Position           29:23.28/N 64:32.21W

Date                2359 – 3 May 2011

Yesterday we had 284nm to go.  A full day of motor sailing very hard on the wind which has been blowing up to 25 knots with 30 knot+ gusts has given us just 100nm towards our goal although we have actually sailed 133nm.  Add to that the sea has become large and lumpy and we are regularly being swept by seas coming over the bows plus slamming if we try too hard.  All in all not the most comfortable of days, moving around becomes a chore and simple operations take twice as long.

However on the bright side we remain dry and well protected on watch.  The temperature is also dropping as we go further north.  We are now north of the latitude of Las Palmas and the cabin temperature has dropped from the tropical night temperature of 29 degrees C to 22 degrees C; positively cold.  Knees have been covered and sweat shirts excavated from their resting places.  We were warned that Bermuda would be temperate.

The Mate has definitely earned a house point if not a gold star for producing dinner under trying conditions and without decorating the galley, or herself which in itself is noteworthy, with the ‘spag bog’.  The homily “Time spent in preparation is seldom wasted” applies and the freezer still has a stock of meals ready for heating up.

At 2230 the wind veered 45 degree almost instantaneous which was fun as the boat went through the wind, or more accurately the wind went through the boat.  In the pitch dark it takes a moment or two to work out what has happened.  We are therefore now back on a starboard tack.  Unfortunately the bits and pieces that have launched themselves across the cabin on the port tack do not appear to self stow when we change tack – one of life’s little mysteries.