Good morning. It’s 0300 boat time here, that’s 0400 GMT, since we have moved the clock back once to accommodate sunrise and sunset at a more suitable hour. Another few time changes to go before we reach St Lucia.
We had another great sail yesterday. Following a minor tear repair in the morning we had the spinnaker up again all day, we were racing along. To facilitate a better cooking and eating angle we changed over to white sails before dinner; and a good job too as we are now truly ‘rocking and rolling’ in 17 to 20 knots of wind, gusting 25. The passing trains of cloud are causing some small wind shifts as they travel south westerly; otherwise all is stable - although walking around below can be tricky.
And around us only sea and sky... and where better to spend a birthday than the middle of the ocean (well nearly the middle). The ever glorious the night sky; the moon has set and Orion, our trusty friend rotates above us all night. The plough is a late riser but is fully visible now, and the sheer number and brightness allows many constellations to be seen, and there continue to be many shooting stars!
We are making up some time lost during those first few days of light winds and clocked over 160 miles yesterday and it looks like these winds are with us for a few days more, so we’ll be trucking along! 1500 update:!winds are continuing and the swell has increased and is now almost behind us, so more comfortable.
We are goose winged and enjoying some good surfing.
Karen, Simon, Stu and Sarah
Caption: Guess who’s on the helm again?
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