Position: 47:21:77N 12:39:80W

Well there is not a lot to say really.  The wind has been light and we have been motor sailing all day.  It was quite lumpy and Nutmeg was bouncing off the waves, but it has now dropped off and we have furled the jib and are plugging along at 4.5 kts – painfully slow.  The wind is bang on the nose and Falmouth is over 300 miles away.  As always seems to happen in these situations, it is very touch-and-go as to whether we have enough fuel to motor the entire way.  I suspect we don’t, as we’re bound to cover a lot more than 300 miles through needing to tack, unless we get lucky with a wind shift.  I suppose we are bang in the middle of Biscay.  This is when being on a nice big powerful Oyster 55 would go down very nicely!

We’ve just had curry for tea so we are fuelled up for the night watches.  Tonight is the easier of the two nights for me as I get to go to bed from 2100-0000, and from 0300-0600 which I find easier.  I am running out of podcasts to listen to on my ipod!  It is very damp up in the forecabin and there are several leaks coming from under the deck, which is a discomfort.  I am not surprised though – Nutmeg has done over 1500 miles upwind in the last few weeks so it is fair enough if a few deck fittings have started to protest.

This is a real test of patience.  I have no idea how long this is going to take.  However, we’ve done brilliantly so far – just under 1000 miles and we’ve only been going just over a week, so I’m very happy with our progress.  We were lucky to have such good wind leaving the Azores – I don’t think those were normal conditions.

Update at midnight – wind has shifted just enough for us to be able to almost lay Falmouth, now 275 miles ahead of us.  I was sitting in the cockpit, in the dark, watching the moon set and thinking how unique this experience is going to be in the coming weeks as we return to normality.  When I speak to Sarah, she always tells me to make the most of these final few days and, as always, she is so right.  This time next week, we will be moving into our house, the following Wednesday I will be starting work, and then that will be it – no more night watches, waiting for my friends the dolphins to appear and do their crazy dance around the boat.  No more bouncing around my bunk and being woken for my watch not sure whether I’ve even managed to sleep at all.  No more feeling special because you know you’re the only person for hundreds of miles around.

Already the memories of this year feel like just that – memories – and the friends we have met are like ghosts from a different world.  Even sitting in this damp, mucky Nutmeg feels a million miles from the cosy family boat with our girls spreading their toys out over everything.  I can’t believe what we’ve done and I struggle to comprehend that there really is an amazing world out there that we have discovered, and which we made for ourselves on our little ship.  I hope we have given our kids something to base some of their aspirations on.  I know that this year will be a bond of shared experiences which strengthens our family in the years to come.  This is one of those rare occasions in my life when I’m looking back at a goal achieved rather than working towards one!

Mars is very low in the sky and is masquerading as a red masthead light from another yacht – it’s tricked me several times so far this watch!

That’s all for now.