We passed a big milestone this morning: less than 2,000 miles to go! Weather permitting, we plan to celebrate with steak and potatoes for supper tonight.

The wind did pick up last night, and after a bit of skirmishing overnight has come round enough that at present we are broad reaching at around 6kts towards the west, with Mr Windy P at the helm. K discovered this morning, as she fell out of her bunk on a particularly big swell, that it’s time to rig the lee cloths.

It’s overcast today so there’s no working on the suntans â€�" but it’s warm and quite muggy. Life in the Tropics and the Trade winds!

It feels good to have reached the Trades. It was pretty much like sailing over a line �" suddenly we were there. Getting down to them has proven to be a fair challenge and not what was expected, given that various depressions seemed to be tracking further south than normal and the Azores High was not in position.

Excitements in the last day: a brief visit from another pod of dolphins, and a flying fish landing on the breakfast table this morning beside the porridge (puts a new spin on herrings in oatmeal). Otherwise, a very successful domestic day, making enough water for boat laundry and showers for all, as well as filling the tanks.

Bibi made bread, and there was a chicken, leek and pepper Thai curry for supper. The fresh food is holding out well; the soft stuff is mostly gone (spot the leeks and peppers?) but we still have four days-worth of fresh vacuum-packed meat and a huge supply of onions, oranges, cabbages and butternut squash, so no fears of scurvy yet.

Distance run in the last 24 hours: 118 nautical miles

Cumulative distance run since ARC start: 977 nautical miles