This is not the predictable downwind sailing we have been largely used to for the last 8 years! Although generally from the south east the wind is fickle - increasing and decreasing in intensity and precise direction all the time. We have found that is is better to sail with reefed main and genoa for when the gusts come through and to play the mainsail in and out as required. Otherwise we would be reefing and unreeling all day and night long. The sea is so lumpy and jumpy there is no regular wave pattern and from within the cabin the banging and crashing as the boat jumps up and down or is hit by waves is enough to cure sleep apneoa. From the cockpit things are a lot quieter and that is where I do most of my sleeping and dozing.

Oliver seems to be enjoying himself and is a joy to have on board. He is very hands on and practical - always ready to trim the sails, clear the weed from the Duogen, adjust the Hydrovane and so forth. He is also a very good cook and you may think this the perfect combination for a boat. It is of course but sadly Olly has yet to find his sea legs and standing in the galley is the one thing that brings on his sea-sickness. The great heat and humidity we have at the moment doesn’t help. Annie will be pleased to hear that, at the moment, I am chief Cook and bottle washer. The compromise is that Olly does as much meal preparation as possible in the cockpit and I do the cooking and washing up. 

All this cooking is bringing me into regular contact with our provisions. Annie and I thought the amount of stuff we were buying was a bit OTT. I now realise we have enough food for six on this trip. Particularly as we find that in this heat one good meal a day supplemented by a bowl of cereal for breakfast and energy bar and fruit for lunch is sufficient. We also didn’t allow for fresh tuna meaning that we wouldn’t need anything from the freezer for the first four days. Still, that problem is resolved because this part of the  Atlantic is now sufficiently weed free that the Duogen is keeping the batteries fully charged so that running the freezer is no longer an issue. What is an issue is the rate at which our soft vegetables are going off in the heat. I found a green pepper in the vegetable bag reduced to a blob of slimy water. The large tomatoes looked fine until I tried to pick one up and  it turned out to be just a thin skin holding a content of pips and watery red mush that exploded all over the cardboard egg cartons. We now have a production line (i.e. Oliver) of chopped vegetables for ratatouille that has accompanied our tuna and tonight’s Mongolian style pork. Given that Mongolia is not big on pork, preferring horse and reindeer, I was intrigued by this description but it looked so good in the supermarket takeaway food section I bought some. And very good it was too. A bit like spicy Chinese spare ribs but without the inconvenience of the bones.