Nicky has done really well. He doesn't seem to mind the confined space and we have managed to keep him occupied well. Thank goodness for Lego! He got a gift of a Lego Toolo helicopter (the type that screws together) for this crossing and spent several hours busy with the parts today. We also did face painting - I made Nicky into a sea dragon and he painted my face with blue stripes. Another thing he enjoys is towing objects like the sea dragon we carved out of a swim noodle - it hops along on a rope behind the boat and you can make it jump and splash. Coloring (in exhaustive detail) is another favorite. On the first full day of our crossing we hit a calm and went for a swim in kilometer-deep water. Nicky didn't hesitate: he pulled on his swim wings, climbed down our swim ladder, and started paddling around! That also served to cool us down as it has been very hot. Today we filled up his small inflatable pool with seawater in the cockpit for him to splash in.

Nicky sleeps through the night well but he has been waking up early and joining whichever one of us who is on dawn watch in the cockpit. He curls up there with his pillow and blanket and usually falls back asleep quickly. This is our second crossing of 3 nights and it gives me some confidence that he will also be fine on longer passages like the 5+ days it will take to reach Malta later. We have not had any rough weather yet (aside from the short stretch in the Strait of Messina) so in that respect it has been easy to get into the rhythm of offshore passages and get our sea legs (no seasickness yet for any of us thankfully). Let's hope our luck holds out!