34:03.1N 57:18.3W

The day’s run was a very encouraging 124 miles, after a rather scant 44 miles the day before – not reported in yesterday’s brief entry. Based on the current excellent conditions we expect to be able to report an even better result tomorrow.

Yesterday marked the start of a new phase of our journey. We spent a very uncomfortable night of rolling in light winds and choppy seas, with only slow progress toward the tantalizing zone of steady westerlies that always seemed to lie just a little further north. But at last the wind began to build from the west. Soon we were sailing well again, and as the day passed the wind continued to become stronger and more favourable.

We faced yet another technical challenge during the morning – a potentially serious issue with the mainsail furling gear. We hove to for a while, took the mainsail down, sorted out the problem and re-hoisted the sail.

Last night we enjoyed a particularly beautiful sunset, with the new wind pattern established and Neroli racing east at 7 knots or more. We were able to spend some time together in the cockpit – something that doesn’t happen as often as we might wish. We listened to music we felt appropriate to remember Peter by, including the Sanctus from Schubert’s German Mass – a piece that we know he would approve and greatly enjoy.

As the day passed our speed built steadily, and that pattern continued overnight. Now (around midday boat time) we have a couple of reefs in the main and the genoa and are still occasionally hitting the 8 knot mark in winds of up to 30 knots: conditions in which Neroli is very comfortable and handles beautifully.

As on the first leg of the trip, it’s taken a few days for everyone to get their sea legs. After five days of very hard windward sailing out of Bermuda the mood had become rather quiet and appetites were only moderate. But all that has changed. Conditions are at last what we have hoped for and sought. The motion of the boat is far easier, and the crew is beginning to adjust to and compensate for the inevitable shortage of sleep. Naps are essential, and taken whenever the opportunity arises.

After a considerable breakfast of bacon, hash browns, tomatoes and soft boiled egg, accompanied by toasted home-baked bread, we all share an upbeat and optimistic frame of mind. Appetites and spirits are fully restored.

Each evening we talk with Herb Hilgenberg on the short wave radio for his advice on weather and wind, and which latitude will bring us the best conditions. We are now on the southern edge of a large low pressure region, around which the air moves counter-clockwise. As the system moves gradually ahead of us the wind will likely come more from the northwest and weaken. Then, the plan goes, we’ll pick up another. This is the “conveyor belt” of westerlies that the crossing relies on – and we’re on it at last.