Noon position 20 52N, 26 57W, day’s run 133, DTG to the Cape Verde islands 262. Last night we had a gale and the maximum gust we noticed was 55 knots which is enough to move Sea Spray at three to four knots with just the poles, although for the majority of the time we did have a bit of the yankee out, giving five knots or so. Despite her idiosyncrasies, Sea Spray is a good sea boat and Andy came on deck this morning and said she had handled herself very well during the night.

Today is another day as they say, and we now have the engine on as the wind is blowing at eight to ten knots and as I look out of the porthole, the sun has just appeared after a two day absence, which will give us a chance to dry out our kit. I’m still baffled as to why people rave about tradewind sailing though, as I can find gales easily enough at home!

We should be in Mindelo around early afternoon on Wednesday and our plan is to be back on the road Friday morning with enough water in jerry cans to last twenty days although I am anticipating that the remainder of the crossing will take about sixteen days.