Theodora - Thursday 29th

We were expecting slightly stronger winds overnight which eventually arrived with dawn, so we now have winds anything from 18 knots gusting up to 27 knots. Our bearing of about 230’’ which is a bit more southerly than is ideal but the forecast suggests that it may get a bit more easterly over the coming day which would be helpful. Speed is good with us averaging around seven knots, peak speed has been just over eleven knots, the skipper was helming of course.

The Twizzle rig continues to perform well. We were hit by some stronger gusts this morning and we had a reef in it within a couple of minutes. This is the second time we have had to do this and the instant change on behavior of the helm is very reassuring.

We tried fishing yesterday and we were not surprised when we caught nothing after several hours of trying. Our on-board fishing expert said that this was due to our boat speed, the level of salinity on the water and the fact that the moon was waning. It had nothing to do with the choice of lure, of course. We have been surprised by the complete absence of wildlife life of any kind. We were visited by a pod of dolphins as we left the Canaries but have not seen anything in the sea since, in fact our only visitors have been three of four small birds skimming over the waves.

On the topic of food, we continue to eat well though breakfast this morning was something of a comic disaster. The yoghurt, which was to accompany muesli and fresh fruit, ended up being spilled across the cockpit floor. The bacon slid off its plate and fell into the washing up bowl, the galley team then tried to serve it up as “bacon with a light mouse’. No one fell for that. In the end we had to make do with crushed and seasoned avocado on toast. Not too bad.

Our Pilates class has been cancelled this morning as the deck is a little lumpy for such extreme exercise, this is the fourth day we have used this excuse.

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