1/2 way

We've now past 1/2 way having about 1260nm to St Lucia and logged about
1590 nm since Gran Canaria. Last night we celebrated with a bottle of
English Champagne (if that isn't an oxymoron) courtesy of Katherine
Gurney. She had suggested that we drink it on our departure from
Lisbon - which seems an ago now - but we were rather preoccupied with
the sea and wind at the time, so it was appreciated much more last
night.

We opened a box of assorted goodies from Ferry Hill this morning. A
fantastic assortment of treats. Fred was particularly keen on the
anti-shine skin cream, and the individual portion of demerara sugar
will surely be useful.

Last night we took down the big double-headed sail - now christened
'stingray' because of its shape - and just used a pole-out genoa. We
went a fair bit slower but it was a more gentle ride in the bows.
Putting up the stingray this morning was not a slick operation with so
many lines to get in the right place. It's there now, with only 1 line
going the wrong way, and we're moving well towards St Lucia.

As we were changing sails, Fred noticed a white rope streaming from the
rudder. The operation was halted while we investigated. As ever,
James was our danagerman and he strapped himself on and stuck his
head in the water over the stern. Jo pointed out that this could make
his lifejacket inflate about 1/2sec before his lifejacket did
actually inflate. He came up quickly and reported that the 'line' was,
in fact a small vortex of water coming off the rudder but could he have
some assistance to get back up because the inflated lifejacket impaired
mobility.

The mood of the Angling Soc has abated a bit. No fish yesterday and
none today so far, they're starting to question equipment, speed of
boat, time of day - anything to explain their lack of further success.