15 Jan: Not a great night. Wind shifted when a squall came through and after that we were again rocking badly. In the pitch dark we can’t see what direction the waves are. By daylight we see the problem, there is a very large northerly swell imposed on our normal easterly.
After a couple of large dark clouds pass us, it’s clear blue sky and in the hot sun the solar panels are now producing 6-8 amps. Nice. And the wind kicks back up to 23knots making the ride more palatable and the ensign (flag) fluttering madly off the stern. Ellie says she wants to keep the flag but we are having bets of just how much will be left of it by the time we arrive!
At 13.30 GMT we completed 1,400nm, half of our journey. We are now very central in the Atlantic, 1000 miles from both Africa and Brazil. Soon after that milestone we manage the performance of having breakfast at 13.40 GMT. A lazy afternoon by all. Ellie is entertained by messages from work colleagues while Glen actually reads the instructions for his new GoPro (how long will this one survive?!). Oh, and he washes the windscreen which was very salty; he must be bored! Oana is reading her second book on iPad but is not amused that the App shuts down and restarts every 5 mins 🙁
Before sunset the wind drops to 12-15 knots so we furl the cutter, gybe the boom and put the main out. But can’t get enough angle to make both main and poled genoa work well. So within minutes we revert back to twin headsails only, with some muttering from the crew! Good job because wind picks back up in the night and we are again thundering along. From inside the boat you can feel CB is loving it by the noise of the water rushing against the hull and the serge as she accelerates to 10 & 11 knots down the waves.