Alpaire Day 15

Just 217 miles to go at noon. We covered 176 in the 24 hours to then. Furia 174, Taistealai 177, Bam 166 and Crackerjack 183. Does anybody know if Taistealai means something in any language? One suggestion is a journey in Scots Gaelic. (Note from Editor: It means Travellers but is commonly used to describe those undertaking a journey rather than a member of the travelling community as Gaeilge {lucht siúil if anyone is interested})

We assume that you are enjoying good weather by now. In accordance with the Confucious theory of the World in Balance you should be, because we had plenty of rain showers last night. It is such a pain putting on the water proofs!

Our destination in St Lucia is Rodney Bay. It is called after Admiral Sir George Rodney. He defeated the French fleet at the Battle of The Saints in the Caribbean just South of Guadaloupe circa 150 miles North of St Lucia. That was in 1782, and was one of the few successes of the British in the American War of Independence. He brought with him a young Scottish man Gilbert Blane as his personal physician. Blane (later Sir) studied all that was written about scurvy and in particular the works of James Lind and the advice of Cook. He advised Admiral Rodney how to avoid scurvy. As a result  of implementing these policies the crews of the Bitish ships in the Caribbean were fighting fit and it was a significant factor in the battle against the French. Blane's personality, social standing and relationship with Admiral Rodney led to the Admiralty adopting anti scurvy regimes in all their ships. This policy change was a major advantage when blockading the French ports and at the Battl  e of Trafalgar. As a consequence Napoleon was unable to invade Britain.

As this is one of the last blogs that I will write I wanted to mention cardio exercise for future reference. Anybody planning a long ocean voyage should consider it. The boat is moving all the time and we unconsciously move our bodies in harmony, but that is not cardio. I found that the most practical and safe cardio exercise is to stand in the middle of the saloon athwartships holding the edge of the chart table and do squats. Half an hour of vigorous squats in 28 degrees of heat in the cabin will have you knackered. It is also good for getting into shape for skiing.

The ship's company are very focused on aviation matters. Perhaps it is because we saw Peter Pan lose his nerve and keep both feet on the deck during the early hours of Sunday.  They have come up with two important innovations. One will help many seafarers and marinas in future and the other is likely to be of substantial benefit to the Irish economy. I am particularly excited by the latter as it could lead to a Nobel Prize for Economic Innovation for my colleagues.

Some on board are very concerned that the Rib Dingy, unlike the ship's company, is going a little soft. In future it will be filled with helium. This will have the added benefit of lightening the stern of the boat and counterbalancing the weight of the engine so that we can take the waves better. It should also save space in marinas because we will be able to tie the painter to the spinnaker halyard.

The second idea is, I think, particularly promising. We are planning to cross the flying fish from Atlantic tropical waters with mackerel in the Irish seas. We will then develop the new sport of shooting flying mackerel. If you hit them in the air they no longer count as fish so they should be exempted from EU fishing quotas. As Ireland's maritime waters are circa eight times the land mass we have a lot of potential. Please keep this idea to yourself as Des is planning to get Lucinda to include it in her manifesto.

The otherwise idle members of the crew have come up with a new collective noun for Mahi Mahi, a snigger. That is what they do hiding under the boat when we put out our lines! I have no more to write about fishing!

Joxer advises that the smell of rum is not wafting up wind from the Caribbean. Rather it is the crew acting with the knowledge that the stocks will soon be replaced. The ships rules are: one beer or glass of wine per person per day, no spirits. The skipper is afraid that any more might result in the crew becoming (even more) delusional. I fear the search for the cause of the delusions is rather like the search for a cure for scurvy, it will take a couple of hundred years at least!

All the best from the good ship Alpaire.