Soaked!

Day 8 of the Return Trip

Greetings from an entirely wet Ciao Bella!

The past 24 hours have been filled with some very successful sailing, most importantly, in a homeward bound direction. Our day started with a modest 12 knot breeze coming out of the north east, but as the day wore on, the wind built substantially, reaching a rough 25 knots by nightfall. Although good gains were made, it was during the night that things really took off.

As of 10 AM UCT time this morning, our 24 hour run stood at 170 odd nautical miles. Most of this was accomplished a few hours either side of mid night in some solid breeze averaging 25-30 knots. A sizable 3m swell over our starboard quarter allowed for some fun surfing with speeds regularly exceeding 10 knots. Personally I attribute this impressive performance to our lunch and supper intake yesterday - deliciously fresh dorado!

As you would expect, we woke to a rather wet boat and this gloomy overcast day does little to enlighten the prospects of drying anything out. Never the less, the mood is good onboard and we are all chuffed to finally be making some solid ground in a homeward bound direction, even if it means another night of wet clothes.

Thanks to everyone for the messages so far!

Dave