Yesterday continued in much the same way that it started. Sailing downwind with a steady 15 knots with a north-easterly breeze and averaging 10 knots of speed towards the Canary Islands. The favorable sea state provided the perfect conditions for Anne and Antonio, who were in charge of keeping the crew well fed to get baking and make something special. They beg me to supply the sweet stuff! I have been supplied with two litres of "dulce de leche" (Uruguayan national number one dessert) in London by the Punta del Este Yacht club to be used in special occasions during our voyage and kept in the safe to be protected against temptation. Pancakes and a brownies full of dulce de leche were made, eaten and enjoyed. I am sure we sailed so hard after for the rest of the day due to the sugar rush.

During the day, normal routine continued and just before we were about to start our happy hour (time we used to get together, share info and have a bit of extra fun) a pod of about 100 dolphins stole the show and joined us for about an hour, jumped, surfed the waves, played with the boat. So many of them, some adult ones, babies with their mothers, what it looked like playful teens. It was amazing, we took photos, cheered them, made pretending dolphin sounds. We completely forgot about the race and really enjoyed the moment.

We are sailing now through the Canaries (my home land) between the islands of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Las Palmas. Still dark but we can just about see the silhouette of Fuerteventura on our port side. This island somehow always has it’s wind, every time I sail by it. Pretty soon we'll leave the Canary Islands behind and move to Cape Verde and the infamous Doldrums. Stay tuned...

Kind Regards

Jeronimo