40:55.9N 38:18.7W

Day 16

“Right, the engine’s got to go off!”  What? The wind is only force 1 from the West, i.e. from right behind us, we will go nowhere with the engine off. We were aghast. “We have used 60 litres of diesel in the last 24 hours and need to reserve fuel for the final push into the Azores”. So no arguing.

Thus started a rather surreal 24 hours in mid Atlantic. The sea was completely flat, and we maintained an average speed of a bit over 2 knots over the ground, helped with a bit of current push. The sky was cloudless and we just had to relax into it. The worst part was not knowing how long this was going to last. The plus point was that we were able to see all sorts of wild life floating past. Numerous turtles who waved their flippers as they went by, dolphins who flung themselves bodily out of the water, numerous jelly fish, including a thick soup of jelly like material which no doubt gives out the phosphorescent flashes we see as we move through the water at night. John thinks that he saw a whale, just one sighting of a big black back and then it was gone. A yacht about 35 miles ahead of us reported seeing 4 killer whales, one only about 50 metres from his boat.

Time also to get some serious washing done. Out came the trusty twin tub that we bought for £90 on the internet and which has been serving us well over the last 3 years. It all dried in a flash on the deck, so we are all fragrant again.

The windless state continued throughout most of the night, but at 7.00 a.m. we were able to get the cruising chute up again, and our speed immediately increased to a more respectable 5 knots.