DAY 20 ....BACK TO ENGLISH WEATHER

Gaviota
Thu 22 Jan 2009 11:15
36:01.187N 19:05.594W
At 1000 local time (1000 gmt)  distance run in last 23 hours 161miles
We just made it to 20 degrees west ... so another time change .... in fact we are now the same as you lot in the uk, jolly old gmt!
a much better day sailing wise .. but oh god how I hate this weather... its grey grey and more grey ... if its not drizzling its raining .. and if its doing neither ..it will be in the next hour. ... its just like Bolton!!!!! I am already getting back the acheing joints I`d completely forgotten about ... One thing for double sure now...UK is an even bigger no no than when I left!
Hey I waved to a notional St Lucia as I "sailed passed" yesterday lunch time .. so now this is the longest ocean passage I have made to date .. another milestone!
But where did we leave off ... Oh yes tacking down wind... well in the morning the wind slowly increased .. by lunch time I had 3 reefs in the main and about 1 reef rolled in on the genny and we are still doing over 7 knots... The wind then just blew consistently from 25 to 30 knots with very minor changes in direction.... As the rain got heavyer I had to close the main hatch and the slider to stop it blowing in down below (ie horizontal rain from the stern blowing straight under the bimini!   ... so I went below and just kept nudging the helm (using the remote steering control) by watching the windvane at the top of the mast with just the hatch slider open enough for me to see it ... Head felt a bit heavy after a while of staring vertically upwards mind!.. and so it carried on... right through the night ... I did my sleeps though and readjusted george every 25 minutes .. worked fine ... Wind didnt drop till near enough dawn ...though its so bloody cloudy I am not sure exactly when that was!
So took out 2 of the 3 reefs .. unrolled the genny and we are batting on again at between 6 and 7 knoits in15 to 20 knots of wind, drizzle etc  more or less as before.