The sudden heel of the boat and shuddering jib in a gust woke me at the end of my off watch Thursday morning, but by the time I got into the cockpit for my deck watch, the wind was light+ from the south, and the boat was pointed to Bermuda, not the T&C. Robin reported that some low marine layer clouds had gusty winds under them - a harbinger of morning squalls to come as the ocean warms up, Robin had considered tacking, given our course, but didn't want to disturb my rest.

So I tacked first thing on my watch, and now the boat was pointed towards Beaufort. Also not in our travel plans. At least, I consoled myself, the boat was not going very fast in the wrong direction. But within an hour, the wind shifted and freshened just a little, so we tacked back to starboard again and lay a course south southwest in a generally good direction. Except for an hour this morning and a dodging maneuver Wednesday for a bulk carrier that would neither give way nor answer the radio, this has been a one tack trio since leaving Ambrose. And that is a lucky thing.

The wind freshened all day, and by mid afternoon we were double reefed again, and bashing into an unusual ocean chop throwing spray on deck and soaking me as the bow dove into a wave as I tied in the second reef.

We are finishing up the last of the Nyack baguettes, so I made bread today.

Not much life in this stretch of sea - just sargasso weed and a few longtails. Robin fried up the flying fish that landed on deck with breakfast. No ships passed in sight today, and the nearest land is Bermuda, some 250 miles east of us.

I served Italian sausages with braised cabbage and freshly baked flatbread for dinner today, with a side salad of fennel, grapefruit, and olives.

And now, on the midnight watch, the Mabel Rose is on a comfortable beat south again, with smooth seas and a force 4 breeze. We are leaving Bermuda behind us to port. The weather forecasts show us sailing into a ridge of high pressure and calm winds by Friday evening.