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Yesterday we passed the thousand-miles-to-go mark and so it’s all down hill from here. The seas have moderated a bit and we’re running more downwind and life on board is a bit more civilised. Vanessa even managed to make soda bread yesterday, which was excellent. I had some for breakfast this morning with pineapple jam, the closest thing the Galapagos has to Frank Cooper’s thick cut marmalade.Things had sunk fairly low on the culinary front prior to yesterday, with lunchtime hot dogs marking the nadir.

We passed the halfway mark yesterday. When we reached the halfway point crossing the Atlantic, we had steak, pepper sauce and chips to celebrate. We sat at the cockpit table and I even had a glass of wine. If we didn’t have photographic evidence to prove it, this memory would be filed with all those others that have been embellished by the passage of time, like those endless sunny days that made up a childhood summer.

We are in the middle of nowhere. I’ve just checked the chart and we’re now closer to Easter Island than the Galapagos, although to get there we’d have to do a sharp left turn. I’ve always wanted to go to Easter Island, but the World Cruising Routes book (aka “Destroyer of Dreams”) says that the wind and the current are in the wrong direction and there’s nowhere to stop when you get there.

We have just passed the 1,000-mile mark and so we are roughly a third of the way to Hiva Oa. That, and the fact the sun has come out after a couple of miserable, overcast days, has lifted the mood on Shepherd Moon. The seas have also calmed down a bit. It is still a challenge walking across the cabin, but you’re not being flung around quite so violently. The sea has also become a very attractive blue, so it no longer looks like the English Channel on a drizzly day.

There are many things that are frustrating about being trapped on a 48-foot boat for three weeks. You can’t go for a walk, for instance, and even the view outside doesn’t change that much. On the plus side, you are never more than a few quick steps away from the loo, which is a big plus when you have been suffering from an upset tummy since leaving the Galapagos. Jacob fell victim to the bug the day before we left, and being such a kind, considerate young man, he thought it would be only fair to share it with his father.