We left Chagos at 4pm on Wednesday with a routing down the eastern side of the Chagos Archipelago, including skirting Diego Garcia, the off limits US naval base, by 15 miles.

The first 56 hours have been hard work - squall after squall with attendant big wind, no wind, changing direction wind, heavy rain and confused, though small seas. We are moving SW again and hope to get into the more reliable trades within the next 24 hours. The forecast actually has us looking at winds up to 30 knots and wind waves to 12 feet, so could be sporty.

We are estimating an arrival into Port Louis, Mauritius on the 5th or the 6th, should those expected winds materialize.

We are looking forward to our last snorker dinner tonight after which we will be able to turn the freezer off to save power consumption.

Otherwise all is well on Galatea. Until the next update,

Neil, Chris and Mike.

- S/V Galatea