HEADING SOUTH

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 29 of our voyage. Today has been a day of settling into new watches, new tacking stations and hopefully an improved standard of tidiness in the World Voyagers sleeping accommodation following Sail Master Dougie going on the ‘warpath’ during cleaning stations this morning.Today we put the crew through their paces with a good set of tacks which was followed by a Man Overboard Exercise (MOBEX). This activity really got the crew working well together and demonstrated how quickly they can hand in all sail so that I can manoeuvre the ship and recover a person from the water should it be required, which on this occasion it wasn’t as we used a life-ring instead.The weather continues to be kind and since departing Tenerife we have been taking full advantage of the North Easterly Trade Winds and continue to make good speed south under a full press of sail. Currently we are located 130nm to the SE of Tenerife with just over 700nm remaining to reach our next port of call which is Mindelo in the Cape Verde Islands.Volunteering to write tonight’s Captains Log is Bob and Lewi from the new Blue Watch, enjoy!Until tomorrow, take care.Yours AyeCaptain GavCaptain’s Log, Saturday 19 SeptemberBlue watchBob and LewiAhoy there landlubbers, Bob and Lewi here to fill you in on the day’s adventuring.Our first evening at sea had has return to overnight watches, which, after a few days at port in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, was a rude shock to most systems. Favourable overnight conditions have continued into the afternoon, with a full press of sails continuing to be set, and anticipation of what will be another magnificent sunset, with our position off the coast of Morocco and the Western Sahara.Happy Hour (cleaning stations) had a renewed vigour this morning, after our rack swap antics of yesterday. While some were able to match the Ideal Rack prepared by Dougie, many fell well below. The lesson was obvious; throwing a sheet over the top of the mess, or stuffing it inside your sleeping bag, does not quite cut it as ‘squared away’. Maybe, by the end of the voyage, we might be able to clean our racks properly (but if we haven’t by now, is this really a possibility?)New watch bills means new tacking stations, and we were run through new roles today with some training tacks. A few kinks were quickly ironed out, as all the world voyagers have become much more familiar with the sail systems on board.Following this, we completed a ‘Man Overboard’ drill. Nobody was offered as a sacrifice to Neptune for the exercise, and although there were volunteers, there were many more nominations. The watches worked quickly to furl and clew the sails, to allow the ship to be steered in any direction. Ringo the Life-ring was able to be recovered readily, and is expected to make a full recovery.While on watch this afternoon, we were lucky to be visited by what was described by one observer, as a ‘megapod’ of dolphins. These dolphins have raised the bar on the previous ones, as they were surfing the swells, chasing each other, and putting on a grand old show for the spectators. Annie almost dove in to join them, but was convinced that was not a good way to begin one’s life under the sea. On a side note, there will not be any sort of seafood soup on the menu tomorrow.Speaking of, special shout out to Marcos the Magnificent, even after a few days off in port, he can still work the magic in the galley.Shout Outs:-A shout from Ian to Sam and Amy. Good luck with your karate grading for yellow belt!-Happy birthday to Mum (for the 18th) and Dad (for the 19th) from Bob. Miss you both heaps!-To the Bontesai, Vita will be in contact again once in Cape Verde  Send love to the grandparentals xx