Some call it the "Drake Lake" - the rare occasion when you cross the Drake Passage in good weather. Whilst this wasn't the calmest crossing I have had it qualifies as a "Drake Lake".

We have had two very nice days; Saturday was a great sailing day with about 15 knots of breeze on the beam allowing us to sail all day through until Sunday morning with full sail, Sunday was a quiet day and we have been motoring and motor/sailing since. It was so warm on deck in the Sun (almost T-shirts) that Magnus was inspired to do some laundry which dried very quickly in the dry air. It felt warm even though the peak temperature was around 3 Centigrade.

Thomas and I took advantage of the clement conditions to sit outside with our cameras photographing the birds around the boat. I was trying to get good shots of the Prions so that I could identify them (Fairy Prions and Thin billed Prions and one other that I am unsure of). We are seeing whales more regularly now and have passed some pods of eight or so animals. I saw my first Humpbacks of the season at dinner time last night.

We are now about 70 miles north of Boyd Straight and provided that the horizon is clear should sight Smith Island soon as its peaks rise to 6900 feet (2090 metres). Smith Island is the western side of the Boyd Straight, the eastern side is Snow island which is described on the chart as 'low & inconspic'; you could hardly get two more contrasting islands forming a straight.