Charlie:
At the moment we are all very happy because the weather forecast is very favourable. This weekend does not hold much excitement for us though (Spare a thought for us when you are sitting in pub sinking a few bevvies with your chommies) by next week Tuesday we will be running large before a strong Westerly that will carry us all the way home. The much hoped for and anticipated ETA is Saturday the Twenty Sixth. If we don't make harbour by then we should be very close. (we expect a welcoming committee by the way. in some sort) :)

The London Bus is quite a leaky and drafty London Bus. Everybody has had their fair share of "water in the cabin" trouble. The winter woolies are out and I sleep with my foul weather gear on. On the bright side the birds have been keeping us company for a while now. Great Shearwaters, Storm petrels Albatross and South Atlantic Skua's. At any one moment there are a few dozen flying astern of us.

Yes we are very bored and the birds are the only thing we can see beyond our lop-sided London Bus. Cant wait to see you all again.

Regards Charlie

Nick:
Getting closer to landfall by the day and spirits are slowly creeping higher which each new dawn. Been quite frosty of late as the crew said. Thankfully the foulies are quite comfy so no worries there. Sleep's been a lot easier of the last few days now that I'm not slammed to one side. Looking forward to our traditional Sunday roast coming up, if only we had a beer! Apart from that am enjoying the relaxed times and looking forward to the days ahead.

Howzit everyone

We started yesterday on a very good note with the wind blowing a constant speed of 20kts, which enabled us to get some good headway as we averaged a speed of -+8kts. We were all feeling great, but as we all know some things just don't last and the seas began to become rather rough with the wind gusting 35kts. The heavens opened and we were all stuck in the dog house for most of the afternoon.

We had a few successes with catching two smaller tuna today but were successfully released unharmed to see another day.

The wind has died and the constant drizzle of rain is persisting but at least still doing a decent speed.

We just had a rather late lunch of lasagna which I have now realised takes a long time when dealing with large quantities, tuna curry is on the menu for tonight and I'm hoping it will taste alright.

We had a slight problem with the laptop charger yesterday as it gave up its ghost, but luckily enough we had handyman Greg onboard who managed to replace the fitting on his own laptop charger and now everything is up and working... just another day on this floating London Bus...

Kind Regards

Guy

Hi all,

Nick here. A much needed update on the blog!

Things have been going good, weathers getting a bit chillier as we're heading more south, crew have settled completely into our daily routine and the days seem shorter. Still no fish plenty of bites but they seem to keep escaping, seems there might be a sea shepard on board thwarting our catches.

Guy writes:
Cooking has been a nightmare, being on a port tack and cooking at an angle have caused many rages in the kitchen and a fair amount of swearing including the odd bowl of food on the galley floor so the much anticipated change of wind direction will be warmly welcomed by all the crew with regards to the cooking duties.

Greg writes:
We have been forced south, due to a predominant high pressure system that has been stationary in the SW part of the South Atlantic for the last 2 weeks. Plagued by SE winds and a short choppy sea which has been making life rather uncomfortable, we are eagerly waiting on a change in wind direction as the high pressure scoots off. This is expected around Monday.

Cheers all

The crew, Hot Ice

Nick writes:

We had our first good day of sailing today, constant wind of about +-15kts and everyone is pretty happy that we could finally turn our main engine off, still no fish... its getting rather frustrating as we had a take today but were not able to bring it aboard, so we are still without a fish, any tips...?

Charlie writes:

Our bellies are getting bigger on Greg's delicious half an hour bread and we are extremely glad he has managed to fix the water maker. We were able to briefly appreciate the effortless wandering of a Southern Royal Albatross today. Eyes are peeled in hope of seeing more of the big guys. Guy is cooking curry tonight and we are grateful for the all the proper masala and breyani packets on board. Thank you to who ever loves curry as much as we do.

The London bus is struggling to weather but we are confident that in +-48hrs we will be singing and dancing our way further South with the a fresh Northerly up the tail.

Have a super weekend all.

The crew - Hot Ice

Hey all

Besides having a dire lack of wind and burning diesel at a vast rate, all is well aboard the "London Bus." Today, on the menu, is Chakalaka with lentils, garlic, ginger and canned mushrooms. Hmmm! making your taste buds salivate yet? Some cold ones in the fridge to wash it all down.

We are skirting the predominant SE winds in the South, hence us maintaining an E course. Surrounded by thunderstorms, last night offered up some frustrating "sailing". Gusts of up to 25kts and wind from all directions. Sleep was short lived as the conditions changed regularly, most of the time as one begins to nod off. Ah! the joys of sailing.

Today we were befriended by a pair of, what we believe to be, 'Common Noddy's'. A sea bird that breeds on Tristan de Cuhna and Gough islands. Really not shy as one almost landed on my shoulder. From what I gather, they are taking advantage of the yacht as it disturbs the flying fish. The escape mechanism of the flying fish is to launch out of the water thereby becoming easy prey for the Noddys. Also joining the melee are Skipjack, family of the Tuna. Quite a spectacle to see them airborne in pursuit of the elusive flying fish.

Guy is getting a little frustrated seeing fish all around and showing no interest in the attractive lures being dragged behind the boat! Soon Guy.

Got to go, just been hit by 30kts squall!

Bye

Greg

Nick here with the latest blog:

All was good yesterday, we were treated to some awesome pancakes by master chef Charlie. Progressing into the evening we had some good winds ranging between 10-15 knots so we managed to cover some good ground. We had some rainfall last night which Guy used to his full advantage and took a rain shower, sadly I ran upstairs just as it ended.

Guy's a bit disappointed as the fish aren't biting much, but he's sure he'll hook one by the end of the day, being a sushi fan I'm hoping so too. As I type Greg's preparing his 'famous' 30 minute bread, which I'm quite hopeful for. As for the boat life everyone seems to have settled into the general routine and our Celestial Navigation shall hopefully start soon.

Cheers from Hot Ice

Regards

Hot Ice Crew

Hi to all

We are glad to say that we have finished and crossed the line last Monday morning to great cheers from the crew. As we reflect on the race everyone agrees that we had raced our hearts out and we achieved what most people thought was not possible for the red double decker bus. Certainly we  have earned the respect that the achievement it deserves.

Rio itself is wonderful the weather hot and the club has given us a wonderful reception and given us access to the great facilities, very much appreciated. We as a crew have been up to Corcovado [statue ot Christ] and Sugar loaf [Pao de Acucar]. We have sampled the delights of Brazilian dishes and the people who hadn't finished their sight taking went down to Cococabana to get the outstanding heavenly bodies in. (ie check out the scantly clad chicks on the beach)

All that remains now is the official prize giving and then to return to Cape town on the best way to go to windward a 747.

Congratulations to everyone on board well done. A most wonderful experience

Skipper Hot Ice Robbie Dove