Day 13 – Noon 31^st May to Noon 1^st June

I’m getting seriously worried about my crew. This was supposed to be a hard, boys’ only trip which was fine until they drank all the builders’ tea and discovered the herbal varieties. Now they’ve all had showers and some have even changed their bed linen. Worse than that they all decided it was time for skipper to have a shower. Struth – you just can’t get the crew these days.

So, 400 miles to go and 3 days left before they declare the finish line is closed. Will we make it in time? Last night skipper took a gamble with the remaining diesel and motor sailed hard all night to get back on the conveyor belt of Westerly winds in the last three days. We’ll know by this time tomorrow whether it pays off. For once the weather forecast is in our favour but how many times have I said that in the last 2 weeks?

Talking of weather here’s a photo of what the barometer has been doing recently. 96 hours ago (4 days) we were getting thrashed by gales. Before that (160 hours or 7 days) we were becalmed and then becalmed again 32 hours ago. 20 millibar pressure changes down, up and now heading down in again in such a short time span makes for a roller coaster trip – we can testify to that!

Keep your fingers crossed that skipper’s gamble pays off – thanks

Paul - Peejay