June 8th 2030GMT

23 12N 062 23W

Today we are setting the scene for our younger followers and those who have not yet experienced life out of the sight of land.

Last night was cool and pleasant sailing as we made good speed with a starry sky above us and black water all around. The moon was just a sliver so gave no real light. It will grow every night now until we reach the full moon when it will seem like almost daylight as it reflects on the sea. If it is cloudy then our night world appears smaller as we can see nothing but black all around us.

Today we are 310 miles from land. All we can see around us is sea with deep blue swell rising and falling under the hull. We see an occasional shearwater gliding above the waves hardly seeming to move their wings as they dip down to take a small morsel from the surface of the water.

This morning we saw a ship on the horizon but it never came closer than 5 miles from us. In this clear weather with small swell we can see a circle of around 5 miles in every direction.

Just after lunch the fishing rod bent over and the line began to stream out from the reel. Tim grabbed the rod and wound in a beautiful blue and yellow fish called a Dorado or a Mahi Mahi it is now cut into fillets waiting to be cooked for tonight’s dinner!

We averaged around 6 knots in the last 24 hours and have just over 2000 n.miles to go to the Azores.

All is well on board.