13:03N  47:42W

We continue to make steady progress westwards and now have some 830nm to run to Grenada.  We covered 150nm in the last 24 hours towards our destination, despite gybing away to the south to get some relief from a heavy swell that was making the boat roll quite hard. We will need to gybe back at some stage or run ashore in Venezuela, but for now we are riding Force 6 winds from behind with a 4m sea and some reefs in the sails!  That did not deter Julie from making a trifle this afternoon and we plan to relax some of the water rationing rules from tomorrow morning if we maintain this progress.

We overtook our friends in ‘Flying’ this morning (David, Lucy and their young son Albert).  They left Cape Verde on Thursday, but have been hand steering since Saturday due to an autopilot defect and sailed more conservatively as a result.  They are tired but in good spirits.

Aboard Escapade, morale is high: we are focused on preserving equipment and energy for the run into Grenada, where we should arrive on Sunday morning.

Richard & Julie XX