The Calm after the Storm

Following our escape from the low pressure system that gave us a lot of trouble last week, we had the chance to sail Cape Arrow through a dead calm, which gave us the chance to lick our wounds .

We had the engine running for 36 hours and had the chance to dry our gear, have a shower,  run a couple of washing machines and fix all the little damages that occurred during the storm. As soon as we finished, with a perfect sense of timing, the wind started blowing again. We happily hoisted the sails and finally switched the engine off.

At the moment we’re sailing a bit lower than our straight route as we would like to avoid the tail-end of the second low pressure front.

In a couple of days we should hook on to the NE tradewinds with 25 knots that will bring us quickly to destination. At first we should get some close hauled sailing and later the winds should gradually shift aft to become a broad reach.

Despite the challenging conditions we met last week, morale onboard is good, as we are stacking up a lot of miles, cruising at 11 knots with 18 knots of wind. Our current position is 24.10,4N and 029.57,8W.

We didn’t even lose our temper as the last little "tragedy" occurred onboard. Yesterday Captain Fabrizio fought for more than 50 minutes with a massive blue marlin. He spent so much time winding the reel in that he got cramps to his arms, and when it seemed we finally had him the fish was so heavy that it bent the fishing hook and we lost him! A frozen silence fell onboard for a while, but our smiles returned again soon thanks to olive focaccia and pizza made by our great Sophie!