35:27:1N 061:43:8W

 

Wednesday 4th May 2016

 

Mixed Progress

The wind has come up at last and we are moving at a better speed. Last night we had to reef for a short time as the wind became a little too strong for full sail. But we were speeding along at 7 knots. Hopefully this will continue as we are following the edge of a weather system which will bring more wind, the difficult bit is staying on the edge, if the system comes further south than predicted then we could get a big wind for a while.

 

Phosphorescence

We have dark moonless nights at the moment, the moon isn’t rising until about 0500. But the phosphorescent sparkles are just incredible. Our track is lit up by a million little spikes of light, as we roll with a wave, a round, dinner plate size, phosphorescent bomb seems to swirl out from under the stern, this glows a pale light green until ten metres off the stern when it bursts into a bright white flash. Quite mesmerising.

 

Watches

We are all adjusting to our new watches and sleeping isn’t easy at the moment. The boat is rolling as the waves gently pass under her beam and the day light lasts until about 2030. If you are on an early morning watch, getting your head down to snatch a few hours of sleep isn’t easy.

 

Miles travelled in the last 24 hours: 109 miles

Miles to the Azores: 1741 miles