Morning! Well it's been a fairly interesting 24 hours on the whole. We've had wind holes, and wind, as well as a little kitemare. The day started off with very light wind yesterday and we were struggling to make any meaningful speed - it was less sailing and more drifting for a few hours. The wind soon filled in though and we were set with our spinnaker for the majority of the day and last night. Early this morning we were changing spinnakers from the Code 1 (lightweight spinnaker) to the Code 3 (heavyweight spinnaker) missing out the middle man!
When the halyard for the Code 1 slipped and before we knew it we were trawling our largest spinnaker. The crew did a great job in retrieving it in and my past experience helped too - I've had that happen a lot! So, we got it back onboard in good order, not before the sea ripped the kite to shreds though unfortunately. We have quite a major repair to do, but fly again she will. Like a phoenix from the ashes it will rise again, even if it looks more like Frankenkite than fine kite!
Now we are cruising in 25-30 knots of wind with the Code 3 (heavyweight spinnaker) and we must have stumbled into some favourable current or something as the boat speed hasn't been below 14 knots since we've had it up! Definitely putting some miles under the keel now.
Other than that, there's not much to report.
On a more personal note it's a very special day today as it's my mum’s birthday. Mum passed away a couple of months after I returned from my first Round the World at the end of the Clipper 2013-14 race. Over the years invariably I have been at sea for her birthday and it was always tradition that she would get a call from me via sat phone. Sorry I can't call this time mum, happy birthday, I love you.
TTFN
M