At this stage in the passage we have been sailing at an average speed of just under 6kts. We sailed 140nm in the last 24 hours which is good - we normally passage plan assuming an average of 5kts. No more balmy downwind sailing in shorts and t shirts though. In fact we have been sailing more into the wind than forecast and tonight we are close hauled to maintain our intended course. This wind is forecast to last until Tuesday when the low pressure system collapses and we have a lull until another low comes in from the west.  At the moment this is showing wind up to 20kts which is fine, but gusts to 35kts which is not so fine.

Tonight our windex has packed up again and we have no wind data other than the vane on the mast top. We can cope with this but it is a bit disconcerting having no direction or speed information in the cockpit or on the plotter. The anemometer on the windex seems to be spinning more than normal so maybe it’s a mechanical problem within the unit. I’ll swap it for the original unit in the morning and hope we can get some information from this. I was talking to Ken on Windsong about windex issues and he gave up on his a long time ago and now sails without one.

Annie and I are still maintaining our watch pattern whereby I turn in after supper and then take over on watch at about 0030 for the rest of the night. We are both sleeping a lot more during the day so our daily routine of chores, scrabble, music and so on hasn’t got going as most of the time one will be sleeping while the other is in the cockpit. 

Still seeing Portuguese Men of War. I have been seeing them ever since leaving Antigua. We have no idea whether this is normal or there is a plague of them this year.