Day 25

Again, not much to report, we've had a good sailing day averaging over 4 knots in steady but light wind. The miles tick down slowly and one day merges into the next.

The next insight into daily life comes from the nighttime and the sleeping arrangements on board. Someone is always on watch which leaves three people to accommodate at any point of the night. Mum originally thought we would all have our own sheet sleeping bags and move them with us from bed to bed...... This is just not feasible when coming off a 2-4am watch in the pitch black, soaking wet and salty so it's pretty much a free for all.

There are three places to sleep:

1) The Port Berth - in the 'lounge' (saloon) this is a small double bed barricaded in by the table. It has a duvet and numerous pillows and at anchor/ in a marina serves as a double bed. Not here! With the rockiness you need to kind of wedge yourself in against the cupboards or the table and put some limbs out ("the stabilisers" - mum) to stop you rolling around. Very comfortable and spacious and in the heart of all the action.

2) The Starboard Berth - a single bunk also in the saloon with a very effective net stopper-faller-outer (lee cloth) which mum made and which has so far prevented anyone crashing to the floor as happened on our trip from Greece to Sicily. This has a fleecy blanket and mum's tiny pillow, plus cushions for anyone else. Below the electronic charging station and next to the loo...

3) The Squirrel Nest - in the aft cabin, this is a vast collection of duvets, pillows and blankets. The whole cabin is just a bed, so you can't fall out and you can get nuzzled next to one wall or the other in a pile of warmth. Downsides are that you miss all the excitement as you're out of the way and it can be very hot as there's no air movement.

We each have our location of preference:

Mum - predominantly sleeps in Option 2 as it's the most convenient if anyone needs her on deck during the night. Rarely seen in Option 3.
Marcus - can only sleep in Option 1 or 2 as Option 3 can be a bit sicky. Option 1 is the favourite and also serves as "the sick bed" early in the passage
Dad - surprised me by saying that he prefers Options 1 or 2 as he spends most of the night in the Squirrel Nest
Me - I invariably sleep in every bed during the night as mum goes on watch when I finish my watch and so only her bed is empty. At the end of her shift I move into Marcus' bed so she can have her bed back, then when dad goes onto watch I go into the Squirrel Nest so Marcus can stay in the saloon. By far my favourite is the Squirrel Nest.

In other news, fresh fruit is very very low. Our salads now consist of cabbage, mung beans and pickled gerkins. There's a whole rotation in the mung bean farm with some soaking in the 'nursery', one day olds in the 'infant school' and ready to eats in the 'senior school'. There are 4 oranges, some potatoes, some lemons and some onions left. Needless to say, tonight's Pasta Putanesca came entirely from the store cupboard!

Thanks to Wombat for present number 3 - they've gone already x x

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