Chula - Chula Log 04 - Halfway

We are approaching the half way point of our Atlantic crossing. At least
I think we're half way, it's a bit hard to tell. Both the time taken and
milage are guestimates as both depend on the weather and the subsequent
route we end up on. However our distance travelled is nearly the same as
our distance to go (around 1150nm), wahoo! We also reckon we're about
halfway in terms of time, 8 days in and 8 ish to go. I've packed a
couple of party things to celebrate and we're looking forward to get
them out when it's not quite so bouncy!

We've had all sorts of weather and luckily only a few hours of motoring
so far. Our best day was flying the cruising chute in around 11-15knots
of wind with Escapade of London in our sights, there's a nice
commradarie sailing alongside a boat you know is doing the same passage.
Our worst day was with reefed down in 17-20knots and really confused
seas, with our short waterline we seem to bob around a lot and it
doesn't feel like we are getting anywhere, despite the log reading 5
knots. On this day we had a Trans-At racing yacht pass just a few meters
to starboard, it was an incredible sight as we watched the yacht
approach with full spinnaker, she seemed to skim across the water and
waves, both crews gave a hearty wave to each other and they were off
into the distance. I wonder what they thought of us with reefed sails
doing a slow 5 knots, totally different experiences between both boats
but both undertaking a passage requiring commitment and courage to
achieve. We've experienced our first Atlantic squalls today, both have
bought a lot of rain but not too much wind yet. Squalls at night is one
of my big concerns as we don't have radar which can pick up their
intensity.

The Tooth Fairy visited us a few days ago after Rowan lost his first
tooth. We weren't sure if she would make it to such a remote location
but apparently the flying fish guided her - we had a flying fish on deck
in the morning!

Joe and I listened to a lot of the podcasts by Andy Schell and the team
at 59north while we had Chula on the hard to replace the deck and refit
her for this trip, They are excellent podcasts which discuss offshore
sailing and seamanship, it feels like full circle for Andy's voice to be
keeping me company during the dark hours of night watches mid-Atlantic
actually doing an offshore passage.

Other than that we've got very little to report, Chula is looking after
us nicely, the swell can be uncomfortable at times especially when the
rollers come in from the side and set us swinging from side to side.
We've nearly finished the fresh stocks from Las Palmas which we topped
up in Mindelo, so we're on to our bilge stocks of cans and other longer
life foods.

Morale is generally pretty good, everyone has got into the swing of
things. For the grown ups it's knowing when (and where) to get extra
sleep in to avoid grumpiness. The kids have been watching a lot of
films, playing games and listening to audio books. I really enjoy games
of cards in the cockpit with the whole crew and, of course, crew suppers
when we all eat together in the cockpit before the night watches begin.