So it feels as if we have finally reached some wind. We have been sailing South for a couple of days now and this morning finally decided the spinnaker had to come down as the wind was gusting about 17 kts. James and I both have experience
of blowing out our spinnakers so are sensitive to the issue. We may regret it, but so far we are going nearly as fast with poled out jib and full main, although needless to say the wind seems to have calmed down a bit. We still expect it to build a little
during the day so hopefully we have made the right decision.
As you know this is NOT a race, but we are doing our best to take the right decisions eagerly devouring each new weather forecast and discussing tactics, trying to out smart our rivals. On current predictions we should arrive on the 2nd and
have time to prepare the boat for guests.
Last night was another beauty. The moon, which never fails to fascinate me, was half size and shining brightly till about 3 am. It was so bright that you could easily watch the sails but many of the stars were invisible and it was too bright
to see any phosphorescence. When it finally dipped below the horizon the sky stayed bright almost like a sun set but with a white light instead of red. Finally the stars and the Milky Way became apparent, and the wake began to sparkle. With Dylan on my
iPods and a little whisky to round off my watch, a philosophical kind of mood over took me.
It is interesting to get to my mid 60’s (how did that happen to the young man I used to be) and find myself in the middle of a tropical Atlantic on a fine vessel with two good mates, knowing that I have family and friends back home tracking every
inch of my adventure. Maybe I should have made this trip before, maybe we should have done it when the kids were small, but do you know what? It feels very right to be doing it just now. I think my stars have aligned above my head- now which of those millions
of stars are mine I wonder…..