POS: 22d 32'S, 23d 35'W
Some of you may be following us on the official Heineken Cape to Rio tracker website & you may be wondering why we're going we've come up north - again! (We're now at 22d 30' south when Rio is down at 23d 00) Well if you are super into the race, you'll have checked out the latest weather pattern files for this section of the mid Atlantic & starting today, at 23d S there is NO wind!! So we're hoping with this little mission to scamper over the top of the windless zone. Sailing out here has been beautiful. Last night was a perfect night of sailing as described by our skipper below & for the first time in a while there are even fish out here! Yesterday we hooked a HUGE Dorado & the boat was in chaos as everyone scampered to see it. The beast jumping around on the end of the line must have been a metre long at least & pulling it in by hand just didn't look to be possible. So we waited for it to tire out... and well, let's just say we may've waited a little too long. When Murray next went up to inspect the prey, it was gone. Vanished. Retrieval of the lure found a bent hook! Next time ;-) We estimate this time next week we'll be in Rio. So stay tuned!
It is not often that one finds the conditions so perfect for sailing that even at the end of a watch from midnight to 5h00 it is with reluctance that you relinquish the helm to the next watch. Last night was like that, coming on watch, I exited the cabin to be greeted with the magnificent canopy of stars that lit up the sky bright enough to read by, a gentle 15 knot breeze of warm air, perfectly angled to make trimming of our spinnakers unnecessary, a flat sea completed the set. From behind the helm it was, well you can guess? - Skipper Derek Shuttleworth.
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