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Yesterday saw us pass two major milestones. The first of these was going through the 1,000-mile mark, that’s 1,000 miles travelled since leaving Cape Verde. As well as being significant in itself, it also means we now qualify for full membership of the Ocean Cruising Club rather than just associate members. On the downside, it means we need to buy a new burgee (a small club flag - that’s not a flag for small clubs but a flag that is diminutive in size).

Yesterday was a day of multiple sail changes, as the wind shifted between southeast to east and we swapped between the gennaker and the Blue Water Runner (we are heading west; the Blue Water Runner likes the wind dead behind i.e. easterly, but the gennaker - which is faster, better behaved, and, most importantly, prettier - likes the wind with a bit of south in it. Who would have thought sails could be such prima donnas).

Still no wind! Much of yesterday was spent ghosting along in just 4-5 knots of breeze, and then when that got too frustrating, we would whack on the motor until the wind appeared to pick up again. I say appeared because it seems to be a universal rule of the sea that as soon as you put a sail up the wind dies and, conversely, as soon as you start motoring the wind increases.

How to judge a day? Yesterday was a great success on the domestic front. We ran the water maker for two hours and so got our water tanks full to the brim again, which meant we could all shower. It is difficult to explain just how nice it feels to be squeaky clean again after three or four days of feeling continually sticky. The problem is that no sooner have you dried yourself than the clamminess starts to creep back.

Yesterday started with a quick trip to the foredeck in the pitch black to re-tether the infamous Blue Water Runner. The ropes that hold the bottom of the sail to the furling chord had worn through and so it was impossible to furl the sail away. The sail was also working its way gradually up the furling chord, which was surprising given the sails affinity with the sea. Thankfully the wind was light enough that I could run some new lines to re-tether the sail.