Be The Jam

Position: Indian Ocean

S 11°43.33'

E 074°10.12'

Had a mad day yesterday. My watch was at 0500 till 0900 yesterday morning. Well the wind and the swell nearly drove me mad! You just couldn't keep the boat in a straight line. At the end my arms felt they were going to fall off; really tiring. Then we set about the engine as a last ditch attempt to be able to go to Solomon Island (Chegos Archipelago). Well we spent all day on it, in-between on the helm for another 5 hrs! (Because the auto helm is buggered we are having to helm 24 hrs non-stop.) So by the end all we achieved in doing is blowing up the battery charger, so now we are completely stuffed, when these batteries run out, that really will be the end of the juice. We thought we would be able to charge the batteries with the small portable Genny and charger, just so we could run lights and instruments. Now we are completely without power and engines. We have been plunged back into the dark ages!! No running water, no nothing. What power is left will be used to power the GPS once a day so we can get a fix. Navigating last night, no light for the compass, it was; line up with a star and head for that (quick check with the torch once in a while). Fortunately it was a starry night.

The Stars were like a patch work quilt, and so many shooting stars that is almost looked like the stars themselves were falling out of the sky. Phosphoresce were going mad, it looked like the boat was driving down a path of diamonds. Everywhere around where a wave broke, it was lit up by a million little lights.

There was something very strange I forgot to mention the other night (2 nights ago). We were sailing along, and suddenly I had a torch shinning up at me from the sea!! It was the same colour as the phosphorescence. I honestly thought for a split second that I had nearly run over a diver! What the hell is a diver doing out here in the middle of the Indian? Then I realised it couldn't be a diver, so what was it?? Rupert thought I had finally lost my marbles. Then 10 minutes later, another!! Rupert just saw it before it was past. Rupert then did his watch and told me he saw a few more, we conclude that it must be a phosphorescent eating jelly fish or something of that nature, purely because it was the same green light. The only other explanation; maybe it was a U.S.O. (Unidentified Swimming Object)?? Maybe when I get back I'll try and research the matter, and do a paper on it! They haven't been seen since. Maybe we're being watched THIS EPISODE WILL CONTINUE SAME TIME NEXT WEEK...