After 48 hours of super sailing we are becalmed once more   ( Position    51:59.53N 27:06.07W  ).

 

I have had to develop a set of things to do in this situation (tidy the rig up as much as possible to reduce the wallowing around, sleep, hand pump out the shaft bilge (and engine bilge if needed), walk round the deck looking for anything that might come loose or work free, clean bits of the boat, shave, wash, cook).  At the moment only the last of these standard items is yet to do today. 

 

This year we’re able to tell if any other vessels pass near us with greater accuracy, having got both a radar detector and an AIS detector on board now (whereas last year we only spotted other vessels by keeping a lookout) . In reasonable weather the radar detector picks up big ship radar out to about 30 miles and the AIS up to about 20 miles (i.e. over the horizon in both cases).  Just as last year, there were ships here and there when all were bunched together below the ice limit off N America.  Since then there have been no others for around a fortnight. What a contrast to living in London !  The space itself has an uplifting quality to it.