Blonde Moment - sunday may 21

Blonde Moment Boat Log
Sunday, May 21, 2023
After a couple of days going SE, the winds changed, and we have been on a starboard tack heading towards the Azores for the better part of two days. The winds have been good, and we are making progress averaging around 7NM per hour. We will have travelled a 1/3 of the way to our destination sometime later today. We are on a schedule of 3 hours solo watches, with 6 hours off, giving lots of opportunity to rest and be alert for the next shift.

Mark E is learning to use the sextant with the help of Paul.
A fish finally was on our line, but they pulled the lure completely off and got away before we could land it. We will keep trying. Two of the crew have seen what looks like whale spouts in the distance, but this has not been confirmed. Very few flying fish have ended up on the deck so far. ( one flying fish landed on deck during Marc T's watch this morning but despite Marc claiming they make good eating and he had had them for breakfast in Barbados many times ... he still refused to eat it and the fish was returned to the sea !)
The weather is warm and sunny, but we have had a couple of damp mornings. No real rain to speak of yet, but we have seen some in the distance a few times, and we have been lucky to have missed it. We are aware that some boats have had some technical difficulties on this leg, and wish them all well.
We have not seen another boat for about 24 hours now, and we are also too far away to hear some boats on SSB. The last sailboat we saw was a non-ARC boat which came within 500M of us. and we gave way as it passed silently by on our port side with nobody on deck. Amazing how in such a large ocean two boats can come so close to one another. Reminds you to be alert on watch!
all for now

Marc
chief medical officer