40 DEGREES - Stop and Go

Mal rauscht es, mal kein Wind von allen Seiten. Hannah und Anna haben scheinbar reichlich Möglichkeiten, das Boot unter allen Voraussetzungen zu testen. Und für die letzten 100 Meilen lockt die letzte Tüte Gummibärchen. Das ist besser als jedes Mentalcoaching. Go GORGirls!

Just like any ocean race, the finale is always difficult. Having been promised 15 knots from the south west by the grib files we actually got 15-32 knots from pretty much any direction the wind fancied. This resulted in some lively speeds (mostly in the right direction), a couple of broaches and a respectable gybe, even if the runner did suddenly go slack after it had been wound on causing minor heart failure as of course this coincided with a gust that saw us take off at 15 knots boat speed. It had clearly got caught on something and just freed itself but we are very pleased to report we still have a rig and I hate to curse the situation but we have even had stable wind for an hour now.

Had it not been for the dry suit that is impossible to remove without assistance, I would have taken advantage of the torrential rain we had this morning and got a quick shower in. Of course this is entirely Anna's doing as she had a word with the wind gods the other day and said she would accept all the rain in the world for a favourable wind direction. Alas now everything we own is soaked so down below currently looks like a Chinese laundry with a washing line strung up around the engine box trying to absorb every bit of heat it produces.

We are now around 400 miles to go and on a northerly gybe for much of the day. We did our final time zone change this morning before the Azores and had Sunday brunch consisting of Cous Cous and tuna for Anna and Thai infused smash for me (aka smash and cuppa soup - a winning combination). The last packet of Jelly Babies are being saved for the final 100 miles, so we shall once again treat ourselves with a spoon of Nutella today.

In other news, we have both randomly developed salt sores in exactly the same place on our left hands, we have probably only got half a baby wipe each left, we are down to 6 litres of drinking water and about 5 of cooking water, we saw our first pod of dolphins yesterday and we have been quite amused by our multi functional bucket - no room for anyone squeamish about strict hygiene in here!

Despite the fact that we are both keen to get in to port, there is also that feeling that the first part of the adventure is now coming to a close and in some ways we don't want it to end. Just three weeks ago we didn't have a boat, yet in that short space of time we have nearly finished our qualifier, right on target with what we proposed back in December. Let’s hope that the next stage of the project is equally as thrilling - there is no turning back now!

POS @ 1252 UTC 35 11.2N 035 57.9W

Hannah & Anna