Lydia - Day 3 - Into the Groove

Steady but hardly spectacular progress today. The twin headsail rig has
pushed us along at about 5 knots and with a bit of help from the Canaries
current we've maintained about 6 knots overall. Our motion is pretty
comfortable but occasionally Lydia slips into a series of impressives rolls
that reveal the adequacy of our securing for sea. The 1100 round up on the
radio seems to indicate that the skipper's decison to go east was a good one
and we live in hope that the wind will pick up a little in the morning.
Todays noon sight aligned well with our GPS position proving that the
skipper's skills with a sextant have not faded.

Henry celebrated his 38th birthday by tackling the black water tank that was
reluctant to empty. Inevitably we discovered (after a lot of sweating &
grunting with ad hoc pumps and pump handles* that were not up to moving
'solid matter') that the gauge was at fault and in the process we've found a
fresh set of valves that we didn't previously know about before. There's
nothing like a snag to improve boat knowledge! (* The kitchen is now minus a
wooden spoon - its handle having been given up in a good cause to join the
broken bits of the pump handle.) The satphone has also decided to test our
ability to read the manual & discover it to be wanting. The IT Help Desk
approach of turning it off (by taking the battery out) & turning it on again
worked wonders!

In honour of the birthday boy, lunch was a culinary cunundrum by Matthew
comprising freshly ironed tortilla and an assortment of 'blow your socks
off' ingredients entitled Henry's Mexican Fiesta and Richard's Chicken Shed
Massacre for supper was preceded by a bottle of proper fizz.

Steve's fishing lines (now appropriately barbed) have remained untroubled by
fish but happily catch themselves given half a chance.