The Flying Lentil The log of Festina Lente, Sigma 38

Festina clocked 160 miles from 0600 to 0600 courtesy of hanging on to the kite longer than strictly prudent and a nice fresh wind overnight , but we are paying the price now as the wind has dropped and come astern leaving us rolling like a Saturday drunk. It probably doesnt sound much but to average more than 6 knots with the wind astern is quite hard by the time you have factured in sail changes , heaving to to equalise water tanks etc , and simply sailing undercanvassed for a while to save disturbing your sleeping crewmate.   It is far easier to keep up the speed when reaching.

We saw our first ship for over a week last night and expect more now that we are well to the West of the coast of Brazil. For the 3 rd dawn in a row Lynda was joined by tropic birds – 3 this time – for about half an hour. It has become so regular we wonder if they are attracted by our mast head light and lose interest when it is switched off. One of the lessons we have learnt is to identify quickly any strange noise , as all too often it can indicate a problem , potential or actual and we have a policy to ruthlessly track them down. Thus dawn found her crawling all over the boat completely unable to find a new squeek , until she realised it came from the tropic birds circling overhead!

The last two nights have been lovely comfortable moonlight sailing – pure pleasure. I think todays gribs are going to show a more boisterous end to the trip. Until tomorrow then –

1330 UT 13 57N , 53 39 W Wind E 17 knots, scattered showers. All well.

From Cap Verdes to St lucia