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The big Jouney Begins - Atlantic Day 1.

1st December The Big Journey Begins

Left 1000 Monday morning. We listned to the AtlanticNet at 0830, and advised them we were leaving. Our next check in will be tomorow at 0830.

The wind was forecast Northerly 4-5,and as we left and headed SW around Furtherventura The Wind and Sea became NW 20 knots and we have had 3 hours of Wind and swell just forward of the Beam. The Heavens opened and we had rain and drizzle - Not the ideal start to a lovely Trade wind sail - But I guess we are not in the Trade winds yet.
We seem to be making 8 knots in the Beam wind, but as the wind comes more and more from behind we will slow down to around 7.....
There is a Tropical low brewing in the mid Atlantic, its track being NW we wont ever see it, and Hopefully it will be the last of the season, it is unlikely that it will even develop into a storm.

The kids have all settled down - 1 hour into the journey, Jack playing with Bob the Builder Duplo, and the three girls reading and playing gameboy. - They love the game that involves them running a farm, growing crops, rearing animals, buying and selling things at the market.

Our latest plan is to NOT stop at the Verde Islands, but to get to the Trade winds we will head to a point 100 -200 miles NW of the Verde Islands.

HERE WE GO.............. Martinique - Here we come

Atlantic Day 2.

2nd December

Well - That was an interesting Night as an introduction to our Atlantic crossing. We had rain and winds of 27 knots from the NE that whipped the sea up into a frothy mass of white crested waves on a 1 metre swell. I had already Reefed to number 2 on the Main before we started as I felt the boat would handle better with less Main up. - It has a habit of pushing the back of the boat around in down wind runs. This made the 27 knot down wind ride easier. I rolled half of the Jib away and we made a constant 7.5 knots in a foamy sea. The night was black and dark, amplifying the waves and the swell in our imagination. To think that we down wind sailed through the Sicily straight in similar winds and I was absolutely petrified then this seemed to be different somehow. This was now a mixture of excitement and being scared for our lives, but an overpowering feeling of confidence in the boat. If anything went wrong now however, then it would be easier to sail the 800 miles to the Verde Islands than it would to turn around and do 100 miles back the way we came to the Canaries. I doubt if we could have even made 1 knot north into these winds, waves and current. Even with the engines.
Ocean Breezes decided to head around the East of FurtherVentura, as the swell and winds in the pass where on the beam when we left. We waved goodbye - we looked at each other - that probably the last we will see of them until the Caribbean.

We have a watch routine starting at 8pm through midnight. The next till 4am, then another till 8am. The person that does the 4-8 slot (there-fore getting an interrupted 8 hours sleep) puts the kids to bed and gives them breakfast in the morning. The 4 hour a night watch person - gets to lie in bed at 8:30 am doing the Atlantic Network check in on the Radio and a couple of hours till Lunch time. Then its everybody up between 12 - 8pm - schooling, playing, sailing/watching, catnapping where possible. The kids listened into the Kids Net on SSB 8122 at 7pm. Its very difficult to hear anybody, but Voyager (Kate 10 )and Helice ( 2 girls 11, and 10) seemed to be load enough to speak to. Sophie and Emma tentatively got the hang of it and managed to tell a few jokes. Sophie is on Sea sickness tablets. She is feeling the motion most - Stugeron sorts her out.
Louisa's second tooth was pulled out - it needed to come - a very proud little girl. Sophie has her 10th wobbly tooth...it all still happens on the boat! Jack walks around making us look at his teeth - he cant understand why we are peering into each others mouths.
We have all been settling in - Helen made Lemon + sultana muffins, and rustled up all the food. The kids have been playing and reading books.We are being very careful with our rubbish - all perishable things like food scraps, paper, glass and tins go over the side, all the plastic is washed and put in the bin- lets see how little rubbish we can arrive with!

So If this is what the Atlantic is like - 27 knots of wind, rain and seat of the pants sailing - then we are going to have a very tiring and difficult crossing - but we will be there in 2 weeks !

Atlantic Day 3.

Dec 3rd 0800:

After checking into the SSB Atlantic crossing Net at 0830 yesterday, stating the wind speed of 25 knots and Boat speed of 7.2 the wind dropped to a very frustrating 5 knots. The sea and the swell rocks the boat, banging the boom around. I tried to get the cursing chute up, it too flapped and banged in the rocking. I managed to finally get it set pushing us along at 3 knots in 5 knots of wind. (I suspect there was 0.5 knot of current there). The wind grew throughout the day to a NE 15 knots, in which we could goosewing with 2 reefs-main and cruising chute at a good 7 knots. By the evening, the wind was up to 22 knots and so we took the Chute down and goosewinged the Jib still doing 7knots.

We were both tired after a nail biting first night. So the morning (and the afternoon for that matter) was spent playing sleep tag, catching up on lost hours. We had a so-called "Out of sight of land" Celebration and brought out new books, games and DVD's for the kids. Jack Delved into his new Jigsaws, the kids read and napped. They watched a DVD, but only allowed after Helen managed an hour of Science!. Our Advent calendar is on day 2 - day 2 of the trip. We have one that we put a treat in the pocket for the appropriate day. Great excitement in the mornings to see if mummy has remembered to put it in!
Jack played in a 'house' made out of a bunk mattress; they all made Christmas bells from silver foil and the junk that Helen has been collecting for the past few weeks. Jack has no idea that anything is different - he takes it for granted that he crawls down the stairs backwards so he doesn't fall down them.

We caught our first Tuna today - 18 ins - lunch tomorrow!

The Darn foot down-haul rope for the Cruising chute snapped today. I replaced the old rope by a new one 1mm thinner - 10mm. I guess it wasn't strong enough. I have now put on 14 mm rope. Quite a bit of shipping during the night, about 5 tankers were spotted, one a little too close for comfort, It altered course about a mile away. We had 30 knot winds for an hour in the night, Imp glad we took the cruising chute down. So far, our strongest winds seem to be between 4am and 7am. Wrote a spreadsheet in the night that plots the position of all the boats in our vicinity,( from their SSB check in), I can see who is around, and possibly how close, maybe for VHF contact.

Atlantic Day 4 - starting to get tired.

0800- 4th December.

We had good moderate winds today, but couldn't drum up the enthusiasm to put the cruising chute up. We were doing 5.5 knots without it so didn't bother. The swell picked up and we had 2-3m seas - the waves blotting out the horizon every now and then. Helen felt sick for the first time ever. she ended up going to bed at 6pm with a stugeron - She was fine when I woke her at midnight.

Helen taught another hour of science in the afternoon. We got the computer working for the kids and they enjoyed a couple of new CD's and played with some old ones. They have it set up to do an hour each to prevent any arguments. Helen has been collecting odds and ends for weeks and today the kids were let at it. They made an ice cream shop, a computer and a mouse house all from toilet rolls and empty margarine tubs. . Sophie and jack set up house under the cabin table with all the cockpit cushions. Had a great cottage pie for tea. Helen went through the fridge to see how the fruit and veg is keeping. We are eating the worst pieces first. ( what did she hide in that pie?) The kids made jelly, which wouldn't set with the motion of the boat so we eat it frozen!

Spoke to Ocean Breezes, setting up a check in time with them on 8128 at noon and 6:30pm. Everything's fine with them and they are about 50 miles behind us. Had a great night doing about 5 knots on a steady course of 230. No wind deviations or gusts - just a constant 17 knots of wind from the NE.
I'm starting to get tired now. The plan of me doing the double shift 8-12 and 4-8 with just 4 hours of sleep and cat-napping during watches is catching up on me. I find it hard to get any good sleep during the day. I awoke through out the night with the egg-timer alarm waking me every 20 mins to scout the horizon. During the 4-8 watch I was waking up and not having any idea where we were, thinking that we were in the Solent. A few times I slept through the Bell. The chances of running into something is slim, but keeping a watch is the right thing to-do. I have every respect for single-handed crossings. sleeping for 20 mins at a time is very painful - Maybe I'd get used to it. but tomorrow night Im going to swap with Helen and give myself 8 hours sleep. Helen feels rested after her 2 x 4 hours sleep - although she has a quick sleep after lunch. She reads and has the odd 15minutes sleep during her watch..

Atlantic Day 5 -no wind - getting frustrated.

0800 5th December.

The Sea is getting warmer, the Air is getting warmer, The Sun is starting to come out - But the Butter hasn't melted Yet !

After my strange night of sleeping - or lack of it, I became very tired and very hungry - Not a good state for me to be in. To cap it - after a great night of steady sailing - the wind dropped to a slight 5 knots, I tried to get the cruising chute up, it flapped around, twisted around the forestay, then trying to snuff it in its sock - the snuffing line got stuck. Grrrrrr!. In my moment of weakness, I ended up swearing and raging at the sail. After getting it down and shoving it back in its bag, I handed full control over to Helen, I took refuge in our cabin - switched on the SSB for the morning Net, and stayed there for the next 3 hours - eventually falling asleep. Helen and the kids made a huge load of Ginger biscuits in all sorts of shapes.

In contrast to the last few days the weather is now starting to pick up, the big black clouds are rolling away, The Swell is reducing to less than a metre high, BUT THERE IS NO WIND. We motored all day (Well the batteries did need charging), and we used everything that needed electricity. - Fridge, Water Maker, and Inverter for DVD and Computer. While Helen and the Girls did a full afternoon of School - interspaced by 30 minutes of Dolphin watching, while they swam with us. During school, Jack and I slobbed infront of the TV watching the Start Wars II film. After School/TV the kids played on the computer and played with Play-dough.

Helen did the double shift that night, So I could get a good 8 hours sleep in. It was bliss. We are both experts at catnapping for 20 minutes now so the nights are very restful.

The Net today said that the Azores High has disappeared for a holiday to Ireland!! The result is that the Trade Winds seemed to have disappeared, which also allow any lows of troughs that want to fill this space to come in in. So far we have zero winds and they have forecasted them for at least the next 3 days. We are watching the weather carefully, hoping nothing storm like heads our way - The chances are in our favour for slight winds, followed by Trade winds.

Atlantic Day 6 - becalmed.

6th December 0800

WE have now resigned to the fact that we have no wind for the next few days (maybe even as far out as Weds 11th according to the grib files from SSB chats). SO we turned the engine off - put the sails up and trickled along in 4 knots of wind from behind, making 3 knots, sometimes only 1 knot. By the end of the 12 hour period of the day we managed 25 miles. By the evening the wind dropped to zero , and we had to put the engine on to keep steerage way. The weather is fantastic though, 20% cloud cover of bobbbly fluffy clouds. Hot sun - The butter is almost starting to melt. We had more dolphins in the morning.
We caught a small tuna - about 12 inches long - but it dropped off the hook as I hauled it aboard.

Helen did another afternoon of school, while me and Jack played Lego in the cockpit.

On the Radio we heard a - "who's that ahead" - It was Mad River they were 5 miles NW of us - heading our way at 4 knots under engine. They came close to us, and as we all headed out on deck to say hello, the fishing line whistled on the reel, and we had our selves a big fish! - I started winding it in, and then we had a 10 knot gust of wind which took the boat off at about 6 knots towards Mad River. So while winding in the reel, Helen was getting me strapped into a safety harness, and Sophie was heading the boat down wind to take the apparent wind out of the sails to slow us down. Jack Emma and Louisa were leaping up and down in excitement at the fish. It was a big Mahi Mahi - about 1 metre long. It was pulling hard, I got it to the back of the boat, but right at the last minute it broke free from the hook and swam off. - Shame that would have done a fair few meals. We waved bye to Mad River, and chatted on VHF for about 20 minutes and literally watch them motor off into the sunset.

We had absolutely zero wind during the night, we put the engine on and motored at about 4 knots. I extrapolated Ocean Breezes position from their course and Speed, based on their am position report, and we steered to rendezvous with them at sunrise. The sea is a dead calm, with only a slight, negligible swell. This really is a contrast to 3 days ago.

Atlantic Day 7 - lazing and fishing.

0800 - 7th Dec.

No wind all morning. The SSB Net is saying that this weather is staying for the next few days. - Motored all last night, put up chute 0800 turned motor off, 2/3/4 knots wind all-day - crept along at 1/2/3 knots. Made banana bread with the last of the bananas. The kids played on the computer and did some clay modelling - We left it out in the sun to dry. They made clay animals and clay food ready to paint tomorrow. We had a new set of dolphins around us today, old, huge ones, 2/3/4 of them about 3 metres long, very slow and graceful, they came to the back of the boat and we all took turns sitting on the transom steps (harnessed on) and reaching out to try to touch them. We felt as if they really wanted to talk to us.
We crossed paths with O.B. at around 1030. We turned our engine off and headed dead down wind at about 240 degrees. Chris jumped in and swam to our boat. He had a bit off a shock when he realised that we were actually managed 2 knots in the "very light" wind. He only just managed to make it to the back of our boat in time. He then jumped back and swam back to OB. The kids , especially Jack, thought this was fantastic.

Goosewinged with Full Main and Cruising chute, running down wind in Easterly winds of about 5 knots we still managed 2-3 knots. The is Great !!! - but could do with a little more wind !! We might not make it to the Caribbean for my birthday, let alone Christmas at this rate.

We had lunch outside, again, in the sunshine, It was so hot that we had to get the Bimini side awnings out shade us from the sun.But still - the butter has not quite melted yet.

School in the afternoon, was interrupted by our friends the big dolphins. The wind started to back thought the afternoon, and by the evening it was a SE wind of around 5 knots. And with the sails set on a beam reach we were making a steady 4 knots. And as it swung more during the night we were managing a close reach with the Fantastic Cruising chute managing 55 degrees of apparent wind and we were peaking 6.5 even 7 knots in about 7 knots of True Wind !!! Since the kids had school on Saturday today, they were allowed to watch a "new" movie; "Home Alone". They loved it.

The fishing line alarmed us again. (It seems we get a bite every afternoon). Another huge Mahi Mahi. Helen reeled it in and I got my new "Captain Hook" Grapple of 5 mm stainless steel, and going down the steps to the water I lunged at the fish and hooked it right through its side. I hauled it onto the boat and pushed it hard on the deck with the Hook, while it flapped and slapped underneath me, blood flying everywhere, and the slapping on the deck, loud and panic stricken. The kids didn't like it and ran inside closing the door. after 5 minutes of not dying - We resorted to poring Vodka into its Gills, drowning it sorrows instantly - dead. I spent the next hour gutting it, rescaling it, decapitating it, and then chopping it into about 10 Steaks.
We had 5 delicious, fresh steaks for tea (Sophie and Louisa wouldn't eat fish !!) and froze the others. We have only half a bin bag of our plastics rubbish after 6 days -we normally produce a huge bag every 2 days!

The kids listened to story tapes and did some lovely quiet colouring before bed.
A great night sailing close reached inSSE 5 knots gusting 7 knots of wind. We were making 5 to 7 knots in the right direction . The sea is still flat so this makes superb sailing - but I don't suppose this will last.

Atlantic Day 8 - close to Ocean breezes and Mad river.

8th December: 0800

On day 7, The sun rose bringing with it SSE winds of 7-8 knots of wind on a negligible 1m swell. I put up the cruising chute, hoisting it behind the to Jib. The Jib sheet was on the starboard winch, which is usually used for the Cruising chute Tack downhaul line. I planned to have the tack hard down all the time while close reaching so the winch was unnecessary,so I wedged into a jammer block on the deck. Since we were heading SW the wind was a great close reach and with the new Cruising chute up we were managing to do 6 knots - sometimes 7 or 8 !! . The sea was smooth and so we were able to pick up good speed sailing in our own apparent wind - Amazing. We were headed a little more than we wanted and started heading a little west (240) of our desired track of 230" True. We are trying to head as far south as possible before we get too far west, as there are some nasty Lows hovering around 20N latitudes mid Atlantic, and they are bringing SW 40 knots or so and rough seas. Bring back the Azores High - We want the infamous trade winds !!

Mid morning - the downhaul line pulled free from the deck jammer and the cruising chute went flying..... Not a problem really but it couldn't be snuffed into its sock, so we had to let the sail down pulling it onto the trampoline and lying on it to stop it blowing away. - Re laid the downhaul onto the winch - snuffed it back into its sock, up and away again.
We cruised the day with VHF proximity with Mad River and Ocean Breezes. It was good to be able to call up for chats. Chris is having problems with his engine and has had to strip the engine down.

Now since it was Sunday - there was no school today. Helen printed out some black and white colouring pictures, photographed from colouring book, and the kids had fun colouring the pictures in. They painted the clay things from yesterday and in the afternoon they cut a an old sheet and made dolls clothes While Rob and Jack played "Action Man" - with Action Man, and Barbie's boyfriends. While Helen got an hours kip, Rob and the kids jumped on the trampoline while watching the sunset. We were fascinated with the 360' colours, marvelling at the purples, greys, blue and oranges even on the Eastern Sky.

As the kids were going to bed, the fishing line went and we pulled it in to discover an 18" Eel. We didn't fancy it much so I freed it and threw it back in.

During the night the winds came around to the South about 3 knots. There was no point sailing, we weren't going anywhere! - We decided to put the engines on to recharge the batteries and give us some miles during the night. But then after a couple of Hours in Helens first Watch the wind came up to SE 13 knots - Right on the beam!. Helen harnessed on and during the night in the light of the almost full moon, she hoisted the cruising chute and set it on the beam - A great few hours of sailing - Until Rob came on for the midnight watch and the winds dropped off and shifted all over the place. . At 4am Helen came up and the wind came back again steady from the south. - Maybe Helen should do the night watch right through the night !

Its now been 7 days at sea - our 1st week. We are very glad we have the SSB, and although the aerial Tuner doesn't seem to be operational, we manage to get about 15watts of transmit power. We are following about 20 other boats on the net that are within a few hundred miles of us, and it is good to get their positions, and weather reports at 8:30 in the morning. I wonder if the family at home have managed to pick anything up. I hope that "Forever"'s email to Dad is getting through and that people back in the UK are getting updated with our progress. - I wonder if we will be there by Christmas......

Atlantic Day 9 - Engine problems.

9th Dec Engine Problems

Night watches are getting very strange. Cat napping for 15-20 minutes does weird things to your mind. You don't know where you are when you wake up, and You have crazy dreams - Helen dreamt she was steering the boat between lorries down Monmouth High-Street.
But we are settling into the watches now, and have a good routine.
=============================================
6pm-8pm Watch person"1" - tidy up - wash up - quiet time with kids, put them to bed- Sleep person"2"

8pm-12mn Watch 2 - Sleep 1

12mn-4am Watch 1 - Sleep 2

4am -8am Watch 2 - Sleep 1

*8am - 8.30 Rob - Set Day-light Sails )

* 8.30 - 10am Rob SSB net check-in - Helen on Watch/ Kids Breakfast )

10am=-12md Watch 1 - play kids - Sleep 2

*12md - 1pm family Lunch)

1pm-3pm Watch 1 - wash up - play kids Sleep 2

*3pm---5pm Rob/Jack play - Helen on Watch / School )

*5pm---6pm Family Dinner and Rob - Set night time sails )

Alternate Watches. As before.

both on watch/awake

Main responsibilities for watch keeping:
Wind speed, Wind Direction. Boat Speed. Main Gybe and Cruising chute wraps
Other ships. Squalls
==============================================

Its getting warmer and the SSB weather Net has said that we can expect SE winds like this for the next few days - Great !

Helen opened "the library" after lunch. She got out all the new second hand books Rob got from the UK charity shops, as well as all the books that Helen knows the kids haven't read from their book shelves and laid them all out in a line along the foot of our bed. The kids then come and check the books out and "borrow" them for reading after dinner and in bed at night. They are only allowed a new book if they have finished reading and can talk about the old book. Sophie finished reading Swallows and Amazons.
Did school in the afternoon, but with the increasing beam seas it was quite rocky so it was a short day. Walking around the boat was difficult and Jack has to go on his hands and knees to crawl down the steps backwards. He Hasn't quite got the hang of it as he goes on all fours in the middle of the room and crawls backwards all the way to the steps. One time he actually crawled up the starboard steps, turned around at the top and crawled back wards all the way to the other side and then down the steps - very funny!

By the end of the day the wind reached 19 knots so we decided to take the chute down and under Main and Jib we still managed 7.5 - 8 knots.
Caught a medium sized Mahi mahi, a tuna that came off and a huge mahi mahi that broke the line. We finally saw some flying fish.

The batteries were down to 50 % so even though we were hammering along at 7 knots We had to put the engine on. I tried to start it, but after 5 seconds of idling, it would konk out. More tries - with more revs - but no luck. It sounded like fuel starvation. So while hammering along at 7 knots in a moderate rolling sea I bled the Fuel system fuel Filters. Still no luck. As I was trying to give it some Revs in Neutral, I notice a lot of turbulence coming from behind the boat - It was in Gear - although the lever was in Neutral. After engaging into reverse and back to Neutral - a bit of a wiggle - and everything started fine. Note to self: Must adjust the transmission clutch lever - it is obviously out of alignment.

We still have not turned the corner to start heading west yet. Although we are cutting the corner a little bit and therefore making westwards progress. We are keen to get well south of 20N as there is a tropical storm brewing at 21N 35W according to the SSB weather reports.
Rob did the double watch that night and sailing along nicely. Pretty tired though as there were plenty of Wind shifts though out the night.

Its amazing the kids never ask - when will we be there - or ever mention they are fed up. They just seem to get on with life aboard naturally.

Atlantic Day 10 - "daddy - we've got a wrap!".

"Daddy we've got a wrap""

December 10th 0800:

The past 24 hours have been eventful.
After a tiring night sailing in great conditions we awoke to 15 knots of wind from the NE - perfect. It was a little overcast - but flat seas. We put the cursing chute up and being dead down wind loosened the tack a little. It was close to 0830, to check into the SSB atlantic Net, and so I made of the chute, goosewinged away from the main, tied of the chute sheet, and let it fly - we were going great.

I headed downstairs to the SSB and left Helen on watch doing Breakfast with the kids. 30 minutes later - there were cries from upstairs " Daddy we've got a wrap!! " I bounded up stairs - but it was too late - The cruising chute had wrapped itself good and proper around the furled Genoa on the forestay. It wraps itself by twisting the middle section of the sail around and around, therefore the tops and bottoms of the chute were twisted tightly underneath itself.

I knew that this is a big problem. The wind had now risen to 20 knots and the sea to maybe a metre and half. I spent 5 minutes assessing the situation - 2 minutes cursing it, and 3 minutes thinking about it. The options were as follows - Be hoisted up the forestay and try to unwrap it from the middle.... or drop the main sail, and motor around and around in circles to untwist it. The first option seemed dangerous so I started the engines.

The 1st three unwinds went well. but as it became unwound the billowing chute now caught the wind and it was getting more and more difficult to drive the boat around through the oncoming wind and waves. After 2 more turns the chute was so billowed out that when we tried to go into wind it would only push as backwards and we were actually sailing backwards !!. There were just 2 more turns to unwind, but at that moment the chute caught on the rigging and a hole appeared in the centre of the sail.. It was now or never - and Harnessed on - I ran up to the foredeck and un did the tack and Helen tried to pull on the sheet to untwist it. The tack became caught on the Jib sheets. I shouted to Helen to quickly unfurl the jib, but it was too late the foot of the chute started to rip and the whole bottom of the chute started to slowly and firmly rip away. The sail, although ripped, was now free at the bottom, but still twisted at the top. I had to pull and man-handle the chute around the forestay twice so that it became free at the top so we could lower it down. here was a lot of pulling and heaving, grunting and swearing as I pulled on the sail - slipping on the wet foredeck, falling onto the trampoline and getting the Chute around and around and finally onto the deck in a big heap. I finally lay there ontop of the ripped, soaking, sad looking thing that was once a new cruising chute and rested. The whole of the scene would have looked very dramatic, if it wasn't for the fact that I was totally naked, except for my safety harness during the whole ordeal.

Rob slept till lunch. Kids did more blow pens and reading library books. Jack can play for ages with 2 toy cars , and making spaceships from k-nex - he really is very self sufficient. He has no idea what we are doing, where we are going or thinks anything about this life - it is to him just..... Life, - as long as he can bounce on the sofas and organise us all at breakfast time - its just another day for him!.

The girls are well aware what we are doing, with the chart on the wall - they can watch our gradual progress. I think that they are very motivated to get to the 'middle of the Atlantic' so they can open their goody bags! Sophie understands that this is a big challenge - something we will never do again, and is happy to take it day by day.She is enjoying the extra time she gets to plough through all the new books. Emma and Louisa are more than happy so long as they can play a bit of game boy and play with their toys. Both these two cannot believe the amount of time they are allowed to spend doing 'arts and crafts', something we do some of normally - but not this much, every day!

After lunch Rob pulled out Old Rosie - Our original cruising chute and with the full main in 12 knots of wind we were doing a steady 7 knots, doing 10 knots surfing down the waves. We were dead down wind and it was a relatively smooth ride. School was a success, no-one complained about the motion.
School was interrupted by a herd of new dolphins - we hadn't seen their type before. They were 4m long, slow and graceful, not playful, black with no markings and no snout. This wasn't in the girls a Dolphin spotting book, so we are stumped as to what they were.

In school Emma wrote a letter

..Dear Mummy, Please may you try to stay awake or we might crash into a whale. You won't like that will you? Please try your hardest.
Love Emma xxxxxxx

On the SSB net we heard that Mad River had a broken Steering. They had changed course to Verde's 24 hours ago and were steering using the emergency tiller. They had 2 boats talking to him about the special steering system he as, we will be updated in the morning.
By the night we had to take Rosie down put a reef in the main and roll away some Jib and in 20 knots of apparent wind we were doing 6 knots dead down wind during the night. The seas started to grow and the sea was noisy and crashing under the bridge deck of the boat making loud rumbling and crashing noises. Helen was scared about the hulls breaking and Sea getting into the boat. I explained that hulls don't break and even if they did there are 4 floatation chambers at each corner of the boat making the boat unsinkable.

Rob had the double sleep shift and had a good 8 hours well-needed sleep. Helen did 2 watches and was scared all night.