If you have been following our track, you will have seen our zig-zag course around the north of Bermuda. We had quite a pleasant sail in about 11-15 knots but because we were beating into it, our progress was slow and it seemed to take for ever to clear the reefs off the island. Also, the seas were rather lumpy, which made me wish I had taken a seasickness tablet before leaving port as I had intended. Helming seemed to cure me of the queasiness! Eventually, the wind freed up a little so we were able to finally head directly for our next way point that would hopefully lead us to some favorable Gulf Stream eddies, ahead of entering the Gulf Stream itself. The wind held out longer than we expected but finally died just before midnight to a point where we turned on the engine. And the engine is still on, as we expect it to be for the next day or so, that is, if it behaves. We are a little concerned about the engine because we cannot increase the revs above the current 2100
rpm. Howard changed both fuel filters which helped but it is still not performing optimally. As long as it continues to run, we should be OK …..

There are definitely other boats not too far from us. We saw two head on a slightly more northerly route as we departed Bermuda and this morning we heard sailing vessel ‘Far’ hail ‘Avocation’ on the VHF radio, though we can see neither vessel by eye or on the AIS.