It’s the evening of our second day at sea and, so far, it has been magical. The seas have been calm but the wind a little too light. We’ve been trying several downwind sail set-ups – goosewinging the headsails, the main on preventer with a poled-out genoa or conventional set up depending on whether the wind is fully behind us or abaft of the beam. Jonathan seems to spend a lot of time on the foredeck fiddling with ropes. Generally, we seem to be making good progress although, as one of the smallest mono-hulls in the fleet, it’s inevitable that we will fall behind.
Last night the sunset gave way to a magnificent night sky lit by a waxing moon, bright stars and the milky way with Mars, Saturn, Venus and Jupiter all visible. I was treated to a show of shooting stars on my watch and today broke with a wonderful sunrise. Jonathan spotted a whale but I missed it as I was down below making soda bread. We have settled into our life on the ocean.
Winds are predicted to increase over the next few days which will be great for sailing. However, the big lows and storms currently over the north Atlantic will send us some very big swell, up to 3.5 m over the next few days. It will not be so pleasant and breadmaking activities may be put on hold!