Aires, with an ETA of around 0100 tomorrow morning. Our regular roster of watches will stand down tonight at 0001 (midnight), although we may be woken (or stay up) to assist in coming alongside at port if we choose. Given Sailmaster Sandy’s choice of words – “You don’t have to, but it would be nice” – some aboard suspect this is more like a volunt-order rather than a voluntary activity. Many will choose to stay in bed, despite this suspicion.I am sure I will be among them. You should never let an unfounded suspicion get in the way of sleep.Yours aye,RoseWhite Watch