Welcome to paradise: Wednesday 26th November

24:42.01N 19:14.91W

Welcome to paradise, this our fourth day at sea, We changed the watch system last night to single person on watch for two hours at a time, this gives each crew member eight hours off watch. There is very little shipping in this area, last night we could see the lights of four or five ARC boats around us so we are keeping up with the fleet. Dawn comes late in these latitudes at about 07:00 hrs The moon is waxing but still new and creeps up over the eastern horizon at about 05:30 hrs.

Yesterday Bob tried his hand at some fishing and caught a Dorado (bright yellow underside with blue top) the second fish was silver, both weighing in at two to three pounds. Thanks to the training we had with (Andy the fish ,Chatton) ILB crew Eastbourne, your friendly fresh fish monger located near the Fishermans club Eastbourne, open Tues to Sat early till late, That's the advert done. Bob filleted both fish and baked them with fresh limes and herbs for lunch, they were fantastic!

I was on dinner watch and cooked a cottage pie which, although tasty didn’t seem as good as lunch. We did follow on with Bramley apple pie and custard and biscuits and cheese before an evening of entertainment watching Coast (Northern Isles) on DVD.

All the crew seemed to enjoy the longer sleep periods and feel better for it this morning. The night watches reported no shipping; Nick had a visit from a school of dolphins in the darkness they could be seen only by the phosphorescence in their wake.

Breakfast has just been prepared by Bob and enjoyed by all, bacon, fried eggs, and beans with orange juice and followed by tea. As you can tell these culinary delights are gaining in importance, they are becoming the highlight of the day.

We have a SSB (single side band) radio link with a part of the group at noon every day to give our positions and have a general chat with other boats to find out how they are doing. Yesterday. the net controller was a boat called" Nutmeg "a Nicholson 38.

The wind has been from the NNE all night at about 5 to 8 knts bringing our average speed down from over 6 to 4:6 knts. Since dawn the wind has picked up and we are running a 5 knts in a NE 10 knt breeze. The sun is shining and the temperature rising as we head south, the saying goes" when following the trades you go south towards the Cape Verde island until the butter melts then turn west”, we shall see. We should pick up the North Equatorial current about 300 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands which will give us a lift of 0:5 to 1:5 knots. The water maker and generator are doing a fine job topping up the batteries and fresh water.

Thanks Guy for the alternator advice it's comforting to know we have help just an e-mail away. Hope" Muver" (second Coxswain,) Dan (the man) (Mechanic) I use that term loosely, and all the crew at Eastbourne RNLI are fine and there have not been too many shouts. Hope Skid (Coxswain) is fully back on board.

I have had some e-mails from home keeping me up to date on events, I hope everyone is looking at www.worldcruising.com where you will find another Google map of all ARC participants and their noon positions updated daily, let us know how we are doing. Short e-mails to individuals on the crew or to us all in general would be welcome a libertad {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com please do not send any pictures or large downloads.

Best wishes and love to all Paul (Skipper) Libertad 330 miles south of the Canary Islands.