received 16.12.08 0520 GMT
Have you ever run on a treadmill? Hop on, plug in your iPod. Watch the news.
Run for a while without getting anywhere and be happy about it? Get off with a good sweat and move on to the next set of workout gear. Well, we are on a treadmill and we have no other amenities, but we do have a good sweat going. The big difference is, we can't get off!
Welcome to leg 3, and the beginning of the ‘beat from hell’, crossing the Bay of Bengal. We have been rounding the southern tip of Sri Lanka for what seems like a week now, and it is getting tiring. The fleet is all in the same boat though. Light headwinds and lots of current on the nose - two knots for well over a day. Doesn't Mother Nature understand that we have Christmas dinner waiting at the other end and we have to make it on time?
On board we do have one crisis brewing. Not of the boat breaking or injury kind, but maybe worse... We forgot our spoons...
Think about it, we are minimalists. We have nothing spare to speak of and eating is something we look forward to all hours of the day. Burning the calories that we burn even in light air, we need to eat.
Fortunately, we had one dinner that was pre prepared pasta for our first night and it came with about 15 small plastic forks. No problem you might think. These guys are set and plastic forks are lightweight as well! Not so fast. We can now attest to the fact that India is certainly not known for the quality of their plastic forks. One piece of plastic at a time; they are slowly breaking to bits. You know when it has happened when you hear a groan from the galley area. Typically followed by a traditional Kiwi or Australian saying like ‘I've had a shocker!’ That is translated in English to ‘I just took a bite of my mash potatoes and dog food mix and came out of the bowl with either half a plastic fork or missing a couple sporks (if there is such a word) on the end.’
Bottom line, we are down to about five usable forks, each with ‘sporks’ missing. We need a plan B.
Some suggestions so far include using your sunglasses (gross). Using power tools (because that got us out of our mess in the last leg but somehow I just don't see it). The brim of a hat (yuck). And the old favourite...just dig in your hand and don't worry about it - making freeze-dried food just that much more of a delicacy.
I will report on the final conclusion because we aren't too far away. But for now, back on the treadmill trying to get east and trying to break free into the breeze that awaits us up north. Somehow. We have to make Christmas or I know I am going to have a sad little girl on my hands for one. My guess is that the entire fleet feels exactly the same way.
Kenny Read - skipper
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