38:13.6N 10:02.4W

All going well on our first evening at sea, Lucie and Bilal are doing a double act on the sweet potato and lentil curry so I am looking forward to delicious supper later.

We had a bit of an Orca Alarm not long after leaving Cascais when Lucie spotted a few fins coming way. We were sailing at the time and got the engine on, ready to go astern if necessary which is the latest advice......but they turned out to be dolphins who didn’t even want to come and play. If you are puzzled why I am talking about orcas, there have been a number of attacks on yachts and small boats over the last 18 months with damage done to rudders which can be a showstopper – see www.orcaiberica.org  At one level we had hoped to have an “encounter” with these lovely creatures, but without the damage. We are now outside the distance from the coast where most attacks have happened so should be safe.

We rigged Marie Antoinette, the self steering, and had a decent sail for a couple of hours but have since been motoring in calm seas through the anti cyclone, expecting winds to pick up tomorrow. There has been a fair bit of merchant shipping , including one particularly smoky mega container ship polluting the sky, but are now clear of the main lanes.

We only have satellite signal now so blog updates will be just once or twice a day.