Ngahue IV - Furukado continues

There's a song in The Mikado (a Gilbert and Sullivan opera - very popular with amateur opera groups in the UK) called "A wand'ring Minstrel I". Our autopilot's erratic behaviour reminds me of this song, and if you mix up Furuno and Mikado, you get Furukado (or Mikaruno - pick your choice). Either way it's particularly bothersome to see our track meandering all over the plotter!!! We've switched to wind mode on the autopilot as the meandering there is limited to some 15-20° either side of the wind's course; in course to destination mode, the meandering can be as much as 20-30° either side of the desired course! A mess...

Like the other boats in the fleet, we've had our fair share of Portuguese men-of-war passing by the boat. When we saw the first one, we thought its sail was a discarded plastic bottle. Sailing is still fine in very settled conditions; there was a touch more wind this afternoon, and the sea state is slightly more choppy as a result. And so the happy boat Ngahue IV continues to the Azores, leading the ARC fleet from behind (Selkie has just sprinted past us, having been about 1-2 miles behind us during the night and the morning -:)).