Just completed our second day at sea with a days run of 149.3 nm noon to noon positions which keeps us on track for our target of 1000nm per week.

Had a mixed day yesterday consisting of some excellent sailing in the afternoon with Jib and Main mainly on a reach and much lighter winds overnight that also went aft a bit which slowed us down. We motor sailed for about 4/5 hours overnight in the really light winds. 

We need to run the engine about 3 hours per day which combined with the solar panels keeps the batteries just about charged to where they need to be. Our biggest power usages are the two fridges and the instruments / autopilot. The watermaker also uses about 10A while running but we generally only use this when the engine is on. 

The wind started to increase at about 05.30 this morning so the engine went off and we have been sailing since then. The wind is generally from the SE which is to be expected on this “trade wind” crossing and is varying in strength from between 10 and 15 kts at the moment. We carry the large Code 0 headsail in up to about 14 knots of wind depending on the wind angle and then change to the Jib when it is more than that. A big part of successfully crossing an ocean is looking after the equipment and keeping the average speed as high as you can, which means not pushing the limits of the sails and gear and not looking for the “best” speed all the time just a high average. We don’t tend to use the Code 0 at night because although it is on its own furling system it is slightly different from the jib and takes a bit more control to roll it away. If the wind picks up quickly in a squall this can be a handful so we tend to only use it during the day. We have lighter winds forecast over the next couple of days so will have to see if these materialise. 

We have both quickly settled into life at sea again and were just commenting that it is nice to be here rather than battling with the Bank Holiday Crowds in the New Forest or in the Solent! We did toast the Queen however yesterday at 18.00!!

I am going to cook a Chicken Chasseur today to use some of the fresh food we have which will do us a couple of days. Putting the fishing line out tomorrow!

With this space…….

SY Saphir.