2577 miles done and 410 to go! Last night the trade winds have finally arrived!! Gave us a good night sailing, surfing 8-9 knots on almost all waves. The winds have continued and are forecasted to do so for the remaining of the trip. Should be a great last push and will make us arrive on Saturday. We are still 7th in our class, but we have just now caught eyes on Xplorer of Hamble, an Xc-Yacht (46 feet). They have been our closest competitor since Cape Verde, so will be fun catching up to them.

 

Yesterday Emil saw a butterfly, 550 miles from nearest land. Very odd sight.

 

Yesterday the pins on the mast came out from the mainsail track, which could have been a problem if it wasn’t for our boat engineer (one of many traits) Mat, who got winched up in the bosons chair and drilled, screwed and bolted and after a few up and downs it was fixed. Not the easiest job when the boat is rolling with the waves.

 

The night sky provided us with a star sparkling blue, white and red over and over again. Really damn cool!! It also showed us a half moon which lit up the waves in a painting like way, goes well with the phosphorescence around the boat and the dolphins that came swimming around the boat. So the night watches are far more exciting than one might imagine.

 

It feels good that we are soon in harbour with the utilities that come with it. Just as we speak, Ritchie is trying to fix the compressor to the fridge that has stopped working. Good thing we have a spare on board. (as we speak, it has come back to life, phew)