We may be at sea but standards are there to be maintained. Herei we are some 200 miles on our passage enjoying a (very small as we’re driving) glass of red and some canapés before tucking in to a mammoth portion of lamb tagine and cous cous.

Today has been one of disappointingly light NE winds making for slow progress at around 3 knots. We have opted to avoid motoring for now to preserve diesel reserves (we have 340L and use around 2L/hr so have enough to motor for 6-7 days at a push. The forecast is showing mainly light winds so we need to be conservative for now and rely on silent and free wind power as much as we can. Anyway we call ourselves sailors!

The evening contained some amusement when we needed to check with the Master of a 290m cargo vessel that he had seen us. After he failed to respond to our calls on VHF we sent a “wake up now” message via DSC radio and were eventually relieved with a monosyllabic “Noted” response. 5 minutes later it seems the captain was called and he came on the radio for a chat and he seemed gobsmacked to learn in response to his friendly questions that this small Yacht with 4 aboard was headed for the Azores. He was very concerned to check we had enough food and water. Lots of “OMG’s” from the captain.

The evening has brought pretty steady ENE wind 8-10 knots so we are dead downwind with a pokes out Genoa doing 3.5-4 knots. Slow buts it’s progress and the motor is off. Tow generator in action to top up the batteries.