Atlantic Blog #3 - Wednesday 26 November 2014

We are already into our third day and routine is settling down.  Our watch system has fallen into a 4 hour paired watch overnight (8-12 midnight, then to 4, then to 8 am).  Deb and Johnny, Danny and Tanya.  Makes for less disturbance at watch change.  Seems to be working.  Sundowners leads into supper, leads into an hours rest for the oncoming watch at 8pm who do 2 watches overnight.  Today we had brunch at 10am, a recipe of fried potatoes, beans mixed with cheese and worcester sauce, and fresh damper, which was out of this world. Thanks go to Susie for the beans recipe, and the Australian bush tuckerman for the damper (Deb's traditional fare).  We have enjoyed great winds today, steady at around 18-20 knots.  This morning we headed mostly SSW with our poled-out genoa goose-winged.  This afternoon we put a little more west in our course, and now are romping along at an average of 8 knots on a broad reach.  The moon is quarter full on the rise and casting a long glow on the waters, leading us on a 250' course.  It is superbly quiet down below.  With a hearty diet, lots of air, sleep is deep and fullsome.  Battery power has been an issue today, though we managed to bring the State of Charge back up to working level, and with his electrician's expertise, Danny sorted the solar panel supply.  A broken mainsail track car is our one outstanding casualty to which we will apply G5 tomorrow, otherwise it's one reef in the main all the rest of the way!  St Lucia is 2376 miles away.  383 miles under our belt as I write (9.15pm).  We are in good heart.