Apologies for the lack of a blog yesterday but the day just seemed to run away with itself, and come last night I just needed some sleep as I had to be up at 0200hrs and was tired. There was no real reason for it to busy it just was, a couple of reefs here and there and life being generally hard work as we bump and bang our way south close hauled in a lumpy sea. Time was also soaked up by sorting out the pictures and firing them off via our poor man's satellite system which means we spend a lot of time trying to line up the aerial.

So was the Equator good? I can tell you it was brilliant as we slipped over the line at 2310hrs on the 21st of November 2008. It was Mark's watch and we only just made it on deck as we were all a bit groggy, so it was actually both Mark's and Eliot's hands on the tiller. The champagne was popped and shared out once Neptune had been given his splash. It's hard to describe the quiet satisfaction of the moment as we work towards our ultimate goal of Melbourne; particularly if you go right back to our start point as we tramped round the local woods with a chainsaw looking for fallen oak to make this beautiful craft that has become our lives.

As a rooky crew we have also come a long way and it gives great satisfaction to see how we have all gelled and learnt how to perform and enjoy this new life that we lead. Don't forget that Andy was a casual sailor and Mark started with a four day dinghy course, and here he is navigating by the heavenly bodies. Eliot had done very little sailing and yet he is standing his night watches all on his own and really enjoying it. So it was great to have that line crossed and a gratifying hand shake all round as we downed a glass of warm bubbly that was given to us by Vikki Penny just before she passed away.

I could go on and on with reflections so far and what we have missed but thought I would start by running through a few things that we haven't missed. We haven't missed the TV, shopping, the radio, traffic jams, papers full of economic gloom, the weather that you will be having, the endless grinding deadlines of modern life, Christmas must have deals and junk mail. The more we immerse ourselves in this simple life, the further we are happy to be removed from the unreal and corrosive side of modern society that we have created. Last night I was on watch under a star studded sky streaked with shooting stars and a bird spent an hour trying to land on the pitching deck. Its antics had it flying just above and around my head and yet it couldn't quite connect in the limited light. I rolled down my sleeve and held out my arm for it to land on my hand. Can you believe it, there I am in the middle of nowhere and a wild bird has just landed on my hand. It was a magic watch and such a thrill to feel its brief grip on my finger.

Of course the things that we really miss and it can be a physical ache at times are the important things in life. It starts of course with family and friends and there is not a watch that goes by without thoughts of home and loved ones. I am always thinking of them and coming up with little ideas that I am going to do for them when I get back. I also miss those simple pleasures that count; walking along the coastal path at Rame Head with Tracey and our dog Mindy. Our first cuppa of the day, cutting the grass, a glass of red and a chat in the evening, collecting the eggs from the chicken house, spending time with Livvy and Alex. Those are the things that I miss.

One of the thrills that the equator bought was the fact that we have made a big step towards our reunion in Cape Town and it now feels like we are counting down rather than up. Christmas is tight but still possible and we are all hoping that the wind Gods will make good the frustrations of the northern hemisphere where we had to work for every mile. The original crew knocked off the equator a good five days ahead of us. If we match their time to Cape Town from the Equator we will arrive on Boxing Day so we only need to claw back a couple of days and Christmas is in the bag, so cross your fingers and toes. My hope, and it is a hope, is to make it for my birthday on the 22nd as this would give us a little time in hand and what a present that would bring with a big family hug.

It was with these things on my mind that I toasted you all at 1800hrs with a dram of 25 year old Talisker. And by the way, it's the box that has to live up to the contents not the other way round!

Cheers Pete

Today has been the hottest day so far, unpleasantly hot and the rays are quite ferocious so we are being careful about sunburn. In fact we rigged a sail bag above the helm as an awning for protection. The winds have been good although this morning they were up and down a bit so we were popping reefs in and out. At one point the sea became really confused and sure enough on looking at the chart we were over another seamount.

Excitement has been building all day over the Equator and I recon we will cross it at about 23.30hrs GMT so our big Talisker toast will be tomorrow evening at 1800hrs GMT, so make sure you think about what you are going to do to make yourself and someone else smile. I have a tradition of putting the youngest crew member on the helm for the crossing so we will be under Eliot's capable hand as we sail from one hemisphere to another. The champers has been looked out and we can't wait as it is such a big and hard earned milestone for us all. There won't be any dirty baths or head shaving as I have never really liked that sort of thing. I would much rather laugh with someone than at them.

I don't know why, but we seem to be a magnet for stray birds for we have had another one join us today. Much bigger than the last one and it has the most beautiful eye's. Looks a bit like an egret so it really struggles on the deck with its long legs. Another oddity out here in the middle of the ocean is a couple of rocks, the very tips of a great seamount that stick up just above the surface. I am glad to report that although they were right in our path we were lifted above them and they are now behind us. If you are interested they are called 'Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo' or when translated Peter, Paul and I'm not quite sure what they have done with Mary!

Cheers Pete

Today has been a good day for many reasons and the first one is that we have just celebrated our first month at sea with a bottle of good Cornish Ale from Skinners. This washed down an amazing meal by Andy as we sat on deck in the mellow light of a beautiful sunset and reflected on the voyage since Newlyn. It is always hard to be sure but my feeling is that it is also the day that we put the Doldrums behind us as we have had a steady gradient wind build throughout the day, and the clouds have just been clouds without the terrible two's of the past week. The boat has dried out and it has been a joy to sit on deck with a delightfully blue sea and a steady speed.

One of the highlights has been the arrival of a land bird looking for a sanctuary. I can only think that he came out this far on a ship and made the mistake of leaving it in the vain hope of making a landfall. Eliot has named it Edgewin and we have had such pleasure out its company. Every now and then it took off for a flight round the boat before coming back into a crash landing on our pitching deck. At one point it landed on Marks shoulder and I managed to get a great picture which we will send off in a few days time. Sadly he decided to make off this evening and we are all worried for him.

One point of interest during my afternoon watch was that we sailed into what looked like a tide line with a very disturbed area of sea running diagonally across our course, much like a tide line off a Cornish headland. It could only be two great currents meeting or something under the surface. Looking at the chart it was apparent that we were right on the top of a seamount and it must have been an upsurge from that. Really interesting to see and a clear indication of the volume of water that these great ocean currents must shift, particularly when you think that the top of the mountain is 930 metres below the surface.

As an aside you might like to know that we are now closer to Brazil than Africa and that the Equator, our big one, is now 130Nm away so get ready for that toast.

Cheers Pete

As I sit wallowing away at two knots and look back at the trip so far it strikes me that the wind Gods have not been completely on our side during this voyage. This is my fifth time through the Doldrums and I can safely say that it has been the worst by far and we have as yet to clear them. That said we did see a gear change yesterday evening. After a day of squalls and heavy rain the sky allowed a peep of blue to show through the oppressive grey that we have been suffering this last week.

Sensory deprivation made it all the more vivid and it bought a lift of spirits as we slipped out of foulies and dried off; a joy after being perpetually damp for so long. The night saw a few showers but this was more than made up for by a bright moon and star studded sky. Our world, closed down under a carpet of grey was stretching itself and expanding into a gloriously vivid and vibrant expanse. Even the flying fish have started to fly again.

The sea, in sympathy with this new order, has calmed a bit and has been joined by a large swell from the south east as the South Atlantic high starts to show its influence. That huge great counter clockwise engine room revolving across the ocean like some merry-go-round. A merry-go-round that we hope to jump on as we cross the equator and jump off again as we close Cape Town. It feels so close and yet so far as we struggle south, fighting to keep as much easting as possible to clear the rump of South America.

Although the Doldrums have been bad they have not been as frustrating as in the past because we are not racing. There is nothing worse than being becalmed in the knowledge that the competition, no more than thirty miles away could be creaming away at ten knots. This time I have actually been able to enjoy the intensity and diversity that it has to offer if you take the time to stop and look.

This morning I was lucky enough to catch the dawn and for once the sun was able to show its face through the clouds. I named one of the clouds 'Jess' after the family Labrador that we had on my parent's small holding. She was a lovely dog and one of her quirks was that you could stand in a lovely dry five acre field and she would choose to sit on your foot. The cloud grew over an hour and a half and you could see its downpour from miles away. Every course change to clear it was thwarted by a change of its own. This cloud, with hundreds of square miles to choose from was going to rain on Spirit of Mystery, a 37 by 12ft moving target with yours truly sitting on top.

I donned my follies and sat with a wry smile and thought of times past as it did its business from above, the early morning sun able to shine underneath it's base to turn any droplets into jewels of reflected light. It suddenly struck me that as a youngster I used to walk with that old Labrador amongst the very oak trees that made the capping rail, glowing with its wet sheen; another little cycle of life within this great merry-go-round that we find ourselves.

Life has its peaks and troughs and anything hard earned should be both anticipated and celebrated and as a marker for many things, the Equator is a big one. We step from one hemisphere to another, the sun will soon be behind us, we change charts and in a sense it is our half way point. Its significance has grown through time and effort and so I have decided to open 'The Box'. An early Christmas present if you like.

'The Box' needs an introduction. We had the pleasure of taking Paul Walsh for a sail out of Falmouth with a group of friends. Now Paul is both a great guy and the Big Cheese at Taliskers parent company Diageo. As he left he gave us, with some reverence, a parting gift in the form of the most exquisite Oak Box. The type of box that will stay with you for life and it contains a bottle of 25 year old Talisker in a leather case with Spirit of Mystery embossed on it and a couple of neat glasses.

I gave him a Spirit of Mystery Tumbler in return and we promised to toast each other at a significant point and it's going to be the equator. So Paul, wherever you are in your globetrotting life at 1800hrs GMT on the day we cross the line have a dram with us. In fact I would like to share the moment with all those that follow the project. Grab your favorite tipple or mug of tea, toast the good Ship Spirit of Mystery and spend ten minutes reflecting on something to lift your spirits along with and someone else's. Book that romantic meal, bake a cake, pick up a load of box's from the supermarket, clear the front room and make a space ship with the kids, turn off the telly for forty eight hours and see what happens.

In turn we will have a very special dram of Talisker as the sun goes down and wish you all fair winds.

Cheers Pete