48:23.5N  8:55W

We have sailed 130 miles in the last 24 hours and are now some 135 miles south west of the Scilly Isles.  This morning we crossed the Continental Shelf and the echo sounder burst into life a few minutes ago – the seabed is just 160 metres below us. The weather has slowed us though: a gale to the south east of us has pushed some big seas in our direction and the winds remain more or less easterly at anything between 20 and 30 knots.

We had a minor setback overnight when the genoa furling line parted during the Middle Watch.  I had another very wet half an hour on the foredeck in the dark ‘end for ending’ it and we now have a serviceable system, but will look for an opportunity to replace the line with a new one before long.  We were fairly lucky that it happened when the wind was down at 20 knots: the sail unfurls to its full size and it would have been quite a handful in the 30 knot breezes of Monday afternoon.  And of course the big bonus of an Oyster – a hot shower to warm up on completion!

Right now we are heading for the Lizard, but continuing headwinds may push us further west.  The current plan is to hug the English coast as we come up the Channel; we might drop into Falmouth briefly to change the furling line and ‘dry out’ a bit: after four days of near gale force winds everything is getting a bit salty and damp!

Morale is high and we have no significant defects.  Today’s highlight: we have just advanced clocks one hour and are now on British Summer Time.  Bring on those long, balmy evenings!

Richard, Peter and Dave