Tuesday 27.11.07

Unfortunately blew the cruising chute today after a fabulous run lasting most of the day and giving us 8-9 knots average. It’s a big tear, probably too much for us to try and repair on board. But having consulted our book on the subject (Sail repair -Dan Neri) he says it always looks worse than it is (lets hope so!) The wind at the time wasn’t excessive, around 15 knots, and its probably just age and wear. No sooner had we got it down than Jeremy P got a female dorado on the line, followed shortly by my catching a male one. So the shepherd’s pie planned for tonight has been put on hold, and we have all dined like kings on this delicious fish. 

Wednesday 28.11.07

Wind has now subsided to a gentle force 4, and with swell more or less to match, we have hoisted the big kite to give us an extra knot or two as we plod on. We gybed the main to starboard in the wee hours to take us on a more southerly course, as the wind had shifted to due east, forcing us too far north. Ash and Jeremy F are trying to teach the autohelm (christened Alfie) to handle the spinnaker. But Alfie’s a bit slow.

A bacon breakfast has revived spirits all round, as has the position report showing us 42^nd, and keeping up reasonably against similar sized boats. Jeremy F is feeling much better. Most important we are ahead of Sonoma, which is something of a matter of honour for our skipper. Can’t complain really, blue skies, temperature is t-shirts or less, the wispy little tradewind clouds floating overhead, and the sea , now all our own, a deep indigo as far as the eye can see.