Progress has been miserably slow with a very occasional burst of decent wind but predominantly light or none at all. We have had to motor twice now and the currents are variable, sometimes with us or, as in the case of today, frustratingly 1.5 knots against us.

Early this morning we were bowling along in a breeze under the cruising chute which had to be taken in as 20 knots of following wind sprang up but it came with counter current. A few hours later the wind dropped and we were just squeezing 4½ knots out of it only to be knocked back to 3 knots by this wicked current. The swell has gradually increased so comfort levels are decreasing proportionately with the swaying and slamming as we hold out against using the engine. Not great for sleeping so we've had to take G2 way off course to fill the genoa just to get some peace overnight.

Yesterday we discovered that we are not alone on this crossing. Australian catamaran Sanctuary left Reunion from a different port the day after us and spoke on the radio after the call up to the Peri Peri Net in Sth Africa. Although some 100 miles behind us they are experiencing the same weather pattern. The weather files that we download once a day using the satellite phone show this trend is likely to continue at least for the next two or three days. Consequently our hoped for 140 – 150 miles a day is a bit of a pipe dream at the moment and we would be lucky to make it a 12 day passage. But hey, this is the Indian Ocean and this particular stretch is renowned for strong winds and changeability so we could well be wishing for things to calm down in the not too distant future.

Other than that the tropics have been left behind as we pursue our SW course. There is some drizzle at the moment, the tail end of a squall off toward Madagascar but the weather has been generally balmy during the day and cool at night which is perfect.