We woke up this morning to light winds - around 10kts from the ENE, a first for this trip.

It did give us the chance to try out the Parasail Spinnaker that we have onboard. This sail is supposed ot be particularly good when trying to go almost dead downwind. So after a breakfast of Poached eggs and bacon (it is Saturday after all) we got it all set up and managed to hoist it without too much trouble. We had a few hours of fun as we were pulled along by this thing until the first of many line squalls today came through and we had to get it down in a bit of a hurry. It is still in one piece and any conventional spinnaker drop, when you still have all of the crew and the sail at the end of it is a good one in my book!! See photos below.

The rest of today has been fresh winds with our standard downwind rig of poled out genoa, main and jib. The noon to noon run was 177nm and as I write this at 23.00UTC we have 403nm to go.

We have eaten the last of our fresh meat this evening (steak) accompanied by roast potatoes and veg. Our food supplies have lasted very well and been great quality. There is still a good supply of fresh fruit and some vegetables aboard.

This trip has been void of wildlife in the main but the balance was addressed to day when a school of about 25 dolphins followed us for half an hour or so. These majestic creatures gave us a display of their special talents before deciding we were too slow for them and swimming off to find someone else to play with.

Today's thought -- Doing a trip like this certainly gives you a lot of thinking time, especially when alone on the night watches. It helps to put life into perspective and address the work/play balance which is hard to get right in the busy lives that we all seem to lead when onshore. It is a privilege to be able to share and experience what this small part of our world's environment has to offer.

MF - have a good weekend -- Tomorrow two weeks at sea and what is a Blue Water Cruiser?

Standard Downwind rig                                                        Parasail                                  Yes there should be a hole in it!

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