12:27.2N 035:22.2W

22/11/23

For those who haven’t yet seen photos from the first leg: #arcofinfinity on Instagram

We have had a couple of days of light airs. The days have been steady progress with the kite up, but the nights have been a little floppy under white sails. You’re just keeping them filling, sailing to the wind angle, then a set of waves will rock the boat and spill the air out of the sails. This makes for both slow progress and somewhat noisy sleeping conditions.

Today, we have gone far enough south that the wispy haze has started to consolidate into some puffy cumulous clouds. We even met one today that had billowed up enough to deliver a light sprinkle of rain on deck. It was refreshing, but not heavy enough to break out the shower gel and wash without chipping into our water stores.

We have just recently passed what could be determined to be the “mid-Atlantic” by some calculations. We were equidistant from landfall in West Africa and in NE South America. This means little as far as our journey goes because our start and finish are both westward of those continental boundaries, but it does mean we’ll need to gybe soon or end up in Brazil rather than Grenada.

One unfortunate part of being a long way from anywhere but even further from our destination, was that it was very sad to hear about one of our competitors in distress. Severe equipment failure at this point means it’s likely best to return to the start, but only by a little. A heartbreaking position to be in and we all took a little moment to feel for them and the end of their ARC+ dream for now.

That said, it was great to see the fleet rally around them and offer coordinated assistance from a number of directions. The team spirit and good sportsmanship on display was, I suppose, the reason why we all choose to set off on this adventure together.

We were not party to all parts of the effort, but we definitely wanted to mention Northern Lights 2 for their willingness to coordinate, turn back, and head 2 hours back upwind to offer what assistance they could.

Relieved to hear that medical assistance was not required, and reminded to check the rig regularly, listen out for any strange noises, and to keep an eye out for the boats around you, we continued on our way.

After our tangled line incident on the last leg, we were hesitant to have more than one line in the water at a time, however after getting no bites for days, we decided it was time to chance it again and get both lines earning their place on the boat.

Two lines may mean twice the chance of catching fish, but it also means twice the chance of catching seaweed and double the frustration of false trips. After about 30 rounds of the “wind it in and back out again” game, we decided to have a small break until we’re out of such thick sargassum.

Jules, mum and I fought back against the culinary frustrations of lacking fresh fish by making the best round of breakfast buns yet. I baked, mum did sausages, and Jules fried some eggs. It all came together in a symphony of home comforts and was truly the best round yet.

Michael has also contributed to the digestive morale of the crew with a stunning pressure cooker pork dish which delighted all with its tenderness and flavour.

Celestial navigation school has been continuing, with more and more accurate readings of great and varied sources. Mum was delighted to get a fix off Venus this morning and to define our position to within two nautical miles by the meridian passage today. Michael says “I think that if we were to lose our GPS at this point, we would survive.” which is a relief to hear.

Hugo