'Be careful what you wish for' would seem apt at the moment for we have had the most frustrating night with light variable winds and heavy rain. The word miserable would be about right as we were forced to watch Christmas slipping away on an hourly basis. It was so light at supper time that for the first time since Porto Santo we all sat round the table and had a meal together, and it was really nice. A taste of what beckons in Cape Town just over five hundred miles away.

Mark shook me early this morning for yet another laborious tack under a grey and drizzly sky. Once again foulies were dragged on in that foggy haze of disrupted sleep and we got too it. Half way through the job we looked up to see a group of birds sat on the water which included a couple of huge Albatrosses. One was very white and the other dark grey; the white one completely unperturbed by our presence paddled over for a look, and we were mesmerised by its sheer size and complete lack of intimidation. The tack could wait, for this was something special.

Later they joined each other face to face and started to gently rub each other about the neck and beak. This touching little cameo had us completely held with that spark of rare beauty that only intimate innocence between the sexes can create. One could not help but smile at such a lovely sight in what at the moment feels like an intimidating environment for we are about to get what we wished for and more.

The forecast is for it to really blow for the next couple of days with big sea's and gusts of forty knots from anywhere between NNW and SW, as a front passes through. So this morning has been really quite busy as we prepare for a good old 'ding dong' as we close Cape Town. The lamp glasses have been stowed, the spars lashed on deck and the dinghy has extra lashings on it. We have already reduced down to the small mizzen and working lug. By this evening we will be down to just the working lug with two reefs.

As the barograph falls away we have cleared the book shelf, dug out basic rations and tensioned all the lee cloths. The hatches have been dogged down, it goes on and on but I feel we are now ready and waiting. Waiting of course is the worst part for it plays on the imagination. The good news is that we should make up some of these miles that have been lost, and I wonder where we will find ourselves when we come out the other side. That said I am not going to push it for what we are about to face deserves respect. Come on 'Spirit of Mystery' let's get to it.

Cheers Pete

We received an email from an avid supporter of Spirit of Mystery - Stephen Veal from Stoke Climsland recently regarding Pete and the crew when they crossed the Equator.

You may remember that Pete asked everyone to take some time out and have a toast with their favourite tipple, a cup of tea, or even play with the children etc to share this memorable moment with them. Well, Stephen did something on a slightly larger scale, he and his wife Dawn didn't only toast the crossing of the Equator, they completed making a barrel of cider (54 gallons) and named it 'Spirit of Mystery'.

Thank you Stephen and Dawn for sharing that with us, and I hope the cider will be ready for you to drink in time for Christmas, and perhaps give a further toast to Spirit of Mystery and the crew when they arrive in Cape Town!

Cheers Mandy

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