Yesterday was a good day for it offered a window where we could draw breath and have some time for a bit of TLC. The sun was out for the first time in a while and we all had a good old wash and shave on deck to be followed by clean undies and thermals - absolute bliss. It's not quite the tropics where we would drown ourselves in bucket after bucket of warm water but the result is just as good. We followed that up with our first meal where we all were able to sit down and break bread as a crew. Up until now the helm has had to remain on his own on deck while the rest of the crew eat below although one us often holds back so the helm doesn't have to eat on his own.

This trend in the weather remained through the night with the most amazing night sky crisscrossed by loads of shooting stars. The wind was fickle and we had to coax for every mile we could get which meant a couple of gybes and sail changes. The big lug received a rip during one of these so it was out with needle and thread for some herringbone stitches. The repair looks as pretty as a picture although I might put a patch on at a later date. It still staggers me at how little wear and tear we have seen in the sails and running rigging. A credit to Patrick Selman who made the sails and this simple rig.

Unfortunately a murky drizzle swept through just after dawn so we were denied a look at the eclipse which is a real shame as we are in a good position to make the most of it. This afternoon the sun came out again and we have been able to enjoy an easy day with light airs from aft. I have been trying to catch up on administration - just can't get away from the office. Andy baked some bread and it was Eliot's turn to cook tonight so we enjoyed one of his noodles. The starter was popcorn with Golden Syrup mixed in.

This is a place of contrast for it's either full on or off; windy one day and calm the next which makes it hard to get into a rhythm. It seems that we are going to have to head down to 42 degrees to avoid a high that has decided to head south in the next couple of days. There's never a dull moment.

Cheers Pete

We have had the oddest twenty four hours for they haven't delivered what we expected. Indeed it has been a period of conflicting signals and little substance. We went into a very dark night with the pressure easing and the oily calm being broken by a wind from the NE. I had the evening watch and as day was swallowed up by night the cloud level dropped and the darkness was such that even the feeble compass light was able to cast its influence as far as the deck at my feet.

On glancing up I saw an area of about ten acres of light on the water ahead and my flash assumption was that the moon had broken through the clouds. This of course could not be the case for moon up is late at the moment and glancing aloft the cloud was as thick as ever. The next surprise was the sea around Spirit of Mystery lit up; literally, it was as if an underwater light show had just been turned on. It had a green hue, was quite beautiful and really very bright, enough to put the boat into silhouette. It's something that I have never seen before but the phosphorescence which was milky in nature had been agitated by the surface action of the wind. I'll never forget it.

Eliot took over as the wind rose so I spent his hour working on the deck until Andy came up for his watch. By now it was really quite windy and we spent another hour setting her up for the expected blow. On coming below the pressure was plummeting and everything was doing what it should be doing. I turned in to try and grab some sleep before we were overrun by the big NE blow that we had spent the day waiting for. Sleep was elusive but a doze is better than nothing.

My next watch was weird for Mark shook me to say that the wind had died right off and we were wallowing about in a confused sea with torrential rain, the type of rain that has the intensity to bounce back up off the deck. The pressure was still falling steeply, had been for a few hours and yet we had not a breath of wind. The rain passed, stars started to show their face, a pod of big whales circled the boat venting in the darkness. There was a large swell and yet after two hours on watch there was still no wind and it was starting to fray. The pressure had bottomed out.

Come the morning we had an oily swell and bright sunshine between showers and still no wind. I have to say it's been one of the oddest twenty four hours I have had at sea. Come lunch time the wind started to pick up from the south and we now have about 25knts which is due to rise up to gale force through the night. What's been interesting is to see the effect of a southerly wind on a large northerly swell, the conflict making for a very agitated surface. Somehow we completely missed the nasty NE gale and things seem to have settled back to the patterns we are used too. Mark has filled us up with a dirty great pot mess and we are hunkering down for a long night.

Cheers Pete

We have had a really busy morning this morning as we drift about waiting for this blow that is on the way. The forecast is for 40knts with gusts of 50knts thanks to a depression that is going to pass very close to us. This means that not only will it be blowing from the wrong sector but it will also have considerable change in direction to throw up chaotic seas. Just the sort of thing to make your blood run cold and to fray ones spirits during this pregnant period in the waiting room.

The reality is that we feel in good spirits thanks to the experience that we have built up as a crew and the confidence that we have in Spirit of Mystery. It is also because we have spent five hours with all four of us working flat out to prepare everything down to the smallest detail. All the floor boards have been secured, the book shelves cleared, the sea anchor set up, batteries charged, spars lashed to the deck and emergency equipment checked out. The amount of work is incredible but the feeling of being prepared is worth every bit of expended energy. There is nothing below that has not been secured, stowed, prodded or thought about.

The forecast should see the wind starting to come in this afternoon from the NE and we will tack on this to make some ground to the N/NW. The hope is that this will make life a little easier once the depression has moved on. By midnight tonight it will be climbing from 25knts with gusts through to a full on 'ding dong' by dawn. Our aim is to keep plodding away until it gets dangerous to remain beam on to the seas. At that point we will reduce sail to just the storm jib out on the bow sprit, deploy the sea anchor in a bid to not lose too much ground in the wrong direction and retire below. In other words we will put the hand break on and wait for it to blow over.

This will be something that I have never done in my sailing career and it is with interest that I await the experience. I have always been racing light weight flyers that are better kept at speed down wind and able to beat to windward if it's from the wrong direction. I have read about lashing the tiller and going to bed as the boat rides it out and now here we are in the Southern Ocean with the conditions and the boat for the job. That's not to say I would have wished for the experience for nothing could be further from the truth. No sane man wishes for bad weather and the attendant risks.

The other aspect of all this, and it's very frustrating, is that in the final reckoning I suspect that coupled with the last two days of calm we will have lost a good five hundred miles or five days of progress. Painful enough as it is but particularly so as we have only just set out on what is a long leg for any boat, let alone a 37ft Mounts Bay Lugger from the 1850's. So cross your fingers for us during the blow, keep them crossed to bring fairer winds in its wake and I will get back to you once we have pulled through what is going to be a testing experience.

Cheers Pete

Well I never thought I would be in shorts and flat becalmed a week out of Simons Town but that is the state of play this afternoon. Poor old Spirit of Mystery is wallowing about in a confused and lumpy sea as we wait for the weather to sort itself out. It would appear that we are to have a further day of calm followed, of all things, by blow from the easterly sector so progress is on hold for a few days. Indeed we may well go backwards for a bit.

It's a bit of a shocker really as we had hoped, indeed, expected to be reeling the miles off for Melbourne. Still that's the lot of a sailor and there is nothing we can do about it but keep spirits up and deal with things as they come along. In the meantime we have been working through the job list and making good for some rough weather.

Now to Cape Town; a big thank you goes to Gavin and Denise Levy who I met during the British Steel Challenge. They are a lovely couple, indeed family now and it was their house that Tracey and I stayed in with the kids. Unfortunately we didn't manage to organize a family get together as Gavin and Denise were away up the coast at their beach house but I did get to see Gavin just before we left. We would also like to thank Stubbles and Mel for becoming such good friends and being so supportive. Stubbles runs the water taxi in Fowey so we will be seeing them on our return home. One of Stubbles hobbies is making lucky necklaces with million year old sharks teeth from his beach rambles. We are all wearing them. Tip of the day - whistle on his taxi and see what happens!

Today Eliot and I did an interview with BBCSW and Eliot managed to get completely tongue tied and has been squirming with embarrassment ever since. They are visiting his class to do an interview and his mates have been on his mind ever since. So to Miss Bell and Class 10BL he has asked me to send his best through the blog and that he is looking forward to seeing you all in May.

Cheers Pete