At last a breeze!

Tuesday 13th March 2018 Position 20 32.76S 006 03.88E at 06:05 GMT
After 333 miles we still have 722 more to go to St. Helena, but at last we can turn the engine off as enough breeze has arrived to drive us in the right direction at 5 to 6 knots. With it has come heavy cloud, with curving rolls of low dark purple-black behind us like a series of monstrous shark's jaws reaching out to engulf us. Off to each side there are grey curtains of rain, which we have so far been spared.

I have been devouring Joshua Slocum's book, "Around the World Alone" with great pleasure, enjoying his writing style, his wry humour and above all the knowledge that he made his voyage without all the paraphernalia that we use today. No engine, no electrical systems, no satellite navigation. However, as I travel with him I realise that the main difference is that lack of engine. In those days you sailed into your anchorage, and sailed out again. Luckily I do have some experience of this from teenage years, and from sailing Widgeon on and off her buoy or anchor, so if all fails I can do it, as I did once with our Sigma 38 "Marta" when, with engine failure, I sailed into Portsmouth and onto our Gosport marina berth.

As I spend time monitoring batteries, puzzling over another elusive current leak and so on, it seems as though it would be so much less stressful to have an old fashioned boat like the "Spray"! The lure of the golden age of sail!