0240 on 30th November - I think it is Saturday but have slightly lost track of the days of the week now. We are bowling along under the engine in 5 knots of wind and more or less a flat calm - a bit like an afternoon in the Solent in June! We are being careful not to tempt fate but in comparison to what we have experienced on the way to the Canaries this is all a bit tame for the moment. We would all like to be sailing again in those following winds we had from Gib. There have been a couple of false starts when the wind has risen to 15 knots for a short while and tempted us to switch off the donkey but they have not lasted for long and when our boat speed drops below about 4 knots return to our current mode of mechanical propulsion. The weather forecasts we have so far do not show the trades kicking in until the middle of next week and even then, they are quite a bit South of our intended track. We may decide to explore the Cape Verde islands for a couple of days if it looks worthwhile when we get there.
Everyone is very well rested which is good and Alex S has set a very high standard with his "mother watch" effort. The others are busy mugging up on their recipes in order to keep up the good work. I have the dog watch tonight (0200 to 0600) which secretly I rather like….it is a good time to watch the phosphorescence and the stars (not tonight as it is raining….) and generally commune with this very big open space. We have not seen another ship for quite a while and have to keep adjusting the gain on the radar to make sure it is still working.