Chanto - 2nd Week

Chanto Blog - 2nd Week

The second week saw a continued move south with the aim of capturing the stronger winds that had been eluding us for a few days. The tactic appears to have paid off as we're now pushing along at 8.5 knots having just completed our most profitable 24 hours of the crossing so far covering close to 190 miles!

We've continued predominantly with the twin head sail set up which has meant most nights we've avoided the need to reef down.

With impeccable timing the fishing took a decidedly more positive turn. With hours to go until the half way mark to St Lucia was crossed, and following a fruitless 2 days up until that point, the addition of a second lure paid immediate dividends with not one but two Mahi Mahi secured!

Once on board they weighed in at a mighty 4.5 and 5 kilos - and meant we had some delicious fresh fish to go with our celebratory evening drinks.

We're slowly working our way through the supplies. With the last of the bread gone we've had to turn our hand at home baking with varying degrees of success. Andrews white loaf and Bob's whole grain number are the clear leaders so far.

We've somewhat surprisingly, considering the vastness of the ocean, spotted other Arc boats in the distance at various points during the week. We're enjoying the daily stats from Bob who's keeping us up to speed with the comings and goings of the rest of the fleet. At the moment we're comfortably 4th in our class (prior to handicaps and motoring penalties etc).A podium position appears out of reach given the distance to the 3rd place boat.

As I write we're coming up to the thousand miles to go mark. With the winds set to continue between 16-22 knots we're hopeful we can maintain the strong progress to make landfall sometime around Wednesday or Thursday of next week.

Thanks for all the emails - great to know lots of people are following us back home!