26:10N 056:40W

We have covered just 71 miles in the last 24 hours. We ran the engine from Tuesday evening for 24 hours, covering 175 miles, but yesterday evening we took the decision to shut it down to conserve fuel for later in the passage.  As a result, we moved only 10 miles overnight, fortunately all in the general direction of the Azores.  The sea was millpond calm and at dusk we almost caught a small marlin, who investigated our new lure, saw some sargasso weed on it and jumped out of the water several times in fright.  He was beautifully silhouetted against the sunset and we all saw him – one of those magical tropical sights.  Actually I’m quite glad he didn’t bite, as wrestling with him in the dark on the back end of the boat could have been a bloody affair.

Overnight and into today, the sailing has been fairly frustrating.  Either the wind sits at about 2 knots, or it perks up for about 15 minutes and we get all excited – trimming sails, dreaming of that cool glass of wine in Horta... only for the wind to drop, or change direction massively. 

This morning, we had some huge rain clouds, bringing deluges of fresh water, but not much wind.  We had thunderstorms too, so the delicate electronics are in the oven at the moment. We’ve given the cruising chute a good airing (and a wash!) but right now are back on white sails with a steady 3 knots showing on the log.

The wind is due to return in the next 24 hours.  We’ll be pleased to see it!  In the meantime, we have no significant defects and morale is good (though if anyone can teach Tom some decent jokes, it would be much appreciated!).

Richard, Ed and Tom