Our watch (Aft Port) was up on the bridge from 2000 hr till 0000 hr. After the interesting weather talk from Ali (Second Mate) we understood a bit more about what was going on. However, watch leader Helen had missed the talk and so there was a bit of confusion over keeping close to Skye. After a moment of hesitation she replied "but the sky is all around us!!!" We let her off with this one due to lack of sleep.
In a desperate attempt to make some progress (meaning going forwards instead of backwards) the watch, along with a few helpers which were down in the bar, managed to haul some sails. Despite our best efforts, the wind gods were not on our side and so we remained fairly stationary.
However, spirits up on the bridge remained high. The logs were efficiently being done and the lookouts were being very cautious of naughty lobster pots as well as other vessels. Maybe it was due to tiredness, but there was further confusion later on. A very worried Abi G called Helen regarding a big red light off the starboard side on the horizon as she was worried about a collision - we seemed to be heading straight for it! Helen came rushing over and managed to resolve the problem, by informing Abi "don't worry, that's the moon!" She tried to recover from the embarrassment by justifying it by saying "it was dead big and close though!" Ali who was helming at the time assured Abi that she would try her best efforts to avoid the moon!!
Today on board the ship we've had a special celebration…it's Charlotte Cooper's 18th Birthday! Cookie made a lush chocolate cake which we all devoured at morning Smoko! Happy Birthday Coops!!
We were back on watch at 1200, ready to tackle the most difficult part of our voyage so far - getting through the narrow and rocky section between the outer and inner Hebrides. This is where Aft Port proved themselves, and learnt that we have the best helm in all the land.. Abi G! She kept the straightest wake we've seen and steered us through the tricky straight so well we even got a "brilliant, well done" and "thankyou" from Captain Clare (apparently they don't get handed out too lightly - well done Abi, you've saved the day! Much like Batman, don't you think Dave?)
After picking up speed to almost 10 knots, we overtook the Mexican ship, who had gotten stuck because of lack of wind - apparently the wind gods don't favours smart white uniforms!! But the glorious progress wasn't to last and the end of our watch saw us back on the slow-go, praying to the SE wind gods to help us on again! No response as of yet, we'll keep trying!
Update By: Sally and Abi G, on behalf of Aft Port.