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Selene -



A much better day today.

I had a good night sleeping from 2030 - 2359 then again from 0400 to 0730 so well rested. This morning we have had clear blue skies and a fairly constant wind of 15-20kts from the N initially then veering to NE. We made our first sail change at 1130 and changed from No3 to No1 headsail. As we now have lost the ability to fly the No4 with the loss of our baby stay the furling No1 is more flexible. There is quite a marked northerly swell of 4-6m and we have been able to do some surfing but the wave length and direction are such that the boat has been relatively flat. I was able to take advantage of this and cooked up a spicy chicken hot pot in the pressure cooker. Lily had wanted chicken stir fry but we realised Daddy had gone wrong when he sweated down the onions! Not the best chef on board but the least troubled by sea sickness apart from Rob so I have been below preparing some food. Not stir fry but chicken, onions, tomatoes, spring onions and peppers spiced up with Thai chilli sauce, Lea & Perrins and tabasco and cooked in the pressure cooker for 10 mins. Not bad with rice though I say so myself. Urged on by this success we used up the diced pork in a similar dish of pork and peppers with beef tomatoes.

We have had little option but to use the tomatoes which have been dicing themselves through the string nets with the rather violent motion of the last two days. The fruit is proving popular as we have not really been able to eat properly till today. I think Bacon & scrambled eggs tonight and the pork tomorrow. Kevin has just made some dough for our first loaf of the trip. Can't wait to try that.

The crew are settling in to the ocean routine. Most of us feel pretty refreshed after 3-4 hours off watch. The watches are variable with 3 primary helms and 2 keen to learn. We always have two on deck and at least one at short notice to assist. Rob has been superb on the foredeck and is also an excellent helm. We have not put a spinnaker up yet in view of our short handed numbers. We are bowling along at 7-8kts with poled out goose-winged genoa and full main. We might do 8.5-9 kts with the kite up, but the crew would be exhausted so until the wind drops to around 10kts or the sea state settles we are perhaps sailing with purpose rather than racing. However reports on the sat phone tell us we are doing OK, ahead of fellow club members Jason & Judy Payne James in Heartbeat IV and probably saving our time on Persephone. It will be interesting to see the latest reports.

Not had time to get the fishing rod out yet, but if these pleasant conditions continue that will be an exercise for tomorrow, however the latest gribs show the wind building to 25-28, gusting up to 35 from the East. We should have some fast sailing, but will have to change down to the No.3 and get a reef or two in the main.

Not much wildlife yet. Two schools of dolphins so far and the occasional seabird. No flying fish, but it is definitely getting warmer and it feels more like a proper trade wind crossing although the trade winds proper have yet to kick in it looks like we shall be down wind for the next few days at least. Progress seems satisfactory. If we can manage to stay above 150 miles per day we should do the crossing in under 18 days. A few days close to 200 mioles would be a nice boost given the forecast, but we shall have to wait and see.






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