Thursday 30th August

At Sea

20 27.011 S
163 02.986 W (at Midnight)

As the night wore on we were blessed with a clear sky and a few stars, the moon was just past the full stage and was still very bright. We continued to do 6 knots for the rest of the night. Dawn was getting later as we headed further west – it was getting close to time to move the clock back again. We eventually ate breakfast when everyone was up at 09.00hrs and then put the fishing line in the water – ever hopeful! By early afternoon the wind dropped to 12 knots and we began to wallow rather than sail, our speed dropped to 4.5 knots and it became a trying sail. Unfortunately things got worse and by early evening the wind had dropped even further, now down under 10 knots and the swell had dropped to 4 ft; our speed was now at 3.5 knots - in a good moment! We pulled the fishing line in at sun set, having failed to catch dinner – it’s a good job we aren’t relying on our fishing skills to feed us! The moon and stars put in their appearance and we continued to wallow along. The auto pilot was very thirsty and we kept having to top up the transmission fluid at frequent intervals all night.