Day 5

Petronella
Wed 2 Jan 2013 21:49
19:29.18N 22:29.77W  (at 2130)
 
2 January 2013
 
 
 
Another good day sailing under blue skies and sushine. It is definitely getting warmer now.
 
Monty the Monitor Self Steering is proving most reliable even in these boistorous downwind conditions. He doesn't seek much attention, doesn't need feeding and doesn't complain. Glad we brought him along.
 
Tina saw a turtle swimming by this morning, seemed to be heading for Africa some 240miles to go!
 
Some minor problems today to keep us on our toes, a few waves have dumped into the cockpit, one finding its way into the engine compartment through a ventilator, and another added more salt than planned to Tina's excellent beef strogonoff.  All mopped up now.
 
We actually saw a ship today, a cruise ship out of Cape Verde bound for the Canaries. Martin had a chat via radio to the officer on the bridge who confimed he had picked us up on the AIS (Automatic Identification System) at a good range which was reassuring.
 
We are working one watch in three through the night which is not too onerous and most watches pass with little to do or report. Wind still around 25knots, occasionally up to 30.