Glorious dawn with a gentle breeze so up went our big, big kite and off we went, charging along doing the same speed as the wind….about 

6-8 knots     SOG = TW (try to keep up - Ed)  Apart from a few up and downs of the sail, with considerable faff, we have kept it up for 24 hours now and clawing our way through this light patch without using our engine. It means everyone helming has to really concentrate which helps night watches pass quickly. I was on last night, with Imo showing enormous patience, as I struggled to keep things from flapping and us stopping dead. Then Ali comes on and manages to helm with his foot so he can change the music on his laptop…..ggggrrr don't you just hate it.

The celestial orbs are massive on the equator, the sun as it sets is enormous you can almost touch it. We always watch the sun go down after dinner to see if we can see the green flash, I was watching so long last night I could see a huge green blob because I'd burnt my retina.  The colours are glorious, orange and turquoise stretching around the horizon, with grey soldiers marching in lines. 

However the sail needs so much attention we can't have the bimini up for shade.  It gets mighty hot and there's no escape in the middle of the day, so I am rather looking forward to getting through this patch.  When we do hit the real trades the wind is a steady 18 - 25 knots and we'll fly.  Nearly 1000 miles down already yay! 

Discovered what the big Holy Spirit bird is, it flies eerily around the boat in the moonlight fluttering down to the sea and occasionally making weird sounds.  It's a swallowtail gull, the only nocturnal gull in the world, feeds on luminous squid which are attracted to our nav lights. Alistair says does that change my opinion of God. 

The newish moon is immensely bright so when it waxes full we'll be able to read in the cockpit. It should be full when we reach the Marquesas to illuminate the reefs I hope.  Many are uncharted so you need a good look out. 

Eating extremely well wolfing through our fresh stuff before it rots.  

The boat was sailing so smoothly we did a load in the washing machine, we're just SO money super yacht….we didn't lose any sheets over board though Harry looked rather bashful helming with the knicker tree in his face.  The number of clothes pegs denotes wind speed on the  Beaufort scale.

Must stop rambling on and wash up the porridge pan, its a hard life on the ocean wave!