500 TO GO

Wednesday 11th July - Day 20 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC Position: 39 00.61�'N 39 43.95�'W Lati's current speed: 5.4 knots course: 95 degrees true Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 521 Nautical Miles sailed from Virgin Islands: 2119.7 Nautical miles sailed in last 24 hours :136 :)

Today is celebration day �- we�'ll hit the 500 to go and a glass of red wine awaits. A steak or a roast would be nice now the weather is cool. Bill did put a line out yesterday but no luck. So one of the first meals in the Azores will involve meat I�'m sure. I wasn�'t going to talk about food this time but it�'s cropped up again�....

The North Atlantic �- after trade wind sailing mostly in the southern hemisphere, it feels different. I think of all those seafarers before us. The Vikings, the Spaniards, pirates and of course Captain Cook. The ocean has been fairly empty to us apart from a few ships in the distance so it is hard to imagine the number of boats that have traversed this ocean. It looks remote, big and never ending. Lati has just slowed down a little and we are expecting the winds to begin dying down as we head closer to the Azores. For 5 days, we�'ve had up the same rig �- 2 reefs in the main and the small jib on the port side. The ocean is less lively so it wont be long until Capn Underpants will put up more sail to keep us moving. We still hesitate to give an ETA as we know how things change out here.

I finished reading the original version of Blue Lagoon. So different to the movie! Some of it was a bit fanciful eg she thought the woods gave her the baby and didn�'t know it came out of her own body! I loved the language in it though especially the old Irish sailor that was ship wrecked with them. (he died after discovering a keg of rum on the island.) I am now deciding between Jane Austen�'s �'Emma�' or the Confessions of Fanny Hill. These books in the original version I was able to download for free before we left. (including Captain Cook) I have also read some of The Voyage of the Snark. It�'s good to have time to read books I normally wouldn�'t read.

The other exciting news on Lati is �- we had a BATH yesterday with warm water (boiled in the kettle) and I washed my hair. Just wonderful�...My hair wasn�'t too bad actually after 20 days without washing. All due to the wonderful leave in conditioner I used, the product name yet to be revealed! I am still hoping for sponsorship. Ha!

We have been discussing Lati�'s future plans. As it will be so late by the time we get into the Med, we would really like to leave her there this European winter and come back next Spring. This would give us 6 months or more to cruise the Med and I would at last see the places I have dreamed about �- The Greek islands, Turkey etc.

SATELLITE PHONE SMS MESSAGES: Just received an sms from my brother Paul �- he was the one who sent the exciting news re Cadel in the Tour de France. Both Bill and Paul are mad keen cyclists so thanks Paul! But remember when you send an sms to our sat phone, the 160 charcters INCLUDE our address.That�'s why the end of your messages are often chopped off. Vashti is the only one who seems to successfully send and receive sms messages direct to her mobile phone. It�'s an Iphone, maybe that�'s why. I have sent messages to other mobile phones without success. We still get charged. Thanks iridium! Even though we are careful we�'ve churned through the minutes �- expensive business the satellite phone but well worth it. I would have gone crazy without communication on this long voyage. If you would like to send us a message (we receive for FREE) contact Vashti via my facebook Linda Frylink Anderson. It�'s so exciting getting mail and messages �- thanks everyone!