What a variable passage it's been. This is the most squally passage we've had yet heading North up the Brazil coast. I guess we know why the Amazon is green! We've had relatively calm seas, but we get 10-12kts and nice sailing, then a HUGE squall comes through with 25-35kts and rain for a half hour or so, then 6-8kts of wind for an hour or so, then it repeats. We're constantly surrounded by squalls and cumulonimbus clouds on all sides, breaking up an otherwise relatively nice day. It's tiring for captain and crew, as it's sail up, sail down, motor on... repeat for day and night. I've tried leaving the main up double reefed, but it just bangs around something awful when the wind dies. Last night I decided we all need rest so we took the main down at midnight and just motored with the Jib double reefed. It's exciting, but we can't wait to get the hook down in a couple of days! We had a solid strike on the fishing line yesterday, which lifted our spirits as it looked as though we might land a very large Wahoo, which would be delicious! However it turned out to be a 48" barracuda with a mouth full of teeth, so we threw it back. It was an unusual catch in 7000ft of blue water, but big fun anyway!