Out here the big topic of conversation - at least between the four of us yachts still in radio contact - is how far south to head to avoid the light wind around the equator. The Marquesas are at about 10 degrees south but the direct line between the Galapagos and Marquesas (the Rhumb line) would run through this area of light wind. It is generally considered that you need to get to at least 5 degrees south to pick up steady wind but once you get there the wind is more easterly and boats, particularly catamarans, don’t sail at their best with a directly following wind.

Leaving the Galapagos we have a lovely east south east breeze and this looks set to continue at this latitude (3 degrees south) for another week at least. The catamarans are banking on this and heading down the rhumb line. If this wind holds all the way to the Marquesas then they are on the perfect angle to the wind along the shortest route. The risk is that you cannot rely upon a weather forecast one week ahead and we are out here for around four weeks. Our compromise, based upon the latest forecast, is to sail a little south of the rhumb line to reach 5 degrees south at 107 degrees west.

We are currently sailing at a speed of 7.3kts (over the ground). The sun is shining, the motion of the boat gentle; in fact perfect passage making conditions. In the 24 hours to noon we covered 128 miles which is a respectable average of just over 5kts. We passage plan at 5kts and sail gently at slightly less than this overnight when the wind is lighter. If we keep up our current speed then another 24 hour record is in the offing.

Friends Ian and Steph in Nautilus have been sailing at between 0.5 and 1kt faster than us, which is to be expected given that Nautilus is 5ft longer than Vega, and they are currently about 10 miles ahead of us. The night before last they had a near disaster when a pipe from their water tank burst and flooded the bilges where a lot of gear is stowed away. To cap it all they had a wave in the cockpit last night that went down into the saloon and soaked their berth. Nautilus (an Ovni 395) is designed around a large water maker and a washing machine. An hour or so ago we spotted on AIS that they had altered course more to the west, but had slowed down. Assuming they were acting upon the latest weather forecast we followed suit and our speed shot up to the current 7kts. Noticing this they called up to see why we were going so much faster. It transpired their change of course and speed was all to do with creating steady conditions to run their washing machine!

Generally speaking we don’t suffer from boat envy. Granted, a 56ft Oyster would be quite a comfortable way to cruise around the world but we find 37ft just about right for two people. What it does mean, however, is that our water maker puts out a modest 5 litres per hour and was installed with a view to keeping us alive as and when required. We don’t have room for a washing machine or enough water for either a washing machine or a couple of daily showers and it never occurred to us that these could be desirable things before embarking upon this trip. However, sometimes it would be nice…………

Things are looking up on the fresh food front. Annie caught a Mahi Mahi yesterday (otherwise known as a Dorado) that we ate for supper - really delicious with spring onions, green pepper, garlic and Teriyaki sauce.