Generally light winds and a full cloud cover overnight turned into a fantastic sunrise with clear sky’s and fresh NE18/20 kt winds all day. We have been flying along under our easy downwind rig of poled-out Genoa, full main and the jib filling in the slot between the two. Boat speed has been around 8 to 9kts most of the day and it has been one of those memorable sailing days. Noon to noon run was 163 miles due to the light winds overnight but they were all in the right direction.

Phil took a noon sight with his sextant and got a respectable latitude from it - it is easy to check these days with the GPS which is a far cry from 30 odd years ago when I first did this passage. There are a number of things on our modern cruising yachts that make life at sea more fun than it used to be. The water maker has to be the single most important item that has improved the comfort of living onboard offshore for extended periods while being able to have good communications with access to emails and Grib files for the weather has improved route planning and safety no end.

However one thing has not changed - the thrill, pleasure and peace you get from being in the trade winds sailing effortlessly at high speeds, without seeing anything for days and knowing you are alone and must be responsible for your boat and the safety of those onboard is the same now as it has always been.

MF wishes you a good evening….enjoy yours because we are certainly going to enjoy ours!