questionable drinking water

Caribbean 600 Race (Day 3) - St Barts to Montserrat

We are no longer sinking! It feels odd to be skipping our regular gym session (aka manually pumping the bilge every 20 minutes). But you can’t please everyone.

“Not sinking takes the magic out of it” ~ Ben

Fear not, in the meantime other bits have broken. Nothing of importance. Just our drinking water, which apparently is not meant to be rust coloured?

Given that we have all been enjoying this artisanal flavoured water all night, we’d rather not think about what caused it. Luckily we have rum to drink instead. And, inspired by circumstance, we have a new cocktail to try - a Rusty Rum! 1 ½ parts rum, 1 ½ parts sherry, ¼ part whisky, ¼ part sugar syrup, rust coloured Argonaut water to taste, and garnished with a twist of orange zest. As a serious racing machine, we of course have all the ingredients onboard! Sam enjoyed one whilst browsing the latest issue of Seahorse.

Meanwhile, our tactician James is attempting to herd cats.

“I think it’s time we tack. We’re heading more north than south and we need to be heading more south than north.”

That bodes well.

The wind died. So we lit another braai. Belly pork, mushrooms, and braaibroodjies. Divine.

With our private chef (a much more important title than skipper, I might add), I am quite happy to drift for days on end. And we just might.

We decided to help trim the main by lounging on the boom.

Sam and I always seem to luck out with the best watch shifts. As we come on watch, after hours of mere puffs, there are now patches of wind ahead.

At 3am, I am wind-spotting on the bow, searching for the darker patches of water in amongst those that glisten in the moonlight. There is no need for a headtorch. This is a moment I won’t forget. It is still. The moon. The stars. And, at last, the sound of water running over the hull.