Position           11:53.37 S 149:45.68 E                              

Date                1200 (UTC+11) Thursday 08 October 2015

Distance run    in 24hrs 164nm over the ground, 166.8nm through the water

Trip total         1154nm over the ground, 1122nm through the water

To go to           Kupang Indonesia 1650nm

The observant reader will of course have noticed that yesterday’s noon position was the same as the previous day’s.  I can assure you that we had moved and I have posted a new version of the entry with an updated position, I will not be able to remove the incorrect entry until we next have a full internet connection.

We have now passed the one week at sea marker making an average of about 6.8 knots with only 11 hours of engine and that was on night one when we had no wind.  The wind remains on our stern and yesterday afternoon we were able to set the staysail wing on wing with the genoa and this morning swapped that for the main which is allowing us to continue making good progress in what are at times slightly lighter winds.

The staysail to starboard, wing on wing with the genoa poled out to port

Towards dusk I thought that the second wind generator was playing up as there was a loud clattering noise.  It looked OK, i.e. it was not vibrating. I then looked up at the mizzen spreaders and there were two sea birds of gannet like appearance and size having a domestic about who was getting the perch.  As the boat was roiling nicely the answer was neither for very long as with webbed feet they were sliding up and down the spreader, bouncing off the mast and shroud until gravity won.  With repeated abandon ship and landings this entertainment lasted for a good quarter hour before they decided that counselling and a wet berth was preferable.

It is definitely getting warmer, only shorts and tee shirts required for night watches.