­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­37:01.238 N  076:20.604 W

12/05/10  12:30

I managed to sleep a bit.  Just before I gave up and got we  had a course change which allowed the pole to be dropped and now we’re sailing upright with no rolling and very little list.  It was good for a shower. Its sunny and I’m glad to say warmer than its been. The boat speed is over 6 knots and the wind SW Force 4.

18:00

Very pleasant afternoon sail, the wind’s gone WSW Force five and at the moment it looks like a very early ETA.  Less than 70 miles to go.

I’ve just decided to slow down to  5 knots so we don’t get there too early.

We’re 15 miles off shore and have  been invaded by a phalanx of flies and one tired butterfly. Excuse me while I reach for the Baygon imported all the way from Greece, and on the boat for three years.

Instead of a sunset we’re getting thunderstorms on the horizon.  The rain is only 4 miles away. 

20:00

We kept reefing and the boat speed didn’t decrease. Finally we put all the sail away as we were hit with 44 knot wind gusts and surrounded by lightening. Just as we were having dinner. Very dramatic.

13/05/10   01:00

The rain continued and by 11pm we were being headed.  When I came on watch at midnight Steve was motoring at 5 ½ knots into a North Wind.  The thunder storms continued and we were deluged with tropical rain.  I slowed the boat to 2.5 knots ...there’s current against us..as the visibility became non existent.  The radar was just a big squall blob.  We’re only a few miles from the harbour approach channel and although it is well buoyed, we don’t know what the vis will be like when we get there and I would prefer to creep along until first light.  As I write this the rain seems to have passed over us, for the moment at least.

 08:00 

We eventually arrived at the approach channel just as it was beginning to get light, the rain remained but the vis improved  and we were able to proceed  normally.  It’s quite a long approach to Hampton and we still have 10 miles to go.  We’re currently sailing at 9 knots.  The weather is resolutely English.

09:00

We’re moored on the t-dock of the Hampton Yacht Club which was arranged by Carolyn who sailed with  of the Millennium Odyssey 12 years ago. She did one leg on COMPANY before Robby joined us.  She wasn’t here to greet us but is flying  in from Nantucket for the weekend.  Hampton is her home town.

There is some hope of better weather tomorrow.