Monday 25th April

Not much is happening; sea state is slight and we are now under engine. We have seen loads of turtles and Portuguese men o war. The wind has pushed us a little closer to the North African shore and we are now only 90 miles north of it, which puts me in a bit of a dilemma. Struggling with the decision of whether to have the AIS on or off. I am not sure if its better to advertise where we are or to stay dark. On the one hand, I want the tankers to know we are here but on the other hand the people smugglers would really like our boat. I've had it on at night, or when an AIS target comes into view on the screen. I think this is the best option I can come up with.
Jerry has made a full recovery and has been chatting away all day. He is a good asset to have on board although its nice to have some peace at times. He's been great repairing the stacker-pack sail system, as 4 of the key points holding the lazy jacks had parted and we couldn't drop the sail without it falling all over the deck. Night sails are working really well and I think we will get to Sardinia early. We are eating well and sleeping well too. We showered on the aft, using the solar shower and felt a lot better afterwards. The weather forecasts have been spot on and on the morning of the 26th, as they said it would, the wind turned against us. So half way across the southern coast of Sardinia we pulled into the most beautiful little marina, at Teulada at 1030. We took a taxi to the fuel station and filled our jerry cans and on our return, did all the boat jobs which had to be done by 1155. Then, unfortunately, the little bar opened and guess what happened then!