14:09.97N  60:33.58W

 

After 2,090 miles of ocean sailing, there are three yachts within a handful of miles and eyesight of each other, Makena, Archer and ourselves. The wind has been very, very light today which has meant a frustrating end to the crossing. We have been able to see land for a few hours now but it just doesn’t seem to be getting any closer. We had expected to get in during daylight hours (always preferable), but the slow finish has meant that we now wont arrive into the marina until about 11pm. The other ramification of this is that another meal on board is needed and I think the galley slave had thought she was off duty.  There is a fourth yacht, Lir, that has advised via VHF radio that they have given up, dropped their sails and is motoring to the finish. We can just make out his mast on the horizon behind us but he will close on and pass us very shortly.

 

I think I mentioned earlier that in the crossing that every day we have to remove dead flying fish from the deck before the sun bakes them on. Well these calm conditions has made airing the cabins by opening portholes a possibility which we have taken, but we have also now found a flying fish in our shower!  It was a really tiny tiny fish, much smaller than Nemo, and it must have been a baby one. I can just imagine it taking it’s first flight and calling back “ Look Mum I can fly”  before it ended up in a shower cubicle. Bloomin bad luck I say!!  Not long after we got a small amount of sea water in our bed but Frances saw it before it could get to the mattress so it was laundry time again but no harm done.

 

Since leaving Gibraltar we have now covered almost 4,000 miles and NOT CAUGHT A SINGLE BLOODY FISH. The line is out again today in a last attempt but the odds aren’t too good. Its a good job we weren’t relying on fish for our protein on this trip.