Last 24 hours run was 189 miles. Hope you all noticed that Nelly Rose has had 2 earlier days of just over 200 miles. We have today put the clock back 1 hour. The Skipper took a unilateral decision to divide the Atlantic into 4 zones and we will put the clock back another 3 times. No doubt the round the worlders in the Tiddens family will correct him as and when necessary! The sad story of the broken fishing line is still verboten to be mentioned. He was not amused when I suggested a diversion to the Cap Verdes to buy more line! We have been sailing wing-on-wing now for 4 days and steadily being able to bear away to the West and are now steering direct for St Lucia if the Gods stay with us. Wind over the last 24 hours has been East and between 16 and 25 knots. Occasionally a little more. Nelly Rose is doing between 6.5 and 12 knots on boiling surfs. We average 7.5 to 8 knots  The rolling motion is a challenge – especially when Hanneke attempts to lay the table. Yesterday I caught a boiled egg as it attempted to escape and the catch would have been a credit to an English cricketer. As I blog, we have discovered a smell from the fridge caused by a leaking milk carton. P and H doing a grand job emptying and cleaning – I will keep out of the way! To celebrate our making a clock change – and because we’ll now have to wait an extra hour for our lunch – we have been handed a superb piece of fruitcake. Lekker! As the voyage continues we are finding the rythm of life easier. The watches are regular as is the evening meal and we are able to take sleep when we can. We have not seen another yacht for 4 days now but yesterday (Saturday) we were called up on VHF by Enya, a Hallberg Rassy 52, for a chat. They were 12 miles behind us then but when we tried to call them back 8 hours later there was no contact since Nelly Rose has been sailing so fast that we had left them behind and VHF would not reach. A lovely sunny day today and we are putting on suncream. Hanneke has put on her bikini top so it must be official that we have reached warm weather. Shortly we will start complaining about the heat…
Greetings from 19 degrees 16’North 026 degrees 37’West.
The crew.