Boat position 25.02.74N 22.25.36W  Estimated run today 144 NM

 

Thankfully no great excitements so far today – sadly no dolphins spotted, and no flying fish as yet.  We have seen two sea birds – we think one might be a storm petrel sort of swallow like – and the other slightly bigger – how do they sleep I wonder so far from anywhere – the bigger one does amazing acrobatics in the air – wish I’d brought a bird book! 

 

It is difficult enough typing with the laptop on the chart table as the boat lurches from side to side and trying to stop everything going flying, but trying to cook and even eat meals is extremely awkward!  This morning I did bacon and eggs for breakfast holding onto two pans at once and keeping an eye on the bread rolls heating up in the oven.  Impossible to eat on plates so I made bacon and egg butties.  I successfully made the first batch of yoghurt yesterday – really easy, just mixed up the culture and dried milk powder and added water and put it in a sort of wide mouth thermos flask for the day.  No one feels like yoghurt for breakfast at the moment as they are very into porridge with bananas (so glad we didn’t buy the huge thing of green bananas Stephen wanted to hang from the stern as the six we did buy green have all ripened at the same time).  Granny Foot’s pressure cooker even without the vital pressure weight has been a godsend as I’ve been cooking everything as ‘one pot wonders’ in there and it is so quick with the screwed on lid even without full pressure.  Today I cooked a chicken in their and made it into coronation chicken with some of my yoghurt and we had it for lunch stuffed into pitta breads with lettuce.  The first loaf of bread has just come out of the oven and smells good.  I certainly couldn’t cope with trying out anything complicated and we eat all our meals in the new naff melamine bowls with a fork,  and would you believe it we have hardly touched a drop of alcohol ! 

 

Every day the weather is getting a bit warmer and without this wind it would be too hot – we still have 20-25 knots NE – I’m pretty sure these are the trade winds now – puffy little white clouds – wonderful sunsets and sunrises.  I still hate the nights everything on the boat creeks and the pans in the cupboard rattle in the swell.

 

Sailing along at 6+knots with headsail boomed out and travelling along at 150 to the apparent wind.  Comfortable, if a little rolly.  Wonderful views from the crest of the waves of ...sea!