End of day 8 position: 21:12.2 N 030:57.5 W (1075 NM south of Ilha das Flores, Azores)

Position timestamp: Sunday 17 Jan 2021 12:00 UTC-2

Distance travelled last 24 hours: 155 NM

Reduction in distance to destination last 24 hours: 134 NM

Distance travelled total: 1204 NM

Average speed since departure: 6.2 knots

Shortest distance to destination: 1861 NM

ETA based on shortest distance and average speed so far: evening of 29 January (20.5 days in total)

Two days, three wraps and two unwraps, but not necessarily in that order!

The first day - one wrap, one unwrap and another wrap

On day seven we'd brought our ginormous Blue Water Runner below decks for unwrapping. It was a good idea, but like many good ideas had unforeseen drawbacks. Once we got it down below we discovered in its half-wrapped state it took up a ludicrous amount of room. It was hours before we managed to get the sail stretched out along the length of the boat, and very late in the day before I gained access to the galley. It's the first, but may not be the last time I'll be rustling up lunch while wading up to my waist in acres of white sailcloth!

By the end of the day we'd managed to man- (and woman-) handle the very loosely wrapped BWR out of the way into the saloon where it's piled in great coils like a huge, fabric-wrapped python. Cooking has rarely been so far from my mind - so we had (rather nice) foie gras pate on toast for tea which was perfect at the end of a very difficult day. 

 

The second day - one multi unwrap and one multi wrap 

Quite a coincidence, but the day after the wrap, unwrap and wrap of our BWR, we had another unwrap and wrap situation. This one only slightly less arduous. 

It was a week into our journey, and time for a major fruit and veg check - not just the quick peek and squeeze that's been the daily routine. I went through all the fresh food storage places: fridge, hanging nets, lockers, cupboards and drawers and took out all the bags of vegetables and fruits one at a time. I unwrapped every item from its kitchen paper covering, checked for mould and rot, removed any that were showing signs of deterioration, then re-wrapped each one in fresh paper and repacked them all into their bags and nets. 

It's always amazing to see how long food will keep when it's carefully stored. The food in the freezer is all fine. In the fridge, the bananas in the banana bag are all good and for the rest, the green keep fresh bags are in the main doing their job exceedingly well. The lettuce, fresh parsley and coriander, radishes, cucumber, green beans, fennel are all looking very perky. Even the remaining blueberries are still fresh. However, I made one major mistake - the two bunches of asparagus didn't make it, one day they were fine, then very soggy the next. We should have eaten them earlier! Food for the fishes now.

In the cupboards, most everything is looking reassuringly good. The very big butternut squash, my backup veg, for when we've eaten almost everything else, looks like it'll last for months. Carrots, red cabbage, red onions, beetroots, turnip and potatoes are keeping perfectly. The green cabbage is getting to the eat-me-soon stage though, as are the few courgettes that are left. I'll need to keep careful watch on the tomatoes and use them as they ripen. 

In the fruit department, we had to start eating one of the two melons and it, along with the last rather large papaya, is now in the fridge. The conference pears have been surprisingly good keepers and I'm sorry I didn't buy more. Oranges and pomegranates in their hanging net are fine, and for eating when the softer stuff is done. We ate the last of the very ripe sharon fruit today, and have only a couple of tangerines left and they'll need to be eaten soon. The apples are mainly fine but by unwrapping each one I discovered three rotting apples in amongst the 20 fresh - it could have been a disaster!

All is well.

Linda