Most of the time one day is like another on board Island Wanderer; there is no distinction between weekdays and weekends since the same tasks have to be completed every day. However Friday night was celebrated in style: After narrowly missing out on victory in the first round of the Friday night pub quiz (hosted by one boat over the SSB radio), through lack of knowledge of the actors in the film ‘Jaws’, we cheered ourselves up by hosting a late night sail-in movie; We sat under the stars making reasonable headway watching Die Hard projected onto the mainsail!

 

Other than that the past 24 hours has been a little slow and mundane due to a lack of wind. The washing has been done – the boat is currently dressed overall with completely unrecognisable flags, a sight not quite in keeping with the high standards of culinary delights and accommodation we have grown accustomed too – standards are slipping!

 

On the plus side Derek is now taking wagers on whether the hanging fruit racks above his bunk will be finally emptied before the halfway point. With the current winds its looking likely and will certainly be an excuse for celebrations.

 

The light airs have also given plenty of opportunity for the bored techno-sailors to discuss and experiment with the question ‘How many different ways can we find to rig and fly a gennaker’? Pleasingly we have flown it all day like a symmetrical spinnaker off the pole and the results have been very encouraging, albeit we are travelling in the wrong direction! So the big decision now is when do we gybe over and hopefully head somewhere near St Lucia. Current thinking is tonight and is quite exciting for us. The sailors amongst you will appreciate that it is quite remarkable that we haven’t touched the mainsheet for at least 4 days!

 

Wildlife has been a little scarce over the last day or so with just many flying fish, some birds and nothing else to amuse us. With the gennaker flying, fishing hasn’t been an option since the entire reel of line would have gone before we are able to turn and stop the boat.

 

Other than that all is well, our GPS is showing 1829 miles to St Lucia and it’s warm and sunny, so life could be worse.

 

Love to our families and everyone following us.

 

The crew...