Very quick blog as we have had a long twenty four hours with a good old blow last night, and although a big drop in the wind today there has been a very confused sea making progress challenging. We have another blow coming in tonight with 50 knot gusts through the day so we are a bit preoccupied at the moment. We just want to get it behind us so that we can draw breath and get back to working on Cape Town.

An ETA is impossible until we have weathered the storm for we may well end up with warps out the back to slow us right down! We shall have to see. May not manage a blog tommorow but certainly will on Christmas Eve.

Cheers Pete

Ho Ho Ho! Only four days now to go before the big day! So, this is your last chance to purchase a very special present for that very special person.

The Spirit of Mystery medallions (pictured above) are an ideal Christmas gift for someone who has followed Spirit of Mystery on her journey to-date, and who would particularly like something not only relating to the project but to Cornwall too!

As mentioned on our home page, these beautiful limited released Spirit of Mystery commemorative medallions are cast from rare Cornish Tin recovered from the wreck of the SS Cheerful sunk off Land's end in 1885.

The oak presentation box has been hand-made in Cornwall from the same stock used to build the Spirit of Mystery. Only 1400 have been made and each one comes with a certificate signed by Pete.

If you would like the opportunity of purchasing one of these medallions and would like it delivered in time for Christmas, simply click on the SHOP naviagational tab at the right hand side of the page today.

Cheers Mandy

'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