48:19.8N 10:44.1W

Day’s run – 146 miles

At midday, 987 miles covered and 300 left to Dartmouth. Today we have bright sunshine and 12-15 knots of wind on the beam, so perfect sailing at around 7 knots in a relatively flat sea. With these conditions we might reach Dartmouth on Thursday morning.

We have seen only three ships and one yacht in the last week, but as we get onto the continental shelf we may well see fishing boats from tonight. Last night we saw a well-lit ship and were surprised to find from the radar that it was 12 miles away, so it must have been enormous.

We have crossed sea area Fitzroy and are now in Sole. However, as Fitzroy is an area the size of England we have not listened to the BBC, but Charlie has continued to download the weather maps each day, interpret for a three day period and thereby create a waypoint to aim for.  Some may think we’re just sailing along the rhumb line, but apparently it’s much cleverer than that!  

Last night we had a warm evening and were able to enjoy a bottle of wine with supper in the cockpit. Conversationally, we soon had the NHS sorted out and tonight we will move on to debate the need for a defence system based on the Trident missile and, if we have time, our remedy for world peace. Politics has not been avoided as a discussion point but, as we have been away from the UK since before the change of government, our arguments have a lack of bite.  

Fishing. There will be a News Flash at the top of the blog if anything bites . . . . Meanwhile, we remain optimistic as yet another kind of conventional lure is tried out.