Hello team,

How was your weekend, full of productivity or one just watching the world go by, while you slowly recharged the batteries for the coming week?

On a personal level, I had a mixed one. Initially full of frustration, over our second spinnaker destruction, when our Code 2 was pushed to its limits, racing side by side with PSP Logistics in the dark, early hours of Saturday morning, hitting great speeds. Then Sunday we managed to get ourselves truly wind holed, in an area of light winds that we knew were there but having seen Our Isles and Oceans and Dare To Lead sail through the area in around six hours, took the calculated decision to pursue that course. We ground to a halt, then drifted in always, occasionally in the right direction, as I am sure those following Race Viewer witnessed. We recorded a 0.7kt average over six hours, only to see PSP Logistics hitting an average of 4.7kts having crossed a similar area, southeast of us. Then I remembered it was 19 years ago to the day, (7 July), I was involved with the policing response to the terrorist suicide attacks in Central London. It didn’t take the frustration away, but it certainly put the whole wind hole situation into perspective.

The weather routing for us now is a decision around the lesser of two bad options. The big key factor is a developing ridge of high pressure that is shown to emerge towards the end of the week; that reaches from the northwest of Scotland, the Butt of Lewis, right the way down to the west coast of Ireland, around Friday and Saturday. Currently between us and the West Coast of Scotland is the centre of a high-pressure system. I was fairly confident that with our intended route northwards we would have beaten the developing ridge, but Sunday’s sluggish progression of 7.5nm in 15 hours has put a serious question mark over that. We could make progress in a more easterly direction now but would grind to a halt around Wednesday or Thursday. We will get to Oban, but not sometime soon, unfortunately. Now I haven’t been to Oban before or knowingly tried one of their malt whiskies, but the way I feel currently, it’s going to be one of the first things I do, and I am going to make it a large one!

The last 36 to 48 hours have been very typical North Atlantic, Battleship Grey skies and sea. No shorts have been seen on deck in the last 36 hours. As we inch further northwards (we are currently just north of Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel) there is a transition taking place below deck, as sleeping bags appear in bunk spaces. That has been not seen since being level with San Francisco on Leg 7. Not there yet myself, but could be by tonight's off-watch.

On some more upbeat news, Andrew has finally got to see a whale, unfortunately he was stowing rubbish in the lazaret, Andrew not the whale, when the whale, was along the side signing autographs, but was out in time to see it give a friendly wave and swim off. However, it did return nine hours later and enquired if everything was OK as we hadn’t moved very far!

Mel has successfully completed repairing the Code 3, a very impressive feat. Chris might have been a first-time kite ripper but he certainly did an impressive first go. Mel is now making the most of the flatboat and is now nursing the Code 2 back together. The faint whirring of the sewing machine drifts down from the galley, breaking up the sound of my two-finger typing and the thud of water as the waves hit the transom. (There is also the smell of some sort of cake being baked.)

Today, (8 July) it’s National Chocolate with Almonds Day, that’s a bit of a favourite actually.

Think that’s all for now, standing by this channel.

David, Maisie and the ‘drifting’ Bekezela Crew (UTC-2)

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