We started day 17 by reaching our '500 miles to go' milestone. Yes, we are getting close!!
It was a very shaky day in the waves but we had nice winds in the morning, allowing us to sail in "butterfly" mode. Not too easy as we are not having a Spinnaker pole but it worked well for some time. After that, we went back to our beloved Oxley that we sailed until sunset. Amazing how much we used that sail for the trip. Almost all days and all but 4 nights.
After breakfast, a group of dolphins came to visit and jumped a bit in the aft of our ship. Perfect to watch from the safe space of our cockpit. And while we were having a 500-mile Gin & Tonic (alcohol free but surprisingly refreshing), Lonneke prepared a letter in a bottle and sent it off. We hope someone will find it!
Winds picked up for the night, so we are back to normal sails and are enjoying the final nights of our trip.
Daily run: 163nm