So you know how I was predicting making land next Thursday – may be late afternoon. Well – that might have been a little premature! This morning around 05.00, I was just coming round from a decent “between watch sleep” and getting ready to go up for my 06.00 watch, when I heard the engine start and then abruptly stop. This was repeated a number of times and then there was frenetic action up in deck, trimming sails, which seemed like a plan b going into action. I decided to stay put and not add to any potential larking about. Well, it was a plan b!

I made it up stairs about 05.30 to be greeted with gloom and seriousness. The hypothesis was that our prop had something stuck around it, thereby preventing us from using the engine. The significance of this is two fold: 1) it means when the wind dies (as it surely will early next week for instance , according to those lying bastards, the forecasters) we can’t start the engine to maintain our average speed and 2) we need the engine to get into the dock and park the boat when we do eventually get to Cape Town!

After waiting until daylight, observing the prop through the little observation portal in the aft lazarette and confirming the worst, and getting various items ready so someone could dive down to inspect and hopefully free things up, Dave our skipper did exactly that. He really took one for the team. He donned a dry diving suit, tanked up and jumped off the back of the boat grabbing a floating line we’d put out for him. Just before he jumped, his last words were “can someone turn me on please?” Now, I thought that was completely the wrong time for that sort of talk, and him with a new girlfriend as well. He did look terrified as he jumped – and so would I jumping into the Atlantic Ocean, 1225 miles from anywhere other than bloody Tristan. The difficulty is that you have this hulk of a Yacht bouncing up and down on you – just above your head and going underneath is a little tricky.

So the prognosis is that we have a load of fishing line caught tightly around the prop and the shaft. It isn’t going to come away easily. Dave was unsuccessful in freeing it this morning and so time for a plan b!

So we’re off sailing again, hitting 7.5 to 8.00 knots on the most beautiful clear sky day with a nice blue rolly sea. The problem is, we are unlikely to be able to maintain this speed as an average and thereby we probably won’t make land much before next Saturday, if we’re lucky. I was really hoping to be able to go to the airport on Sunday morning and meet Bernadette. Now there is a chance that she’ll be able to come and meet me when she arrives on Sunday! This is all fine, except there is some poor weather working it’s way in on Thursday/Friday that might mean we have to either heave to or hide somewhere to miss it (again – not another Bugger I hope) or sit on a mooring ball in the outer harbor waiting it out – so we can then have another go at freeing the prop – so we can steam into the dock.

So there you have it – given the size of the South Atlantic, the fact that we haven’t actually seen a single other boat, we missed out in going ashore in Tristan – we still managed to snag some fishing line at night in this vast ocean – the probability of that happening – tiny. As we so often say – it is what it is and we’ll have to see what happens next. Now, I have done my secret calculations and I believe we can get 8 or 9 knots out of this thing in the coming days (we have all afternoon today) – as the wind is meant to pick up (currently a gentle 16 knots and we’re powering a long at an average of 7.5 knots, touching 8 occasionally and nudging 9.0 from time to time). If that is the case and if we can get the prop sorted and if we can avoid the bad weather and if and if and if – we might make land early Saturday morning and a sense of relief will be achieved. You see, loved ones aside, we have an appointment with cold beer (and not too cold champagne) and that has Saturday latest – written all over it. Also, I’m tired of cooking every 3rd day, tired of not showering very often (like once in the last two weeks), generally tired of not sleeping for very long!

It’s time again to finish this thing, no matter how good it has been, or how much I’ve enjoyed it. There is no valor in extending the journey, whether you enjoy it or not. To be honest, I really like these guys, I quite like the boat, but the sea may be starting to lose a little of it’s luster and now there is a need to get off the water and back on land – something seemingly very appealing. Understandable? I think so. We’ve been on this boat for the last 5 weeks straight and you can have too much of a good thing. I have a heightened sense of need to do some near normal things – a flat bed, a hot shower, clean clothes, access to communications – a drink in a bar – a drink not in a bar! Although the satellite phone has worked well for me, just getting access to the basic coma in life would be great (not FB or any other social media channel – just a phone I can call more folks on will do.) Also, I miss Bernadette and six and a half weeks was the plan – and I’m now at five and a half – so max one week left – no messing here!

Also – our great friends, Ian and Debbie, will be meeting us on Sunday and I don’t want to miss time with them – so for a myriad of reasons – come on Pelagic, stop screwing around and let’s get our act together and make land pronto –  Saturday morning latest.

So, I’m going to be positive and ask Bernadette to change the hotel booking for the 5th time and start it on Saturday June 2nd!

Pip pip!