We should be getting to Richards Bay, as is our tradition, in the wee hours tomorrow (Monday) morning - HURRAH.

The Indian Ocean has lived up to its reputation being changeable (what an understatement) and we have had several sense of humour failures over the past few days, particular over putting up the Parasailor 3 times (no mean feat for only two of us on foredeck wrestling with the pole etc, its a bit like trying to stand up and operate on the back of a trick pony) only to have to take the damn thing down not more than an hour later. ARRGHHH.

We've been eating incredibly well on this passage - lots of salads, curries and even a few gourmet mini-pizzas today for lunch. We've found the absence of a freezer on board is not a handicap at all, and the fridge space more than meets our needs. We've also been surprised by how much water we have left in our tank - over 400 litres left after over a week at sea; not bad.

We have slowed down in the last few days (thanks to light winds and the current not being so favourable) so had to put the engine a lot, particularly as there were worries about a change in wind direction re the current around Richards Bay. Fortunately that now does not seem to be an issue for us, although the winds could be in the uppers 20s when we get there. The winds have got up a little now, and although we are still not making great speed, Matilda likes these conditions a whole lot more that light winds up her rear end.

We forgot to mention in the last blog that we have once again broken our all time 24 hour distance record a few days ago (ably assisted by favourable current off Madagascar) achieving 191 nautical miles - go Matilda! Not bad going for a lead keeled 20 year old boat. Eat our wake...