Malua is at 14:10.45N 41:04.72W at 1200 on 3/12/2012

Distance covered 1802

Distance to go 1085

Days run 125

The only way one crosses a large ocean is one swell at a time.  The wind was only 10 to 12 knots during the afternoon when we had the blue spinnaker up but as the sun set we took it down and the wind dropped away.  We polled out the genoa and had the main on the starboard side with a gybe preventer.  The moon only rose after midnight prior to that it was dark.  When I came on watch at 0000 GMT I could just see a dark cloud astern of us.  It smelt like rain so I was watching for a squall to come through.  I started to see the wind swing towards the starboard side and adjusted the autopilot accordingly but not fast enough, the wind rose and got behind the main and before I knew it the main gybed breaking the preventer securing point – a safety feature.  The boom swung over to the port side and the main started to flap.  Piers was on deck in a flash only to see the main swing back again to the starboard side.  The wind settled and we were back again on our 250 course to Barbados.  A long night ahead except the moon then came up and I could see the storm clouds pass us by and go into the darkness.  By daybreak the wind had dropped so I started the engine and we have been motoring ever since.  The batteries are full but the generator is still loosing water from the radiator.

Time plays such a part when one is on watch but the balance of the time it just goes by.  The radio schedules are all referred to as  GMT or UTC which it is now called.  We are at 41 degrees west of Greenwich so we are behind their time by almost three hours.  We have adjusted the watch system to start at dark but the deck clock is still set at GMT so today we had breakfast at 11:00 GMT just after sun rise.  From tonight we will adjust the deck clock by 3 hour and start to live a more normal life only referring to GMT when talking radio.

The winds seem to be light for most of the cruisers who left the Cape Verdes and are now approaching the Caribbean however the ARC yachts which are still at  20 degrees North and 36 degrees West are getting good winds of 20 to 25 knots.  One never seems to be in the right place.  We left the Canaries a week late but we could not have caught up the 10 days we lost in Morocco due to that bad weather.  We expect to make land fall in 8 days time around Wednesday 12 or Thursday 13. – the Gods be willing.

A magical moment on Malua.