09:00

Yo, we have 26 knots of wind this morning and have been charging along at 7-8 knots with a moderate swell so the motion is good. What a difference a day makes out here, this is great sailing!

11:00

The brisk start has given way to a steady 18 knots, swell has come up a bit but still very comfortable and after the snailish pace we had yesterday it feels glorious to be sailing nicely and on course. We are hopeful that these conditions will continue today as we need to stack some miles on if we are to meet our 12 day target. So far our day's runs don't look promising for that; first day we did just 105 miles, then 133 followed by yesterday's low of 103 which was dis-spiriting. Of course, we want everything: fast speeds in good winds, moderate swells and no squalls just for starters. Last night we had a good old lightening display as a storm threatened, the thunder got quite near and we had some rain but that was it – lucky.

There have been 2 or 3 ships a day either crossing our route or steaming a parallel course. Last night we had one on the horizon that was a nuisance as it was on the same course and heading our way. Despite several attempts to call it up on VHF it maintained silence, this was at 0200 hours so a guess is that the radio officer was snoozing off duty or was elsewhere which is worrying. We kept a careful watch ready to change course, don't know if they ever saw us but the ship passed by within 1½ miles which feels too close for comfort at night.

13:00

Enjoying some cheese made in La Reunion, very good. The fresh stores are holding out really well, we have a good selection of Reunion's vegetable and salad crops, some of which grow to giant proportions: enormous leeks, lettuce like large cabbages, huge plum tomatoes and the biggest christophenes we have ever seen. More normal are the root vegetables: carrots, beetroot, ordinary and sweet potatoes, and being a French island we have a good stock of excellent French beans. Thankfully the quality is very high so it should continue to last well during the passage. We haven't done any fishing, not having slept well the last 3 nights we are just too weary at the moment to deal with a big fish.

19:30

Listened to the Peri Peri South African radio net. Reception not good enough yet to be really useful to us but Chris followed up with a call to Sanctuary, the Australian catamaran which is now only about 30 miles behind us. They are 52 feet long so a lot faster than G2. They will be in Richards Bay well before us but we shall maintain radio contact until then, its good to know someone else is out here.

02:06

The day has worn on with variable winds but mostly good, the lowest being 11 knots and the swell has largely been moderate. There is a fabulous full moon giving excellent visibility, just glowing up the sky which is patched with billowing clouds but no lightening tonight so far. Now there is a steady 19-20 knots of wind that has come with a following current of over 1½ knots jacking up our speed to 8½ knots, feels like a train and sounds quite like one too.