16:25N 045:16W

Wind Charger
Bob and Elizabeth Frearson
Wed 28 Dec 2011 14:51
Touch wood and whistle there have been no cataclysmic events over the last 24 hours.  A suspiciously acidic looking burn has gone right through Bob’s shorts and yet another burn has been added to cook’s person (but that is becoming a daily ritual, an ocean going chef’s alternative to notches in the bedpost).
We are sailing along very happily under the genoa and full mainsail, in the right direction and covered 150 miles yesterday.  Fleur won the daily “how far did we go” sweep, the very first time that Bob has been beaten but the remainder of the crew are convinced that he has a sneaky peak before he stakes his claim. 
It is a little slower than with the cruising chute but we are enjoying the view and the action is soothingly comfortable.  We tried adding in the staysail but it just took the wind out of the genoa so it was furled away again.
Our admiration for David Attenborough grows every day, or rather his film crew.  From his Planet programmes you would assume that the ocean is simply teeming with life.  We get excited when we spot a bird, usually very alone and skimming sultrily across the surface, very excited when we spot flying fish scooting worriedly by and super excited over a visit from the dolphins which happened again yesterday afternoon.  Today we have taken to admiring the sudden clusters of mats of weed, yellowy green and varying in size from dinner mats to small fireside rugs.  We have absolutely no idea what they are.