Current Position: 23 53N / 060 54W
24 hour progress: 130nm, 5.4kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 385nm, approximately 1865nm to the Azores.
We sailed yesterday with 1 reef in the main. Conditions were sometimes a little frustrating as we navigated around rain cells. The cells gather up the wind and sometimes the wind is from a different direction. There was a time or two when the winds dropped around a cell and sails banged around for a bit, but then the winds returned. Sometimes we made a direct course and sometimes we were more northerly.
Early in the night we had a very dark sky and put a second reef in the main while being rained on a bit. It turned out to be a small cell, though one of the first that we actually went through rather than around. The increased winds quickly dissipated, but we kept the 2nd reef in and continued to move well overnight. This morning winds were down and we shook both reefs out. We have been flying along under full sails in flat seas with 10-15kts of breeze. We expect the light winds and calm conditions to continue for a couple more days.
Everyone is adjusting well. Sea legs are established and we are starting to find our rhythms. Appetites are slowly returning and Megan prepared a wonderful dinner that rapidly disappeared. The boys each stood a full watch yesterday. Even so, we are all still a bit tired as we continue to settle in to passage life.
We've had a couple of cargo ships on the AIS but nothing close enough to see. We passed by a bucket, a short length of floating line and a piece of lumber. There are occasionally small bits of sargassum that float by, but it is minimal. The fishing line is out - still no takers despite plenty of verbal pleas from our youngest. We infrequently spot birds and flights of flying fish. The nights are starting to be a bit cooler but the days are still hot with us all hiding from the sun.
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