Day 3 update and fleet update

We had a great run and sailed 193 miles from noon yesterday to noon today (as the seagull flies)  Only another 2,125 miles to go! No seabirds at all.

The steak for supper is likely to be four legged. Neither of our fishermen could earn a living from it. They say that it was the pod of 40 unruly teenage dolphins playing at the bow that was their handicap, ie they frightened the tuna and doradoes away.

The last few nights we had fabulous light from the moon. Even though we had some cloud cover, it was thin and visibility was very good. We had a few squalls of 30/33 knots during the night. We are making 8 knots plus and the squalls are from aft so the impact is equivalent to 22/25 knots.

Today started bright and sunny but it became overcast with showers and squalls (35 to 38 knots) in the afternoon. We have rolled our main. Water evaporates from the surface of the sea during the day due to the heat of the sun. That humid air cools at night time giving the short lived showers and squalls, which are downdrafts with the rain. We can see the rain on the radar and have plenty of warning. I wonder if the rain squalls will be less tonight in view of the overcast afternoon?

We are running a three hour on and six hour off watch system. One crew changes every 90 minutes. So we have adjusted and fresh eyes on watch at any time. The first schedule ran from 18:00 on Sunday to 18:00 today which if left unchanged would then repeat at that time. (3 hours on plus 6 off repeats at 18 hours, so we let it run for 3 days as 72 divides by 9). We change the sequencing today and will run the new one for another 72 hours. Watches and SSB radio calls are all on UTC (GMT). The ships clock will be changed every four days to adjust for the change in daylight as we travel West. Our meal times are based on the ships clock.

No more boats to be seen on the AIS. We are all alone on the wide wide sea. Dermot B says that return emails are ok provided no pictures or video attachments and that it is telephone calls on the Sat Phone that really eat the credit. So the odd email is good.

Fleet update:

- Luna Rosa: Reported at 0848 UTC 24/11 their danbuoy and horseshoe buoy were lost overboard in position 27,17.390 N 020,56.513 W. All crew are well. The coastguard have been informed.

- Vahine, Oberon and Hanse Sailor have all departed Las Palmas.

- Adventure: retired from ARC following rudder problems.

- Jolly Red: diverting to Cape Verde, Mindelo for engine repairs.

- Southern Child: diverted to Tenerife for boom repairs. Plan to depart soon.

- Laissez Faire: technical issues with SSB Radio. Cannot perform net controller duties.

All ok here, a happy ship.