27/02/12 - Lord Nelson

Greetings from the beautiful island of La Palma, where we arrived yesterday late afternoon, in blazing sunshine. We had a calm crossing from Las Palmas, and this made for a very happy voyage crew all round! We managed some lovely periods of sailing, and even had a brief dolphin visit thrown in!
We have a high percentage of young crew on this voyage, with the lovely men from the armed forces, who have seen action and been injured. They are all very much on the road to regaining their full strength again, and are making sail setting very speedy with the athletic upper body strength. Alongside the merchant navy cadets that are onboard, there is plenty of pulling power!
The watches have gone well, with clear skies affording amazing star gazing opportunities, especially for those doing the midnight to 4am watch.
Derek and his assistant, Lisa, have been doing the usual magic in the galley, and we have had some spectacular fish pie, steaks, pasta dishes and the cooked breakfasts continue to be very popular.
Last night, after coming alongside and supper, most crew ventured ashore to look at the town, where there had been a festival of some sort. There were many children in fancy dress, a fair and a lot of locals enjoying strolling and a drink in the square. We joined them in this, but it soon got too cool to sit outside for long.
This morning the majority of crew opted to go on the tour of the island, which is well worth doing, and is well paced with frequent stops. We are expecting them to return shortly, and bring the very quiet ship back to life again!
Supper may be slightly earlier tonight, and then it is Harbour Stations, and we will motor/sail overnight to La Gomera, planning to arrive in a new (to
us) port around 10am tomorrow.
After all the activity today it will probably be a quiet evening, as people catch up on sleep, before and after watches.
Jane MP