The wind moderated and veered through the night, but we kept going at a respectable speed under sail starting on a close starboard fetch and finishing on a dead run with the headsail boomed out. By 9:40 this morning the wind had died and the engine had to be started to maintain our schedule. 

The night started with a fairly close encounter with a big ship which responded to our call on the VHF turning a few degrees to port to increase the nearest point of approach to a more comfortable distance. When it was falling safely behind us we could settle to our evening meal together before starting the solitary night watches. It was a quiet night with no further problems just the routine punctuated by log writing and mugs of coffee.

The wind has been variable this morning with some running before a light SSE and quite a bit of motoring. We are heading along the high rocky N coast of DR, but as we are about 10 miles off it is just an outline.

I think we can expect to need the engine a good deal to achieve our ETA of 9:30 tomorrow.