Day 14 1300 Sunday 6th December

Time to take stock.

We’ve now been at sea exactly 14 days and 14 nights. The start line on November 22^nd seems like a lifetime ago. In the first week we racked up 1,055 miles and in the second 1,053 miles. The finish line is less than 900 miles away and if we can get there before 1300 on Saturday 12^th December we’ll have made it in under 20 days. That’s now our target and our ETA. I’m happy with progress. We could be further on but we’ve made lots of stops to catch fish and to swim. We’re having a great time and apart from one rough night have so far had a pleasant trip.

Last night we had clear skies and the stars were phenomenal. There were so many it was difficult to pick out constellations. When the moon rose after a couple of hours a lot of the less bright stars became invisible and suddenly all the familiar constellations became clear again. But I was too tired from the previous night to give it serious attention.

I was just thinking what else to write about in the last 24 hours when up pops another whale. This one entertained us for over 65 minutes before we stopped watching and had lunch. Brown on top and white underneath, it circled the boat hundreds of times coming within inches of the hull as it played beneath the bow. It frequently rolled over onto its back to show us its belly. We were not following it. It was coming to us. It could overtake the boat with a couple of tail flicks. It appeared to like surfing down the waves as it kept pace with us. We estimate its size was about half a boat length - maybe 20 foot or so. Another magic moment.