Great news, we have been making excellent progress since 7:30pm last night when the wind returned on a beam reach and we got our sails back out again. A tiring but excellent nights sailing with gusts of up to 16 knots from some very angry black clouds. I had two shifts last night, the first 9 til midnight whilst I tracked two squalls on the radar. Whilst they didn't directly hit us, we had some excellent wind off them and a little rain. Dolphins arrived alongside at 9:30pm but unfortunately helming took a lot of concentration and I couldn't leave the cockpit to watch them, but every few minutes they surfaced next to me as much as to say please come and play! When I woke Jez at midnight for his shift they were still with us, we had travelled over 20 miles at some 8 knots!
We pondered on reefing, but as we were making such good headway we decided not to unless a squall was looking at coming over us, and we continued through the night all enjoying our helming. A beautiful sunrise on my second shift this morning brought a hot sunny day with barely a cloud in the sky. An Arctic Tern has visited, circling the boat many times, a bird I haven't seen before with a very long tail and orange bill. Last night I also discovered a stow away in our cabin, a cockroach...AAAGGHH. My thoughts are now concentrated on where it came from and how many friends and family it brought with it. Jez had to check my bunk in the early hours with a flashlight to make sure there weren't any more lurking before I turned in. The next job of the day, lifting floor boards and checking store cupboards, but at least we are sailing, Yey. 710 miles to go, hope Amaris save us some rum.
Susie