11am UTC Well first chance to update the world! What an amazing start yesterday, the brass bands, the well wishers and the sight of over 200 boats heading south. Take her to sea skipper! A very pleasant afternoon with Stardust getting nicely in her stride. By the end of the afternoon we had poled out the Yankee on the port side and added a knot of pace - surfing downwind with the sun setting we managed to reach 10.5 knots. A beautiful sunset, we continued our almost due southerly heading into the early evening. As darkness (and the temperature) fell rumblings were heard from
stomachs and Jonathan and Graham were despatched to the galley. A hearty thanks was wished to Yvonne as the first bolognaise sauce was devoured with tatties and broccoli.
Graham and Jonathan headed for their bunks and Bill and Michael took charge for the first watch (aided by the Skipper for the first couple of hours). A clear sky with no moon as we continued south. Winds eased a little though the night so boat speed dropped a little, although Skipper was very happy with progress as we handed the watch over. Jonathan and Graham took over the next watch, light and variable winds throughout. Highlight was a perfect view of Orion through the bimini window and low light was a lack of enthusiasm from Graham.
Back for the next watch Bill took the lead as Michael dozed in the cockpit. Light was creeping over the horizon from 5am and sun rise was 6.21am. A peaceful start to the morning and reports from shore that the ladies had hit the bottle hard during an extended luncheon. A light breakfast was greeted with light winds, Bill and Michael took the opportunity to adjust the rig and raise the pole. Next jobs were to get the generator and watermaker going. With the light winds shifting we moved onto a reach and the Skippers thoughts are turning to getting the MPS flying!
Signing off for now, love to all families. Michael.
PS both heads have been cleaned once already - not bad for 5 blokes.