The sun is shining, the sea and sky are blue, the wind perfect strength and direction. It has brought back that wonderful feeling of surging along comfortably towards another exotic destination. THIS is the cruising we love.

Ironically it is the same low pressure system that has brought us such unpredictable frustration that is now settling to the north east of the Seychelles and providing wonderful conditions. Lows spin clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere meaning we now have easterly wind, going further to the south east over the next couple of days. We are heading in a north westerly direction.

Last night we were bathed in bright moonlight and only had one relatively minor squall to deal with. All the others passed harmlessly astern.

Filled with renewed energy and enthusiasm we are sail changing as and when required to maintain an average of at least 4.7kts which would get us to Victoria on Sunday. The cruising chute is rigged on the bow to be readily available for the remainder of the passage and is now enthusiastically pulling us along at 5 to 6kts.

As the Seychelles approach I have another long list of maintenance and repairs to be undertaken. When we head down to the Mozambique Channel in October we have to be as confident as possible that we don’t face the same ongoing saga of breakage and repair that has plagued us since arriving back in Thailand. I have thought long and hard about whether we have been too complacent when it comes to preventative maintenance, given my undoubted failure to get the engine and Aquadrive properly sorted out in Thailand. Possibly, but no longer if so. Given that we have spent a significant element of our time, and almost all of it in Thailand, undergoing maintenance and repair I can only hope that increased vigour on preventative maintenance will lead to less overall time under repair.