Sunday  Aug 7th :  Today's Blog by Susie. 34:04.746N 08:10.398W

So THIS is what my Dad (Bob) has been up to for the last few weeks…  Life on board, under sail, essentially consists of eating, drinking, gazing off into the horizon and sleeping (with the occasional bit of sail tinkering and course changing).  It’s a hard life, but someone’s got to do it. Actually, the unexpected week-long stopover in Gibraltar was somewhat trying, and I hope I am lucky enough to never set foot on that place again, but it certainly made our eventual  arrival onto open water all the more rewarding.

We had a beautiful evening sail last night: not a cloud in the sky, cracking along on a beam reach at about 8 knots.  Both John and I struggled a little to find our sea legs, but I found an excellent cure for me was to sit on the aft seat and sing, thereby taking my mind of it.  I managed to work my way through the greatest hits of Simon and Garfunkel, The Mamas and Papas, and assorted musical theatre tunes before dinner. Thankfully for the rest of the crew, I was downwind and out of earshot.   Dinner is ceremoniously served in dog bowls, I can’t say I’ve got over the psychological barrier of eating out of a dog bowl just yet, but I’m sure it won’t take me long.

The watch system is in full swing, so Dad and I went to bed after sunset, getting up at 2am to take over from David.  The clear sky revealed a fantastic spread of stars, and the warm breeze I think was a welcome relief after the foul weather gear that David, Peter and Dad had to sit in during the crossing to Gib.  With only a few fishing boats and cargo ships passing like, well, ships in the night, it was a pleasant and quiet watch.

Rising this morning, a thick blanket of cloud has covered the sky.  Good for general well-being on board (the sun really is scorching out here) but not so good for my sun tanning schedule.  We’ve flown the spinnaker this morning, taken it back in again, and now David has set up the fishing gear to try and catch the surf portion of his surf ‘n’ turf dinner tonight.  Surely no self-respecting tuna can resist the day-glo disco muppet that we’re stringing out behind the boat right now?

And since this is my blog today: hello Mum, Johnny, Tom and Naty, Camilla, everyone at work, Anna, Fran and Dave, Sam…