Published: 10 March 2016

It's been a quiet day onbosrd. The seas eventually moderated this morning and the sun came out briefly, but of course, we now have the wind in the wrong direction which is taking us more south than we care to sail right now. We are still slightly north of our rhumb line though, so we have some wiggle room. One of the highlights of our days at sea is our daily contact with the other WARC yachts via the midday and evening SSB radio net broadcasts. Although we haven't seen another yacht or the comforting lights of another yacht in days now, It's always lovely to hear the familiar voices out there and know that we're not alone is this huge ocean. Add to that a splash of humour during the evening net like Elaine indicating, when prompted, that the only wild life she's seen today is "Roy running around the deck" and the day ends with laughter.

Published: 10 March 2016

A little after 0900 this morning we crossed the 2000NM line - We're a third of the way - a definite cause for celebrations. Elaine cooked up a hearty full Irish breakfast including freshly baked soda bread to mark the occasion.

We definitely had to rely on our sunny dispositions though, as we never saw the actual sun once throughout the day. From a weather perspective, it was a dreary, overcast day indeed with a rather large swell on the beam that continues to make for an uncomfortable ride. The wind, however, is keeping us sailing in the right direction.

To pass the time Elaine baked a Banana Bread with the last of the bananas. A week into our passage and we still have some fresh fruit and vegetables so, all things considered, life is good!

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Published: 09 March 2016

Today was a relatively lazy day as we caught up on some lost sleep that was missed last night due to sail changes that had to be made during the night. it occurred to Elaine, while both her and Roy lounged around in pjs on the saloon bed (which we make up for our passages) or in the cockpit, passing the day away reading and snacking between meals, that this could be considered just one endless slumber party. We did, however reach a milestone today - the quarter way mark - and we expect to meet the 2000NM line tomorrow morning which will definitely be cause for celebrations. And, finally, we solved the mystery of some very strange lights we've seen over the horizon for the past two nights. Ar first we thought it was the moon rising, but that was in the wrong direction. Then we thought it might be a cruise ship, but decided that would be rather odd, given the distance we are from civilisation. Well, tonight we discovered that they are huge Chinese fishing vessels trawling with huge fishing nets. I guess nothing is sacred any more! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Published: 07 March 2016

After our first leg from St Lucia to Santa Marta Keenan asked: "So what do the two of you do all day floating out there for days?" Well, the short answer is that we sail the yacht 24/7. Since he is a pilot we told him it would be like flying an aeroplane non-stop for days. Someone has to be on watch round the clock. For us that means 3 hour watches at night, a 2 hour overlap watch at sunrise and sunset to do any sail changes that are needed as well as have our breakfast and dinner together, then Roy does a 4 hour morning watch as he enjoys an afternoon nap while Elaine does the afternoon watch allowing her to go back to bed in the morning when she comes of her early morning watch. Of course, this means that there are mornings when Roy finds Elaine dressed with all her cloths on inside out - trying to get dressed in the dark so as not to ruin one's night vision has its disadvantages!