Tamanaco - Tough day today

This morning we tried raising the Code Zero sail on the pole. Not easy. After two unsuccessful attempts we concluded the wind was simply too strong. We gave up. Fortunately nothing was broken and nobody got hurt. Advantage, we thought would have been a better heading, I.e. pointing in the right direction of St Lucia. We continued under sail, with the main 1/3rd out (equivalent to second reef) and a few turns on the front jib. Winds were in the high twenty/low 30 knots all day and the sea was huge. I helmed for a while and it was epic, fun to go down huge valleys of water, but requiring constant attention. Vincent, Val and Rodrigue also gave it a go in the afternoon. With out current sail configuration we are doing a 300|315 heading, whereas ideally we would do 265 degrees to go to St Lucia. We will have to jibe at some point. Forecast for the next 3 days indicate no respite in wind and sea conditions. Waves are so big that one moment you look and see the sky, the second later you see pure water, sun is on the left, on the right, all over. Moving in the boat is challenging, you constantly need to grab hold of something. Everyone was pretty tired from the last night, but tonight should be better. We configured the boat such that the auto -pilot can perform, and we tested it for the last three hours in current conditions, this amazing piece of technology is steering g our boat, in the dark, allowing the guys on watch to just sit and relax, rather than actively steer throughout the night. Boat motion is also a little more smooth than last night when the boat banged from left to right and right to left all night.
Our amazing Rodrigue cooked a delicious meal tonight, the second Mahi-mahi in risotto. We had a beer and listened to music , joking about what the hell we are doing in the middle of the Atlantic, of our free will. Wish us a good night with some catching up on sleep and tomorrow is another day. Boat holding up well.