Position: 15:51:50N 40:40:20W

Transat Day 14

We’ve had an easy 24hrs, with 10-15kts and calm seas.  Winds mainly from ESE, but this morning they backed round to SSE and we’ve actually taken the pole down and are 3-sail reaching – a rarity.  Since early morning, we’ve been dodging nasty rainclouds, using the radar to track the cloudbursts.  The rainclouds are weird in that they stay stationary relative to the gradient wind, so you have to be careful and watch even the ones that are downwind.

Despite the wind not blowing more than 15kts, we’ve done 131M in the last 24hrs, which is respectable.  We appear to have covered 132M over the ground as well, which is better than the last few days, where we appear to have had some current against us.  It is odd – the North Atlantic Passage chart indicates we should have ½ to 1½ kts of favourable current , and we’ve just not had that, since we left.  Given this current is supposed to form part of the North Atlantic rotation, with the Gulf Stream to the North, it is a bit odd. Climate change in action – I expect there is an Ice Age taking place in Northern Europe right now…

We had a flying fish land in the cockpit in the night – quite impressive aim, to make it over the top of the guardrails, and below the cockpit roof.  The first we knew was something sounding like, well, I suppose a wet fish flapping on the floor!  It was quickly dispatched from whence it came – what a story to tell its mates!  I am waiting to catch a flying fish mk2 – these are the ones that can navigate straight into a frying pan and bring their own little slab of butter and herbs…

Sally’s just done our first pirhouette of the trip – wind’s all over the place.  Sounds like we might need to set loose the 40 horses that live below the cockpit sole…

Hope all’s well

Ollie x