It's For Sail: 45) 1,660 ENE of Barbados

12.10.05 827am

18° 24.688 N 31° 21.297 W

1,660 ENE of Barbados

Not sure what the wind is doing right now. We are on a heading of WSW 255° towards a waypoint that we entered of 15° N 36° W. We want to keep going south to find the trades. The wind right now is out of SSW and we are pointing into it. All the books say that the winds should be out of the northeast and aft of us pushing us along.

And now a little recap. Yesterday John asked Alan to read the first line in a paperback that John had recently read because the entire book was littered with French phrases. Then, Alan sat in the cockpit and read the entire first chapter to John. Then, the entire day, the entire day yesterday he’s reading that book and it’s quiet. So quiet. John told me all this around evening. I said I have already read 11 paperbacks and this late in the game Alan finally finds Jesus and starts reading. I just looked up in the cockpit and he’s reading that same book. Let’s hope he really is an early reader and it will take him a week. It is so incredibly nice having him not making noise.

And that work he did in the forward locker the other evening made him sick. He did not eat dinner that night and the next day was when he read and did nothing. John said he thought he was sick. John also summed up the crew: John and I are here and enjoying the romance of sailing and adventure and Alan is on a test-flight. He has not stopped telling John about all the things that are bad or wrong or not up to factory specs or inefficient or he could make it better if he had a workshop and tools…. John has told him repeatedly to stop pointing out all these things because he is tired of hearing it. Alan does not listen or acknowledge him. John asked me to continue with the boat up the coast when it gets thru the canal. I told him I absolutely have to get home after going thru the canal. When we are in Barbados and it is John, Nancy and I, I am going to tell them the truth. Which is, I would sail with John again no problem but I intend to never have contact with Alan again. He has made it perfectly clear to me that he is French, they are better than everybody else, he is the best that France has to offer, yet he defected to the US 40 years ago for money, John and I eat bad food, if you don’t like runny watery stinky cheese than oh you are missing out, he is like Wallace when you put cheese in front of him and he loses it, he can’t tell the difference between a good bottle of wine and a bad bottle and he calls himself French, he admittedly can’t taste food yet says the food that John and I like is not good, the food he makes leaves too much to desire, he is condescending to me and John, I think he holds many prejudices.

So, the day before he does the all-day reading thing he started some project in the cockpit on the pedestal. I don’t know why John let him do it and they argued about it the day before. He removed the 8x10 instrument panel that was face mounted on the pedestal and cut the pedestal and mounted it from the inside. Why? The gauges don’t work and they are old and the next owner will replace them during the re-fit. Alan does not get this and John does and I think he lets Alan do stuff to get rid of him. All day he is cutting and hammering and cutting and hammering and talking to himself and cutting and hammering….

He monopolized the cockpit the entire day. It was so annoying I retreated to the chair to read and then the library to put in ear buds and watch a movie. John put in earplugs to drown out the noise. Alan is so clueless that he is making it miserable for John and I. Then, I go up on watch at 7pm barefoot and step on a pile of sawdust. Turned around right to Alan and said why is there debris all over and are there screws or metal shavings because John and I are barefoot? John heard all this. Alan says he was going to clean it up but he was talking to John for 2 hours and then it got dark. I said I had a flashlight let’s go. Alan mumbled it was dark. What the fuck? John said come on I’ll clean it up. He found the dustpan I held the light and it got swept up. Alan is so damn inconsiderate to cause all this shit.

It’s 76° overnight, 82° during the day and the water is 83.6°. For whatever reason Alan stepped on my hatch this morning and closed it. I watched his foot on it and he left a shoe print. Why? He is the same person that does not open his hatch, closes the windows and doors and prevents air movement on the boat. He always closes the bathroom door. Why? I am beginning to understand why he had a bad experience 9 years ago. He also is the guy that leaves the lights on. He will say we need to conserve electricity because we are sailing and yet he leaves the lights on. Now I know he is the one turning on the floor courtesy lights at night. I thought it was John doing it out of kindness. So, he turns the courtesy lights on, closes his door and sleeps. Why the hell are the lights on? When he leaves his bed there is only one way to go, aft. Three to four short steps and you are in the galley. If you can’t find your way around on this boat in the dark this late in the game you do not belong here. I think he got yelled at on the brand new John & Amanda Neal Hallberg-Rassy because he leaves the lights on, wants it quiet… He made comments that he did not have full galley privileges on that boat. He told John that he read a letter in a magazine with nothing but praise about that trip by someone that was onboard. The run was Calif to Hawaii and took 21 days and was a learning trip. John said maybe he should write a letter and tell of his experience. Alan thought that was a great idea. What the fuck? Nine years later you want to complain! He does not have a clue that it was his personality, quirks, etc and now I believe lack of sailing knowledge that caused the problem in the first place. But, all this is just my opinion. Maybe I am wrong.