After a relaxing dinner the wind increased to 7 Kn, so time to kill the engine and see how we could progress under sail. Our motoring speed had been about 5.5 Kn (fuel conservation), and on the broad needed to get to our next waypoint we could just about match that.

 

Time to download more grib files – horror – on our course we are running directly to a forecast storm with winds approaching 30 Kn on the nose.  And then where we planned to turn to go west, instead of trades helping us, it is showing light winds on the nose.  What has happened to the weather patterns!  So a quick change of course to port to miss the projected storm, and we found ourselves doing 8 knots heading towards the Cape Verde Islands.  We were able to maintain this speed through the night, so hydrogenerator down, make some water and start to smile again.  The missing trades are Friday’s problem.

 

And so to the two fish.  One caught us, and one we caught.  At 04.30 James was on night watch, standing at the sprayhood scanning the horizon when something hit him hard on the forearm.  A flying fish – which then landed in the cockpit and is now bait.  The second was a line catch, a Mahimahi about 40 cms overall.  Gaffed, brought aboard, and then returned to the sea (we have chicken to be used up)

 

Now the wind has died again;  hydrogenerator up, engine on, and we’ll download the latest grib files to see what’s happening;  worst comes to the worst, we can call in Cape Verde to refuel and re-provision..