41:42.6N 024:28.8W

 

Possibly a repeat blog.....

 

I cooked only the second risotto in my life last evening, having decided after the first some years ago that they were all too much of a faff! Unfortunately the watch rota and the need to cook up some frozen prawns combined to mean that I had to lash myself to the stove and do all the stirring, adding and faffing in conditions that were not ideal. Simon levelled the boat reasonably and thanks to an excellent recipe from his daughters Molly and Rosa, the end result was delicious though I say it myself.

We got a second reef in before dark , left Allan to get soaked in some heavy rain and then were woken by him soon after midnight with some strange vessels which were not showing on AIS. I called the nearer one on VHF  and he answered as “Alpha one two” . Wondering whether our AIS was working correctly I asked him if he was transmitting and he said his captain had told him to witch it off. I queried if he was a warship and he said he was a trading vessel going to the Azores, so one wonders what sort of “trade”!

The night continued uneventfully with steady speeds, a decent moonrise (with Mars & Jupiter aligned nearby) , followed by sunrise and possible sighting of whales blowing/splashing.

Will soon be under 1000 miles to Dartmouth, so onwards we go.