Having motored all of yesterday afternoon and evening, we were relieved to be able to switch the engine off at midnight and sail a fine reach on port tack.  Although we only had a light breeze of wind, with the favourable current we were able to sail and still make 5 knots of boatspeed.  All that motoring was not good news for our daily mileage and we only covered 133 miles in the 24 hours to 1200 hours local time.

 

During the night the wind backed to the SW and early this morning we launched the spinnaker.  The current is now slightly against us, but we are still making 6-7 knots in light airs.  We had thick fog this morning, which we have not seen for nearly a year, but it has now cleared to reveal a blue sky with a few wispy clouds.

 

The sunset was beautiful yesterday, with the flat sea having the appearance of liquid gold in the evening light.

 

 

The moon rose just before midnight.  It started as the smallest flash of deep orange, and then rose like a ball of molten glass in the sky.

 

We have seen schools of dolphins and pilot whales, but all are very shy and keeping their distance. 

 

Yesterday we received an email from Whitehaven, our Australian friends who we met in Gibraltar last September and who did the ARC and then travelled to Grenada with us.  They have been through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific, caught even fewer fish than us, survived spam and chick pea curry, and will arrive in Sydney today - a fantastic achievement.