Boat life settled into its rhythm after day 2.  We shared the cooking but Mike and Susannah had prepared most of the evening meals in the crew flat ahead of time which was important as we were rolling about like crazy - everything bashing about in the lockers and sliding off the surfaces all the time but really doesn’t make anyone feel like taking on complicated cooking creations.

Sail configuration is the classic downwind trade wind set up, with poled out genoa, staysail and reefed main.  We had 3 reefs for most of the way.  Chafe is a major problem and we have to be constantly on the look-out with lines rubbing against the rig and wearing away. Flying Fish enjoyed jumping on board from time to time.  Too small to eat and anyway too early in the cruise to think about this with a freezer full of spaghetti bolognese.

Through the rather overcast gloom on day 2 with strong NE winds we saw a boat of migrants pass us on our port side.  It was pretty alarming - the boat they were in looked strong and purposeful and full of men.  We wondered what were supposed to do but of course the answer is nothing.  There was no way we could turn around in that wind speed and perform any kind of rescue and they really didn’t look like any assistance was needed.  We passed quickly onto our various destinations - our guess was they were making for the Canaries Islands (probably El Hierro) from Senegal or Gambia which is a well-used route at the moment.