Dear Family and Friends,

 

Its grey and has been raining for 24 hours. We may be crossing the inter-tropical convergence zone where the southern weather systems meet the northern ones. Squalls and gusts of wind have been interspersed with very light winds so keeping the boat going is a constant adjustment of sails and course. With about 2700 miles to go we have a general course but largely it is where the wind allows us to make a good speed and course and that varies greatly. And this in turn affects the time it will take to make the passage. We must sail as much as possible, so it means we do spend time bobbing around making slow speeds. We watched the approaching squalls on radar, pink blotches on the screen forming, dissolving and re forming, with an eye to the gusts of wind that accompany them.

 

Even this far away from the Galapagos islands, we were accompanied by seabirds most of last night, wheeling around the boat, flying into strong head winds, their wingspan may be 4-5’, calling in a high whistle or a curious clinking sound. We are not sure what these night time feeders where looking for as they dove toward the sea, but this morning we had 3 baby squid washed up on deck so perhaps it was these. Another small black bird with a white flash on its tail, and similar to a swift, has joined us for the last two evenings until dusk, flying so low over the sea, lowering their legs and appearing to walk on water, perhaps they are after insects as they don’t dive into the water. These small birds are 2-300 miles from land, an astounding journey in itself but they must do this regularly.

 

All well, if you have a moment we would love to hear your news, it makes our day!

 

All our best,

 

Lynne and Alan