As we finally reached the half way mark of our Trans Atlantic odyssey – we marked the day in style as ever in a number of ways.

Beam reaching at 9-10 knots, getting lots of southerly and getting closer to St Lucia every day – we have opened a “book” on when we will arrive, but Saturday / Sunday looks hopeful, if the wind holds up. Alas our weather router is predicting the winds softening… so watch this space. We do feel a lot better about the competition who headed north and we had to suddenly alter course today to avoid hitting a whale, not an every day occurrence.

We have now been at sea for 7 days, so we all spent a few hours on housekeeping – which on an Oyster 72 is always a little different. With pink sailcloth threads from our repaired spinnaker still littering the cockpit we resorted to using the vacuum cleaner (well done Adrian) as part of the preparations for this evening’s halfway party. Admiral David granted us all permission to have 2 showers today – what a treat (for some, a first). Gary looked a lot more relaxed on his rig check today – stopping to pose for photos on the spreaders – looking like the salty sea dog he is.

Then to the main event, our half way party – for which invites were issued to our cabins – slipped under the door in the case of those resting. Dress code was ” half way” – as you can see a great effort was made by all.
Traditional Sunday dinner of roast beef with all the trimmings in the main saloon accompanied by fine red wine – well done Jens – followed by various phone calls home to family.

Nick committed to quit smoking (at last) as it is a long way to the nearest shop and the remaining smokers vowed not to support any contraband activity.

We closed the day with a reminder that although half way, the risks of sailing the oceans remained the same, and not to let up our vigilance for safety, chafe & speed.

Nick