Chapter 2 -P : Friday 17th of February -- logged 125 miles

Juan has been very communicative, telling me all about his varied experiences in the Spanish Navy. He is a basque from Bilbao, has fair hair and blue eyes and his real name apparently is Juan Cortizo y Chandevarrie. Basquly picturesque. He is a good man on dock but a trifle undisciplined, and invariably questions the skipper's orders, which doesn't promote harmony! I, as mate, am a sort of buffer-state between them, as well as chief translator. He annoys the skipper intensily by trying to establish speed records for "Penelope", particularly at night. We are wearing our oldest sails and the skipper naturally doesn't want them torn through unnecessary strain.

Yesterday we discovered we were running out of sugar, which, although for me means little, for the skipper and Juan, who are both sweet tooths, the matter is serious.

We have colossal stocks of tinned and preserved foods, however including:-

1. Porridge (enough for 1 year)
2. Canned Corned beef
3.     "        sausages
4.     "        galantine
5.     "       steak and vegetable
6.     "       meat loaf
7.     "         bacon
8.     "       tongue
9.     "         steak and kidney pie
10.     "       soups (chicken, mushroom and oxtail)
11.     "       pate (four kinds)
12.     "         anchovies
13.     "       cod roes
14.     "         peaches
15.     "       pineapples
16.     "         prunes
17.     "       and bottled jams of all types
18.     "         marmalade
19.     "       butter
20.     "         asparagus
21.     "       milk
22.     "         peas
23.     "       spinach
24.     "         margarine
25.     "       hear of palm
26.     "       Cape Lobster
27.     "       Cape grape fruit
28.     "         Lyles golden syrup
29.     "       Xmas Puddings
30. Ships biscuits (enough for a year) - our substitute for bread
31. Canned beetroot
32.     "       guava jelly
33.     "         cajus
34.     "       and bottled honey
35.     "         mushroom
36. Bovril
37. Vermicelli
38. Macaroni
39. Cream crackers
40. Digestive Biscuits
41. Tea (enough for a year)
42. Coffee
43. Chick Peas
44. Rice
45. Lentils
46. Carr's ginger nuts (stacks of them)
47. Cocoa
48. Nescafe
49. Dried apricots
50. Salted almonds
51. Baking powder
52. Haricot vert
53. Raisins
54. Chocolate bars
55. Creme de marron (marron glace confiture) - note: chestnut cream
56. Powdered milk (4 different kinds of powdered milk.  One type of pure milk, straight milk canned.  Different types of sweet and unsweetened milks, essential to vary type of milk used.
57. Condiments -
1. Saffron
2. Curry powder
3. Mustard
4. Vanilla
5. Pepper
6. Pickles
7. Pickled onions
8. Pickled walnuts
9. Picalilli
10. Chutney
11. Cinnamon
12. Cloves
13. Nutmeg
14. Horseradish Sauce
15. Fine herbs
16. Salt
17. Gherkins
18. Salad oil
19. Capers
20. Olives
21. Mincemeat
22. Ground Ginger
58. Bottled orange juice
59. Whisky
60. Gin
61. Cachaca (Brazilian fire-water)
62. Champagne
63. Madeira wine
64. Congnac
65. Bitters

Today Juan spotted a sea-swallow - such a small bird to be seen so far out to sea - and I was thrilled to hear him sing out "Mire, un pajarito".

We did our record run, from noon to noon, over the ground - 144 miles - and are now only 240 miles from Tristan da Cunha.

During the morning watch the wind freshened considerably and as we had to haul down the mainsail for repairs.  "Penelope" rolled herself silly all through lunchtime.  Oliver, nevertheless, lunched on curry and rice, cracking jokes meanwhile.

After lunch the wind backed to NW.  Maybe it is a sing of "The Westerlies" which we have been pursuing for the last two weeks.

Trolling for fish.  No catch.