13:00 UTC Wednesday 27 November, UTC The Atlantic Ocean, West of Mauritania, heading towards the Cape Verdes Abyssal Deep
Thrilled, excited and surprised ! The feelings aboard when Team Manali Turre reported we were still hanging out in the front lines. For those who have asked, no you should not put money on Manali, not too much anyway. There are a lot of bigger faster boats behind us but we are very proud of our jump out of the starting block.
Might as well tell the truth, some were dancing on the deck with delight.
Back to business. Not sure where we sit this morning as last night was a mess. It was a good learning night (aka frustrating). Soft variable winds, slopping about, raining. For Ian, it was immensely enjoyable as he just thrives having something difficult to do all watch. For Pete and Jus it meant waking others when their strategic manoeuvres to get the boat moving failed. Dolphins gliding through the phosphorescence made for great company.
Manali is making gradual progress this morning, having difficulty moving south quickly into the south westerly, and has chosen to head west for now at 6 knots, which after all is still in the right direction. We made 149 nautical miles on day 3.
Up on deck, the boys are hauling in a boat which has been sitting ahead of us for 10 hours so things are definitely picking up!
- Team Manali Atlantic www.manaliblue.com