16:35.059N 26:47.599W

It is just over 24hrs since we left Mindelo and as usual the first night plays hell with your biorhythms ( for those who are old enough to remember what they are ). We are both knackered so I shall keep this episode short.

The start was good , everyone got away well , and we set of in pursuit straight away.  Unfortunately for us the only boats that seem to be even remotely close to us in boatspeed left yesterday so we are paired up with all the big boys.  We made the best of the situation though and played Rule Britannia on full volume – no telling if they heard it over the horizon though.

Everything was going well and at the bottom of the channel between Mindelo and San Antao the wind seemed to have set fair for our downwind rig and a course of 271 straight to St Lucia. All was fine for an hour or so but then the Easterly wind turned to a northerly and we were heading at right angles to destination. As it’s a bit of a palaver for swapping our downwind rig for traditional main and genoa , especially at night on a rolling sea , we left it up until daylight when all was sorted and we are now chugging along at a merry 6 knots. So if anyone was looking at the YB Tracker app and wondered what the hell we were playing at – now you know.

Sea state at the moment not to bad , bit bouncy , but expected and weather pretty decent if not a bit too cloudy for our solar panels – but we’re managing power ok

Real treat today , we bought a hand of green bananas on Saturday for the journey , all ripened this morning so had to eat in one go !!!