We have passed the Mid Atlantic buoy (on the chart not literally)!  To be honest I find it astonishing that there is one at all and can only think that it has the longest piece of chain and longest lasting light bulb on earth.  The chart only marks the 4000 metre contours so goodness knows how deep the ocean is at that point.

We changed the clocks again today.  It gets very confusing with no “spring forward and fall back” to help us get our heads around it especially then having to work out the new UT (universal time, but not UHT as I inadvertently blurted out today to my embarrassment ) to report positions to our following flotilla.

It is reassuring to keep in touch with the ghostly unseen others. Bandit is headed for Barbados and further south than us.  They went off the air for a couple of days because they were caught in a storm and abandoned deck.  Apparently their Christmas dinner ended up on their laps and all over the floor.  It is amazing how the weather can vary so much between relatively close locations.

Our closest encounter came today with a giant cargo ship bristling with derricks that crossed within 1 and a half nm.  Oh such a thrill!  It is hard to imagine how these such rare glimpses can get us all overexcited.

The wind has picked up, and the waves too, so we are making sturdy progress.   The sun just keeps on shining and the temperature hangs around 26 steadily.  At night, I am on watch in just a t-shirt and we are sleeping with no bedclothes at all but pyjamas, of course, in case of emergencies.

I shall simply ignore the fact that Bob spent the morning playing with Gerry again renewing the main filter.  It is just such a tedious tale.