For the last 7 days we have been trapped in a Low pressure system which has brought us everything we didn't want! Rain, high winds 28+ knots from the NE, heavy cloud and a very rough sea. We were having to drive hard into the wind this made for a rough old ride. Every time we got a weather update the centre of the system appeared to be sat on our stern. But yesterday with 3 reefs in the main and a heavily reefed Genoa we eventually broke free and had a great sail last night. We were making 8 knots most of the night and the seas soon began to calm. We awoke this morning to strong sunshine and steady winds. We eased the sails and are making good progress for Trinidad - 530 miles togo. In the last 24 hours we recorded 179 miles and so are on track to arrive Saturday 31 Jan. With this news spirits are high and the long awaited shower, cold beer, and washing machine (we each have different priorities) seems really close. Of course things can still change but we have made a reservation fro a berth at the best marina in Chagaramus - Crews Inn as we felt we needed some pampering having left CapeTown on 19 Dec. There are lots of stories to tell and we will write up the diary on the website once we have got ourselves established. We received a copy of the comments from the blog from South Africa and reading them over the last couple of days was a real boost. Thank you so much for posting them.

Well that's all for now. We put our clocks back another hour tonight as we have made a further 15 deg West. This means double happy hour so a couple of beers need to go in the fridge!

Regards to all from the crew of Oceans Dream.