To Bermuda 3: One wheel on my wagon and ....

Well, more accurately, the wind finally died at around 1100 this morning local time, just after I had spent one and a half hours making a sail change to take account of an expected following light wind! That involved dousing the extra jib and hoisting the cruising chute and rigging one of the poles to boom out the genoa. The number of bits of string involved defy belief and it takes ages on one's own.

So, at the time of writing (1700 local time on Saturday) we're motoring at around 3.5 knots roughly northwards. There's the barest hint of a breeze from the East (even though the forecast says it should be from the South) but it's not enough to fill the lightweight cruising chute which is currently dangling from the mast head in its bright red sock for when the breeze does finally arrive...

On top of that, the engine is not on top form. It keeps faltering. So far it has always recovered, but for how long will it continue to do so? I suspect either dirty fuel was taken on in St Martin or there's water in the fuel. Either way, I think the first steps will be to check the oil/water separator and change the fuel filter, but it's just too dam hot and while its still going I think it's best to keep going north where tomorrow I should find some wind. If I'm lucky I'll get a nice gentle breeze tomorrow and can check out the engine while we sail along without getting thrown all over the place.

Last night was very pleasant. I 'slept' outside in the Cockpit under the stars. Whilst I didn't actually sleep until after 0200 it was a lovely sensation to be gliding along with the water gurgling down the side of the boat and the through-drafts from the sails keeping me cool. I even needed a light cover!

Not much else to say just now except that the sky has clouded over a bit and so I can sit in the cockpit without roasting!

Oh almost forgot, 556 miles to go (at 1730 local time)!