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Annabella - Log 15 - 10th December



Position: 13 23.6N
45 53.8W

Distance to St Lucia: 878NM
Last 24 hours: 186NM

Probably our best 24 hour run so far. Wind has veered from N to ENE approx 15 knots and we are trucking along averaging high 8s boat speed. Saw 10s at one stage this morning. We had wind up to 24 knots during the night, had 2 reefs in the sails with no impact on boat speed. Shook out the reefs on the 3 - 5 watch (Conor) to maintain speed. The forecast suggests that we should have good winds for the next day or so. Makes life on board more challenging when trying to prepare food etc because the waves are coming across just aft of the beam with a tendency to shift anything loose (including crew) from one side to the other.

Just spotted an unidentified yacht behind us who, like us, must be operating in stealth mode (our AIS only receives). The competitive juices are beginning to flow to ensure that we re not overtaken. It's the first sighting for a number of days. We slipped a place according to yesterdays update and we are just going to download the latest information. Hopefully, we will have done better. Unfortunately, it looks as if all boats are now getting these stronger winds irrespective of whether they are north or south of us.

Stephen was on galley duty last night who, despite being thrown around, managed to produce a very tasty meal. Mashed potato was part of the meal and Conor used the left overs to make potato cakes this morning (absolutely delicious) for breakfast. It looks as if it will be ad hoc food today because of the sea state. We are, nevertheless, very happy to put up with the discomfort if we are getting good boat speeds. At the moment we think it will be Sunday/Monday next before we arrive in St Lucia. That will give Conor, Craig and me 4 days on the island before our flight on Saturday 21st. Peter and Stephen are staying on for Christmas with Peter's family who are flying in.

Keep that wind coming! Annabella loves it. Reminds me of Galileo (47.7).

We don't envy anyone the Christmas shopping rush, but Conor's daughter, Kate, gave us a beautiful Christmas star which we have hung in the middle of the boat as our gesture to the festive season. The heat today is back to it's tropical self and any time spent below decks results in copious perspiration.

Our next update should show that we are down to "Round Ireland" distance to go.

Hasta manana!

Annabella crew.





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