Malua is at 12:40.39N 54:12.25W at 1200 UTC on 9/12/2012

Distance covered 2593

Distance to go 319

Daily run 161nm

The wins sure came as did the rain and the ugly sea.  The morning was just Ok with clouds and increasing wind.  By night fall we knew it was going to be a horrid night.  The wind veered from the east to the north then back again to the south.  The wind had now gone up to over 25 knots.  Malua was surfing down the swells at 10 knots.  The genoa was furled and we where just staying on track.  It meant constant attention to the course or we would gybe which we did eventually.  The autopilot could not cope with trying to keep its course,  The off course alarm went off and Piers attended to that but the wind and waves had their way and over came the boom.  The boom preventer snapped with a bang.  I was out of my bunk in a flash at the wheel but could see nothing in the bitch blackness and the driving rain. I started the engine to try and get us back on course but the wind was pushing us off course.  The boat was bucking like a horse but eventually we put a reef in the main, got all the lines squared away and tidy on deck.  The rain continued to pelt down from the stern so we had to keep the conpanion way close.

After a while I gybed round again and we where back on course with Barbados less than a day away.

It was a long night that I sat at the captains chair guiding the boat down the swell and on the correct course but eventually the sun came up but the clouds and rain continues.  I retired to my bunk and a well earned rest.

The sun is now out, the swell is still the same and the rain has gone.  We have a single reef in the main and the staysail pulled tight with the bow pointing directly at Bridgetown.

Sundancer also had a bad night while Charm Offensive had their best run of the crossing – more than 200 nm.  It helps to have four sailors on board.

A magical moment on Malua