We are close hauled on a lumpy dumpy sea and are now 750 ish nautical miles to Horta, and it cant come fast enough - we haven't seen any real sunshine for 3 days - moral is slipping so we have decided that crew members will be keel hauled daily until moral improves.....

After2 days close hauled we decided to abandon our racing mode and head north on a broad reach. We even put the asymmetric out and used the 2^nd spinnaker as a bowsprit. For some reason the skipper was not woken and missed a watch only to emerge to total devastation. Mentioning no names but the 2 watch-keepers, David and Paul,  had decided to go back in racing mode on a very close reach with the same rig and guess what? The unsupported spinnaker pole broke in half, the spinnaker ripped itself to shreds and they were trying to concoct some story for the skipper.

David & Paul have spent the day sewing the torn Spinnaker back together. It’s apparent that their sewing skills were lacking as we had a large hole missing in the middle. Looking for inspiration, we reflected on S/Y "FRED's" parasail kite that has an open slot and decided to imitate it. Having seen Tony jumping up and down ion his 'Y' fronts we decided these would be the perfect addition to the Spinniker 'Y' Fronted Parasail (Code SYFP) as it will undoubtedly shortly become known. What a glorious sight when launched, the sail filled, the 'Y' parted poetically on cue while we all stood in awe. In hindsight we the whole experience would have been more impressive if only we had washed the 'Y' Fronts first !

This Morning we were again visited by a massive pod of Dolphins. Close hauled and heeled with lots of spray, Paul took his usual position on the bow greeting his relatives in full wet weather gear. He did seem bewildered when his automatic life vest decided that he must have fallen into the sea. It did it’s duty and inflated making Paul look like he had entered a local Gurning contest - we think he stood a good chance at winning too...

We spotted our first whale yesterday just as Paul had decided to go swmming with the dolphins again. Unfortunately Tony advised that it could swallow him 10 times over in one gulp so he chickened out and alas is still on board.  David gave his morning sermon on the vitues of reefing the sails so that we remained upright while maintaining speed. This argument did have some merit as it was difficult to keep watch when the saloon windows are mostly one foot under water. We tried to convince David to preach his message from the pulpit but he didnt fall for that as this is at an angle of 60 degrees and underwater permantly.

Hoping the weather improves for us as our competiveness is waning.