The battle of the freezer has been won.  I still have to check neurotically every 5 minutes to check that Bob hasn’t switched it off but blame for the generator’s sluggish behaviour has been shifted to an incapacitated capacitor.  (Bob is a great diagnostician).  My victory celebration included slipping lentils into last nights lamb curry.  Mmm for us girls but not so mmm for Bob.  We intend to mail ahead to the boatyard in the Cape Verdes to see if they can lay their hands on the right capacitor but if the response is like any other countries at this latitude we may just have to live on tender hooks. (Note all these nautical expressions that are taking over my vocabulary after several days at sea).

We continue to chug along steadily with approximately two reefs in the mainsail, a slightly rolled jib, in winds averaging 25 knots, averaging just over 6 knots covering 151 miles yesterday (and now in the right direction) and are settling into the tilting and unexpected twists and turns of life on the ocean.  Even getting dressed can prove difficult amongst the upheaval which must explain why Bob ended up with his underpants on back to front, discovered at an inconvenient moment.

A fabulous pod of dolphins joined us for a while doing synchronised leaping through the waves, except for one chap who had no balance at all and seemed to flip and belly flop causing much hilarity.  These dolphins seem much smaller and lighter coloured than the ones we met in Portugal.  Do dolphins come in different varieties?

Haley has discovered a whole new book of knots in Bob’s library so the deck is festooned with turk’s heads, tails and heavens knows what. We are wondering if it is possible to create some reindeer and angels as we continue merrily on our way on the countdown to Christmas.