After our swim last night everyone was ready for a drink
and some delicious Foccacia and Jamon nibbles. Following this Yoyo cooked a
sterling three course meal of gazpacho, chicken and lamb koftas with quinoa and
baked apples for pudding. The cooking standard is getting higher by the day!
We kept motoring until about 10pm when the wind began to
pick up. Victoria, Sam and I did the shift from 10 until 1am and saw some
amazing dolphins swimming in the phosphorescence - very difficult to
describe such a spectacle! They stayed near the boat for a long time,
ducking and diving and hunting their supper!
At midnight Nick came on shift, and we sung him a happy
birthday - he had a very enjoyable early morning birthday sail and saw yet more
dolphins. The wind continued at a steady 10-12 knots for most of the night.
There was considerable cloud cover and by dawn it began to rain. The wind died
and we switched the motor on for about an hour at 10am. Nick jumped at
the reduced speed of the boat to get his fishing rod out once again -
Haig said it would be his lucky birthday day and he would catch a fish. Sure
enough, about an hour in, the reel went at the stern of the boat, and Nick
reeled in a large tuna. This called for some more fresh sashimi with soy and
wasabi. Meanwhile Yoyo and I baked a seed loaf, just a casual day aboard
Valhalla! Yoyo did a super job of gutting the tuna which awaits in the galley
for our supper tonight. The weather is cloudy with little wind - a perfect
opportunity to catch up on some reading and Matt's spectacular skiing videos on
his iPad!
The spinnaker was hoisted to try and catch some wind but
it didn't last long as the only way we could catch it meant that we were
heading towards south Africa...no wonder Haig was keen to keep going. The
motor is now back on and there are more delicious smells coming from the kitchen
ready for Nicks birthday dinner...I think Tuna steaks and Banana bread is
on the menu!