19.57N 34.38W Squally two nights, but clear as a bell tonight with very swelly seas which makes it SO difficult to do much as we are literally bracing ourselves continually.  Easy to make yourself a quick something to eat but harder to dish up five plates of anything that hasn’t already had an introduction to the floor.   Impossible to make a drink (little alone five!) and put it down without spilling and numerous culinary concoctions have already done untimely somersaults into oblivion!  The vacuum packed chicken from the ‘good’ Lanzarote butcher is a disaster – the poor creatures must have lived to 100 and spent most of their lives running – so tough!  So we decided to mince it – a small feat I can assure you! -  out came the little red designer mincer – stuck by its little suction feet to the Perspex washboard,  held in position on the cockpit table by Michael whilst Oscar ground the cardboard chicken into cardboard mince.  We attemped spicy cardboard burgers with bubble and squeak, except that the bubble was made with smash and ended up so gloopy that it glued itself  to the roofs of our mouths………

We were warned of squalls which we have now experienced quite a few of and they are not pleasant – seemingly coming from nowhere, almost always at night, bringing sudden rain and wind of 20  25 knots gusting to 40 knots.  On the whole the Happy Wanderer Hydro vane copes well but occasionally gets overwhelmed at which point we have to take the helm.  At the moment this is latched on with a rope to keep the boat on course as the auto pilot has failed (possibly the belt?)  The Twistle is reefed right in but we are still doing over 150 miles each 24 hour period. 

The water maker has a slight problem as when the yacht keels over air is sucked into the sea water tubing and the whole system collapses and we have to re prime and start again!  We have just about managed to keep ourselves in enough water for teas and cool drinks and tomorrow we will run garden hose to a lower sea cock to get the continuous suction of sea water required.

The new propeller we have attached to the tow generator is not compatible and only works for a few hours before it wraps itself in knots, flicks back on itself and ceases to turn.  The motor subsequently makes a noise similar to a grand prix racing car which is a bit disconcerting!  But eventually we get used to all the different noises.

No more fish (thank goodness!) Only a poor flying fish on the deck.  Oscar spotted a sperm whale close to the boat today and we get dolphins playing in front and around the boat for miles and miles.   Everyone is tired and catching up on sleep in between watches during the day so there is not much to report. I have threatened everyone with another pedicure but you can visibly see their toes recoiling in terror (and some still bear the scars of their last attack)  We are all well and happy and working well as a team.  We are probably half way through the Atlantic part of the journey today, expecting another eleven days to conclude.  Days and days and days have gone by and we haven’t even seen another vessel - of any description – amazing really.