Position 14.55,-54.87 at 10:50 GMT
350 miles to go. ETA Martinique at 5 knots 05:56 15th Dec
Wind E 5

In the trade winds proper now. Wind waxes and wains from 15 knots to 25 knots, biggish sea. We have up full jib and 2 reefs in the main. Very comfortable, no chaffing meeting 6 knot average with odd bursts of 10 knots. With a racing crew you could have the full rig plus spinnaker up the whole time. Exciting just to think about!

Squalls and rain appear in the afternoon. More relaxed at getting the benefits of the rain now we know wind only goes up 5 to 10 knots.

Not far to go now. Soon be out of international waters etc.

David

Position 14.34,-52.22 at 10:03 GMT
504 miles to go.  ETA at 5kn 12:03 (midday) 15th Dec
Wind E 5.

Two boats in sight most of yesterday and a few more on the radio close by.  T Rex is an ARC boat and he is catching fish like the dorado with his 5 inch lure system.  Norwegian boat not in the ARC but following same route.  The male crew on that boat they tell us are in boxer shorts only!  Basjoc is a dutch singlehander and he doesn’t have any clothes on, or so he says.  Trust that isn’t too much information

A few squalls to move around to avoid the extra wind and rain otherwise another easy day’s sailing with good mileage covered – 154 by GPS.

David

Position 14.38,-49.58 at 10:02 GMT
658 miles to go.  ETA at 5 knots 18:42 15th Dec.
Wind E force 5/6

Yesterday we couldn’t quite summon up the energy to do anything significant.  It was hot and Giselle was going plenty well enough under main and jib.  So we changed the boat time.  Now at GMT-3.  Caribbean is at GMT-4 which we will change to on arrival.  Means this note will be a little later in the day for you.

David

Position 14.27,-46.91 at 08:39 GMT
813 miles to go. ETA at 5 kn 00:24 16th Dec.
Wind NE 5.

Lighter winds yesterday and we had up the reacher. The previous owner had added “bloudy” in front of the word reacher on the bag. Not her favourite sail! It is a masthead 170% overlap light genoa. Kept us going at 6knots all day in 8 to 11 knots of wind.

David

Position 14.33,-44.45. 957 miles togo.
ETA 05:11 16th Dec at 5kn.
Wind NNE 4.

We started the day motoring which means there is any amount of fresh water from the water maker. The boat, crew and clothes got a good clean! Salt crystals build up fast around the boat making everything sticky so great to get rid of them. Then we tried sailing in 5 to 8 knots of wind from just forward of the beam. With the flat sea this was heaven, 4 knots and with the stronger current we had found well over 5 knots on the GPS. Cooling breeze, light enough to open hatches and have it cool below. Just a few small puffy clouds to decorate the sky I think our best sailing day yet.

And now to the big issue. Reaching halfway meant a celebratory whisky was in order. Out came the Springbank, a kind gift from Chris Hall. I have to report it doesn’t quite taste as good at 27’C. So here is the big issue. Should I only carry cask strength whiskies so that water from the fridge will achieve the correct temperature. Should I throw the vegetables out of the fridge and keep a range of whiskies in there instead or should I go American and have ice in malt whisky. Suggestions please.

David

Position 14.20,-42.12.  1093 miles to go. Just Halfway.
ETA at 5kn 08:20 16th Dec
Wind now Force 1 from south.

By staying in the cloudy trough area yesterday we managed to keep 15-20knots of wind all day, rather than the 5 knot from the wider weather forecast.  The penalty was finally getting “convective squalls” as HERB called them.  They show up well on the radar but always seem to be chasing you so you zig zag your way forward.

Having to motor at the moment but we have lots lined up for the motoring day.  Should get wind again tomorrow.

Still getting Storm petrels and Shearwaters!  Probably more now than when closer to Cape Verde.

David

Position 14.84,-39.62. 1237 miles togo
ETA at 5 kn 12:58 16th Dec.
Wind E 4. Still good speeds, no light winds yet.

We are well past the 1/4 and the 1/3 distance milestones and should reach the halfway one tomorrow. Eaten the last of the fresh fruit from Cape Verde but still got some fresh veg left.

Seen our first group of dolphins. Different type more mature behaviour than the common dolphins. Not so much jumping out of the water etc.

Still got ARC boats around us. L’Equilibre and Mathimar 2 are now behind us and to the north.

Managing to keep the average up but has required a bit more concentration. To be more precise Mary has had to concentrate harder as the tricky bits have been on her watch. Many thanks Mary.

David

Position 15.2,-37.22 at 08:53 GMT.
1376 miles to Martinique. ETA 17:01 16th Dec at 5 knots.

We are amongst some ARC boats. We could we the Nav lights of one all night and another on the AIS about 10 miles North. More heard on the radio which must be within about 20 miles. The weather makes this the logical place to come to avoid a high pressure ridge.

Did expect some mild short lived squalls but we got one that lasted 6 hours and stayed at 25 to 35 knots. It was even cold on deck! Wind still with us. Sky is clear above so expect the wind will soon be back to the forecast 10-15 knots. Strong winds has pushed up the boat speed so another plus 6 knot average day. 157 miles.

David

Position 15.31,-34.45 at 08:14 GMT
1536 miles to Martinique. ETA at 5 knots 00:29 17th Dec.
Wind ESE 4/5

Wind held up very well and the sea has been reasonably smooth so good progress. Average just above 6 knots and not much current in that number. We put effort into keeping the boat going fast as Saturday may be a slow day or just a motoring day!

It is surprising hard to stay in the current. It is worth 0.5 knot when you are in. We found a 10 mile wide band at 15N and now one at 15.33N. There was some adverse current between.

David

Position 14.71,-31.93 at 08:12 GMT
Wind ESE 3. ETA at 5 knots 06:01 17th Dec. 1684 miles to go.

Up till now we have had some cloud cover and some wind. Yesterday there was little of either so it was really hot on the boat. Sea is 27’C so no cooling from there either. Pause for sympathy! I don’t hear any, I will continue. So once we had the pink spinnaker up, it was onto reading books. I’m on Bill Bryson’s, A short history of nearly everything. It has lots of trivia and cameos about the people that made the discoveries. Brings the history alive. Two bits in about an ancestor on my mother’s side – William Herschel. I was aware than he had discovered Uranus but not that he wanted to call it George after the reigning British Monarch in 1781, luckily he was overruled. He also gave asteroids their name having worked out their size.

We had a pair of great shearwaters with us for most of the afternoon yesterday and this morning we have had an all white heron like bird, I think a little egret.

Expecting the lighter winds to persist until Sunday.

David