Chocolate spanner

Yesterday we woke to a very different kind of morning. There were ominous dark clouds on the horizon, obscuring the sunrise. Those particular squalls dissipated before catching up with Shepherd Moon, and the day turned out to be a typical tradewind day. Clear blue skies with a scattering of fluffy white clouds overhead, clear blue sea all around with a scattering of flying fish and around 8 to 10 knots of breeze (still not a proper tradewind: 2nd class post rather than next day delivery). Towards the end of the day the squalls reappeared and we got caught in a couple. As they cross the wind increases by around 10 knots and it tips down with rain. They only take around 10 minutes to pass but that 10 minutes is either very exhilarating or totally terrifying, depending on your perspective. The second one that hit in the middle of the night saw Shepherd Moon surfing down the waves at over 9 knots. I think you can guess which camp I am in.

The other piece of news from yesterday is that our generator packed up. That isn’t strictly true; the generator still runs happily, it just doesn’t generate any electricity. I’m not sure what the correct name should be for a generator that doesn’t generate, but it’s about as useless as a chocolate spanner on a hot sunny day. No generator means no watermaker, and while we have more than enough water to get us to St Lucia, we may have to forego some of life’s small luxuries, like ice cubes and showers. It also means the freezer might have to be turned off and so a veritable feast could be on the cards. Every cloud has a silver lining.