It's been a nice morning watch this morning as a huge ship trundled past at a sedate and rather dignified pace. A pod of dolphins were playing around the boat and I had the smell of baking bread wafting up from below as I sat in shorts with a warm sun across the good ship Spirit of Mystery. Everything one could ask for but wind and a flat sea, for we have a huge swell rolling in from the SW and can only make a couple of knots. The only consolation being that it is in the right direction.

So where are we? Well Cape Town is a tantalizing 575Nm miles away which raises the possibility of catching Christmas in some form or other. If we are really lucky, and I mean really lucky, it could be late Christmas Eve and if we are unlucky it could be into Boxing Day. As ever it's all down to the wind Gods and all we can do is work at it and wait for better winds which are predicted for midday tomorrow. Today's goal is not to lose too many miles.

I guess we will be able to be a bit more precise with our ETA tomorrow but I am going to keep my powder dry out of sympathy for an arrivals sweepstake that Paul Moody has started in The Chain Locker, that great pub in Falmouth. It's a pound a go and proceeds are going towards Cornwall Playing for Success. We will take our arrival time as and when we round Cape Town's main breakwater.

Yesterday was one of those tired days that sometimes sneak up on you out of the blue. I was really hungry all day despite eating like a horse and missed my slot for the blog as I dropped into a dreamless sleep without realizing it. I'm sure it's nothing to do with being at sea for sixty days, for I feel like a lion today but I have to confess that we are all looking to a good night's undisturbed sleep in a comfortable bed. Another thing that we are all looking forward too is going for a long walk for you have to remember that we have spent two months living in the equivalent space of a small bedsit. The furthest we can walk is ten paces from the tiller to the bow.

Tonight looks like it will be our last Saturday and it needs to be for it is beer night and we have only one bottle of good old Cornish Ale from Skinners left. We shall toast the family for they have just landed in Cape Town and will be out tasting the delights of Cape Town. Come on wind you know what to do!

Cheers Pete

Well that was a long and trying night of hard work and little reward apart from a good laugh during the early hours of the morning. We only managed 45NM yesterday thanks to a light variable wind from every point of the compass coupled with rain and waves from three different directions. When three of them combined under the boat it felt like being on one of those stomach tugging lifts as we shot skyward.

The evening started out in good cheer for we treated ourselves to a big fry up with all the works; bacon, sausage, beans, tomato and mushroom omelette. This was to be washed down with a glass of red as a lead in to crossing the Greenwich Meridian. Precision is needed for a line of such magnitude so we flashed up the hand held GPS and waited and waited. It was so painfully slow that at two hundred meters out Mark decided to stand down and go and read his book. It was that bad!

On eventually crossing the line at 20.30hrs on the 16th Dec it was with a hoot of joy as we slipped from the western into the eastern hemisphere with a glass Red from 'Devils Corner Vineyard' that was given to us before we set sail. It comes from the Tamar River in Tasmania and as we built Spirit of Mystery on the Tamar in Cornwall, we have decided to sail from Melbourne to thank them.

By now it was getting late so we settled into the watch system for the night as we tried to coax as much as we could from breezes. With rain and a lumpy sea shaking the wind out of the sails steering was nigh on impossible and there was a few ripe words and pirouettes until we stopped dead. It was time to take the sails down and wait for some wind to find its feet.

One in the morning of the 17th saw the sails go back up to find that somehow we were two miles the wrong side of Greenwich! Don't ask me how for we had been pointing in the right direction all along. In fact it was so ridiculous that we found ourselves in stitches as we tried to get her moving again. So, have no doubt, after two shots at it the Good ship Spirit of Mystery has well and truly nailed the Greenwich Meridian.

It's now midday on the 17th and I am delighted to say that we have a breeze from the North that is giving us between three to four knots in the right direction. Our hope is to clear this fickle area of weather by tomorrow morning so that we can get back to the business of Cape Town.

Cheers Pete

Ding Ding, 162Nm of pure pleasure on the helm and all in the right direction. Good old Spirit of Mystery was in her element with the jib, fore lug and reefed mizzen as she trundled away at eight knots under a bright moon last night, she must have looked lovely. The squid obviously thought so for we had loads of Squid jumping on board for the ride. We are wondering what they eat for they seem to come to the surface at night - does anyone know?

As I type this Eliot is sat on the helm in the rain for we have a front catching up, and once it passes through we are going to have a day of head winds followed by a day or two of light variable frustration; just what we need with Cape Town 945NM miles away.

That's right we cracked the 1000Nm mile line last night and we should cross the Greenwich meridian sometime tonight. Andy has baked a cake to celebrate and we are going to work our socks off to get every last inch out of the next few days. Everything counts at the moment and we have set Thursday night as the night we come up with our first ETA for arrival.

Cheers Pete

The concluding fifteen minutes of my watch welcomed in the 15th of December and saw us cross the same line of Longitude as Newlyn. For us this is a big mile stone for it means, after 56 days of effort, we have only just started to make easting for Australia.

It is as if the vague proximity to home waters has heralded good old channel weather for the night saw us reefing down the big lug and changing the mizzen. The pressure had been falling and we strapped down to await a blow. As it turned out the night was lively but fast as we forged our way into a dark and forbidding horizon.

The sail changes went like clockwork and it struck me how we have settled into this new way of life that has denied us any sight of land for the last forty seven days. Our routines come naturally and allow the freedom to take in the wider picture while details are nailed with routine drills and quiet discipline. Half way through reefing the big lug Eliot found another squid tucked away by the bulwark. It was bigger than the last one and was determined not to let go of the sheet as I tried to return it to the sea.

Sundays are always a good day for it is in the evening that we have our brief weekly call home. Christmas parties are being had, bags are being packed and final travel details are being squared away for their flight to Cape Town. We have a family house sitting and the young boys are desperate to be shown how to feed the chickens and take Mindy for her daily walk. To say Tracey, Gina and the kids are getting excited would be an understatement.

Although distant, Christmas day still holds a glimmer of hope and we in turn are working our socks off for it. So it was with satisfaction this morning that we measured off the latest daily run of 165NM in the right direction. Well above the required average so we have put some distance in the bank to help cover the odd bad day.

Cheers Pete