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Date: 08 Feb 2012 13:41:35
Title: Atlantic Crossing Day 18
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13:16.93N 51:30.77W
Miles travelled in the last 24 hours: 131
Miles logged since leaving the Canaries: 2,516
Miles to go to Barbados: 460

All is well on board, we've jybed back on to our rhumb line and are now storming along direct to Barbados.

A typical day on board is as follows:

- Night watches finish at 08.00 a.m. with the 06.00 a.m. radio net included in the final watch
- After breakfast we download the latest weather files, update our underway blog, collect emails and send replies to those received the previous day. We restrict ourselves to a single satellite phone internet log-on each day and with a connection speed of 9.6 kbps there's certainly no web surfing to be had!
- Meals are prepared as and when conditions permit; so far we've been able to prepare every meal from our fresh produce and haven't had to resort to our rough weather 'Emergency Tinned Dinner' backups. Fresh food is checked to make sure it's still in good condition and consumed in appropriate order (It's not a question of what do we feel like, but rather what has to be eaten today...)
- A thorough check of the boat is undertaken, paying particular attention to the running and standing rigging (and clearing the night's harvest of flying fish from the deck)
- Cleaning and planned maintenance is carried out and, where possible underway, any required running repairs are undertaken too
- SLEEP! Because we only get 3 hourly rest periods at night, we try and catch up on sleep during the day
- Meal times together are obvious highlights of our day, as is our 'elevenses', where we treat ourselves to freshly brewed filter coffee - not so easy, even with a gimballed stove
- What spare time we have left (not as much as we'd thought, actually) we spend reading, listening to music, podcasts and radio plays
- The days seem to pass very quickly and it's soon time to tune in to the evening radio net with Herb at 19.30 UT to get his input and recommendations for the coming days

Each day brings a new challenge, whether it's to attempt to repair an intricate widget in a roly sea or to resist tucking in to the final packet of our favourite biscuits...


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