Ngahue IV - Ngahue IV in the trade winds - hopefully for keeps

After a long and frustrating Saturday when we (again - sigh) had to use the engine for a large chunk of the day and following night (with only 2-3 Kts of wind, there's no way our boat moves in those conditions), today has proved to be a lot better. As (more or less) predicted, we hit the trade winds (very light at first) this morning after breakfast. We then spent the rest of the morning setting the boat up for downwind sailing. For this we used the "Chris Tibbs set-up" (he described this well during one of the seminars we followed in Las Palmas). So our main and genoa can be furled at will, whilst keep our pole in place (and the boom too - thanks to a boom brake and a preventer). We can quickly reef down and up when needed!
The wind has crept up to 12-14 knots and this fills our sails well. We don't roll too much (yet??) and generally things are quite comfortable. Laura made a superb Sunday lunch and we've spent a lazy Sunday afternoon reading books and calculating when we're finally going to get to Saint Lucia. My current cogitations aim for 11 or 12 December (still...). It means maintaining an average speed of 6 knots. Preferably a touch more, which with 14-knot winds should be manageable.
Best wishes to you all from Laura and Marco - north of the Capre Verde Islands);

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