POSITION REPORT ON TUESDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2018 AT 0700

14:05S 11:52W

So far, we've done 380 miles with 1,420 miles to go to Jacaré, Brazil. We did 140 miles in the last 24 hours.  We have 90% cloud cover, showers around us and 15-20 knot SSE winds.  We’re sailing wing-on-wing doing 6 to 7 knots with a 2 metre swell. Here's what we did yesterday and overnight.

26 February 2018   St Helena to Brazil (Day 3)

Dawn brought us another beautiful day with a light SSE 8-12 knot breeze, which continued all day allowing us to average 5 knots.

At the moment, there’s not a lot to do, so I’ve been working on an Owner’s Manual for Alba.  Over the past seven years, we’ve built up lot of knowledge on the use and maintenance of all the equipment on the boat.  We’re expecting to sell Alba within the next 12 months and I’d like to pass on all my knowledge to the next owner.

It’s turning into an epic document.  I have manufacturer’s manuals for practically every piece of gear on the boat and lots of notes and drawings that I’ve compiled over the years, so bringing it all together will keep me occupied until we get to the West Indies in May.

By sunset, the wind had increased by a few knots to 10-15 knots.  It’s surprising how much better the boat feels with that extra little bit of pressure on the sails.  It’s also good when the boat speed increases to 6 knots.

Overnight, we had some rain showers go through and the wind increased a bit more to 12-20 knots, so we were screaming along at 6.5 to 7.5 knots.  When we started to plane at 8 knots, I put a reef in the main.