33:41.370n 58:35.890w

Distance to home:  2750 miles

Distance run today:  115 miles  

Course 065

24 hours makes a lot of difference out here.  Wind has dropped off to a nice, manageable 12 knots or so, the sea has flattened and we are still going in the right direction.

The cabin is no longer closed-up and stuffy.  The movement of the boat has stopped transferring all our kit into a single damp, mouldering mess of clothes, safety gear and electronics on the bunk behind the cabin table.

We’ve moved back into the cockpit and all’s well.

Domestic

First, a bit of recognition for Will who fought off the sea-sickness and wilder movements of Sadie a couple of nights ago to produce the makings of a loaf at first light.  He handed this over to Jez who was very careful not to burn it when baking given the effort that had gone into it.

This morning, once we are all awake, it will form the basis of breakfast.

Last night we enjoyed steak and kidney with potato and cabbage washed down with a can of Fanta. Some Oranges appear to be going mouldy so we ate what we could off them and are trying to conserve them as best as possible. Also a green pepper deteriorated beyond use which is surprising as the orange, yellow and red ones are still all fine.

Tea will be served but we managed to break another cup yesterday when it leaped off the gimballed cooker on the back of a particularly vicious wave that smacked against the hull.  Normally the cooker is the safest place on the boat as it balances out the movements but it has limits and couldn’t cope.  We have 3 china mugs left (Plus Cathy’s but none of us want to be the one to break that (and Jez has form here from the last trip)).If the mugs don’t survive then it will be plastic beakers and that just isn’t right.

Wash day has started in the cockpit.  This begins with the washing and bleaching of tea towels, moves on through underpants to t-shirts and should culminate at about lunchtime with the crew getting a wash.  It has to go in order as the same bucket is used for all the above.

Sailing

Yesterday’s sailing high-point was a little odd.  We very nearly hit a buoy that was moored in 4000m and at least 250 miles from Bermuda over the George Seamount.  It wasn’t marked on our chart but it had a horn created by the wind blowing through it which attracted our attention.  Just as well as we had to unhitch the wind vane and steer clear.  In this entire ocean, we only passed about 10m clear.

We have been steadily putting more sail out as the wind has died over the last 24 hours and have now reached the point where we have full main and genoa. The wind has also backed a little which is allowing us to point a little north of the Azores which we hope will be enough to take us clear of the light airs of the Azores High and allow us to catch a ride on the low pressure systems rolling across to the north.

It’s a bit of a balancing act as we will get too much wind if we go too far north and too little if we stay as we are.  So far, so good.

We saw a cargo ship bound for Gibraltar on AIS in the early hours of this morning, Wills did catch a glimpse of its navigational lights when it was 13 miles away but it didn’t come close enough to see all 140 meters of it.

Dave Payne – can you do us a little research.  We have a towed generator (an Ampair, Aquair 100) which is brilliant when running as the wind generator is less effective off the wind and it is silent. (The background noise to our adventure is the constant whine of the windmill blades as they turn in the cockpit just above our heads).

We have been running it with 15m of braid on braid but it is starting to chew up the rope with the rotational forces. 

Can you consult the interweb and give any advice on how people get round this.  In 160 characters or less please.

Natural History

The other night Wills saw what Jez described as a ‘supernova’, it was a star of sorts that got increasingly brighter, brighter than Venus and then veered increasing in speed to the North and faded to nothing, very bizarre but pretty cool. This morning Jez has definitely topped that by just witnessing what we can only describe as a burning meteor/asteroid, It happened at 12:15 local, looking towards the North in the sky, the burning debris came to meet the horizon at a 45 degree angle and the vapour trail it left behind remained there for several minutes! We were expecting a loud boom and maybe a large wave heading towards us but neither as of yet. Very cool indeed!

Fishing starts again today so stand by ….. We will take anything but hope for Tuna, or a Marlin, just to see how Tim would deal with 10 feet of angry predator being hauled into the cockpit!

We saw a pair of Cory’s Shearwater’s yesterday evening, one a uniform dark brown and the other with brown upper and a pale underside.

The Portuguese men of war are still passing by and we have had another Great Skua (They all look alike so it could be the same one) who has been having a go at the fishing lure his morning.  I think he has now learned that you cant eat rubber and that there is a dirty great hook buried in it as he is now giving the lure a wide berth.

Today’s responses  

Mathew / Luke – Send us a text and let us know what you boys have been up to, any plans for half term? Luke, have you made anything in your workshop lately?

Rowles Kids – whats happening over ½ term then ? (thanks for the reminder Lizzie)

Joe / Harvey – How come I have to hear about a 3-0 Chelsea defeat from elsewhere ?

Tom – The meetings with Raleigh kids and Q+A session with their parents sounded pretty intense! Do they have much choice in the matter? Thanks for the updates shame about Chelsea and Tualangi! What things have you bought for mum? Stuff for the annex?

Mum – Glad you had great time with Sally! Thanks for update on balloon insurance, Salmon salad sounds new, how fun! Love to Grandma and all the Cornish clan xxxx

Stu – thanks for Dowsett’s stage win and the Giro updates.  Keep them coming.

Bye for now

Sadie