The wind has eased a little today and is more easterly i.e. from behind. As a result we have had an energetic couple of hours (well, Annie and Steve have) rigging the pole and we are now goose winged and making 5.0kts in the force 4 wind. Last night we had difficulties with the Hydrovane again and it turned out to be the old problem of the brake not holding the main rudder in a central position. A couple of bungees to the wheel are now keeping things stable. We gybed at one point during the night on Annie’s watch and she wasn’t very happy as it interrupted her watching a film on her laptop!

The Duogen has not been providing the charge we might have expected. The water turbine lifts out of the water at speed and cavitates which is not very efficient. With both radar and auto helm on, and any number of electronic devices being recharged, we have been steadily draining the batteries down to 77% charge which then prompts the auto helm to warn that the power input is too low. Before we left Dartmouth we raised the height of the unit to keep the wind propeller clear of anyone on the back of the boat and so this morning we lowered the unit again and lo and behold the turbine stays under the water and the power output has gone up sharply. We are now charging at the rate of 7 Amps! Water management revolves around keeping Steve in showers for the duration of the trip. Now that the water maker is working this may be possible…………..

Early this morning we were checked out by a very striking white bird. A bit like a large tern but with a long very thin tail. Any suggestions would be welcome (no photo I’m afraid).

There was also much discussion this morning about what time we should be keeping, largely centred on what time Annie and Steve would like dawn and sunset to be! We’ve never had the option of creating our own time zone before and the next point discussed was when the clock should go back as we head west. No-one wants it to be during their watch of course!

The weather forecast is showing a large, deep depression heading across the Atlantic on Monday and Tuesday. We are hoping that it will stay far enough to the north not to affect us directly but indirectly it looks like our wind will be affected, becoming lighter and more variable in direction. Its all to do with high and low pressure systems being next to each other. At the point of contact there is a zone where the pressures and resulting winds cancel each other out. We will be keeping a close watch on things over the next few days!

Lat night’s Coq au Vin was a great success. Not so much that anyone wanted any more, however, and so it is back on the menu for our lunch today.