Mazu - Days 9 and 10 - Picking up Some Speed

Having been somewhat frustrated that we have not been not making good headway towards our destination, we finally poled out the genoa yesterday morning and made much better progress , a passage record of 152 miles in 24 hours. The boat felt comfortable, even in building seas and with wind around 16-18 knots, our speed picked up to around 7 knots. The mood onboard was distinctly improved! Gradually the wind backed from WSW to SSW and by morning was S so we dropped the pole and have enjoyed broad reaching in 20+ knots all day. The sun has been shining but we have had dark clouds chasing us almost all day. Howard is now on watch and getting somewhat damp because one large rain squall finally caught up with us. At least it should wash some of the salt off the decks!

We have about 600 nautical miles to go to Horta but expect a period of light wind starting hopefully later tomorrow so it is still unclear when we will make landfall. Although our freezer is looking a lot emptier now, there is little chance we will run out of food, just wish we could supplement our supplies by catching another fish!