Had our half-way party yesterday – warm champagne and canapés, but without the canapés.

We are in the middle of a tropical wave – not one of those things which laps on the palm-fringed beaches, but an area of storms and squalls which seems to be unsportingly moving at the same pace as us and therefore our constant companion.  Last night we had fairly constant winds of 30 – 40 knots and a high of 55 knots, and very rolly seas.   Quite a bouncy ride.  The boat mostly survived except that in reducing sail we got a tear in the mainsail so we’re now having to make do with just a small part of it out.

But we’re making good progress towards St Lucia, despite (or maybe because of) the squalls.   Should hit the 1,000 miles left to go tomorrow evening.

For some reason, Andrew is reading Life of Pi, which for those who haven’t read it is about a boy who is shipwrecked and spends many weeks in a liferaft (with a tiger called Richard Parker…).  Is he preparing himself?  And who will be the tiger?