98nm made good last 24 hours.  2468nm to go

Weather routing hasn’t been an obvious call, and we’ve probably headed a little to far south, so last night we had the kite up in gentle winds/waves to keep speed up in an attempt to get round the north of the light wind area, which was going well until the halyard went ping at 10pm, putting the kite & furling gear in the water.  Fortunately conditions were pretty light, but even so sadly it had picked up some tears from the spreaders as it came down.   All hands to get it on board and tied down safely, which took about an hour in the dark.  A fairly slow night, with genoa and full main, which by the looks of it put a major dent in out position in our division.  But the light winds were a great help in making it easier to repair on deck.  Gorilla tape and duct tape are king!

Given that it took about 8 people, a car for tension and the whole quay pavement to put the kite on in the first place, putting it back up was going to be a challenge.  Arran up the mast to fix the halyard/look at chafe, and then the novel idea of filling the sail by reversing….  We hadn’t considered that motoring backwards away from St Lucia was going to form any part of our trip.  It worked, and we are now motoring to get round the light winds ASAP.

Great lunch of carbonara, but as yet no fish.  Steak planned for dinner, but will it be fillet of beef or fish?