A journey of contrasts, the wind dropped off completely leaving us with no choice other than to kick in the motor for a while, the thought of wallowing around for days on end not particularly appealing. The call of Caribbean punch is luring us on and as soon as a consistent breeze arrived we hoisted the kite with relief.

It was movie day today, popcorn and Pulp Fiction on DVD as those of us not on watch escaped the oppressive heat in our airconditioned cabin – aaaaah! Time off-watch is also spent reading books, kicking back on the sailbags topside and simply staring out at the indigo ocean. Tonight it’s quiet, barely managing 6-7 knots but we are hopeful of a hike in windspeed around midnight. Last night we opened a bottle of Tatachilla red…a fine South Aussie wine sacrificed to the cause and didn’t it taste great! The gourmet kitchen was taken over by Anita and myself tonight and we scraped together a meal in spite of the G&T’s. We’d love to hear from more yachts, or even see some, but it’s all quiet on the north-western front at the moment.

Traci Ayris