Thank you Gina; when we took the families out for a sail Mark's Wife Gina made me promise to put a safety strop between the spars and the halyard hook. It's the sort of thing that you do anyway but Gina really underlined it as she was worried about one of us being brained by a falling spar and so the lashing has become known as the 'Gina knot'. Today it came into its own thanks to a pretty wild ride as we rattled through a large and confused sea with a reef in the big lug. The motion such that the hook slipped off and the spar was held by the 'Gina knot'. What could have been both damaging and a nightmare to sort out became a simple case of lowering it to deck, hooking on, and raising it again.

Whilst the wind has yet to back north of east it did manage to clock a bit more this morning and we could feel Spirit of Mystery stretching her legs a bit and were gratified to see that we had managed a 140NM run. Let's hope this trend keeps up and we start to see greater speeds with some easting creeping into our course.

We have an addition to our list of wildlife in that Portuguese Men of War have become really quite frequent and despite their reputation very pretty with their purple head crests glowing in the sun. We also had dolphins playing round the boat as we ate supper last night and although there are much less flying fish they make up for it by being about twice the size of their northern cousins. They always fly off into the wind, powering up the face of waves before gliding into the trough of the next one and powering off again, remaining airborne throughout, and managing anything up to 200metres over five waves.

The heat is oppressive at the moment and as a consequence everyone is a little lethargic and sleep tends to be fitful. We are not complaining mind but it would be nice to lose a couple of degrees.

Cheers Pete

The good news is that the wind has backed enough for us to arrest this worrying trend to the west, and that we have cleared the rump of South America. It's still a bash though and we have all had a tired day, apart from Eliot who is full of the joys and is bouncing about like 'Tigger'. The rest of us have been dropping into bed as soon as we come off watch and still waking up tired - I guess it's just caught up a bit. I had a shave and shower on deck this evening after a nap and feel great for it. The wind is determined not to back properly although it should have done so, and we now expect a further couple of days fetching before we are able to crack the sheets and let her have her legs. Can't wait as in theory we should be flying at the moment.

Eliot saw a huge Super Tanker yesterday and our question is: "How long is the longest Ship in the World?" If anyone knows the answer it would be great to hear from you.

Cheers Pete

Another long night with the wind up and down as rain clouds pass through. We have a reef in the big lug at the moment but it may well be taken out in the next half hour looking at the clouds. Eliot is happy as a bean and singing away as he dries the dishes for we have had pancakes for breakfast which is one of his favorites. You really wouldn't know that they were made with powdered egg and powdered milk so we have another winner on the list. I think Monday's may well become pancake day.

The struggle we have been facing of late is the need to get south and maintain a hold on to our easting and it has been both a worry and a frustration. It seems we are not the only ones to be suffering from the doldrums and the SEasterlies that have followed them, for I am told that the Vendee fleet is 250NM to the east of where they would like to be. The problem is three fold in that we are as close to the wind we can be with the short, steep and often confused seas that seem to be the norm around here. Any closer and our bluff 1850's bow stops us dead as we begin to hobby horse. On top of this we have a strong easterly current that runs between 1 and 2knts, so we are effectively trying to cross a conveyor belt and being a slow boat it has a far greater effect.

So we bash away, for that's all we can do, keeping a wayward eye on the rump of South America, for if we don't clear it I can't tell what a disaster that would be. The good news though is that as of this morning's fix I feel confident that we will crack it, and once we have done so the current should follow us round to help rather than hinder our progress.

The next big mile stone is to see the wind start to back and enable us to bring her nose up and start making some easting, for that's what we need to make Cape Town.

Cheers Pete

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