It put up a hell of a fight but we eventually hauled 4000NM miles kicking and screaming over the bow early last night. Well Mark did, originally we thought it would be Eliot's watch, then it slipped to Andy's and finally Mark's. This was because the wind was light and heading us through the night until we tacked in the early hours. After the tack I tucked myself back in bed and on thinking back over the hundreds of thousands of miles that I have done I can confidently say that those last thousand were the slowest thousand that I have had to endure. Endure perhaps is not the word to use for I have felt completely relaxed and at ease with things for we get there when we get there; it's become a way of life out here and not having Christmas hanging over me makes it so much less pressurized than the last leg.

Having slain 4000NM things feel a lot better in that the wind has given us a really nice reach all day, so it's been an easy ride with easy miles as we romp away at 6-7knts. I can't tell you what a treat it is to wake up to a vibrant motion and the sound of water running down the hull with a healthy gurgle. It's also a treat to see more than a couple of miles ticked off in return for two hours on the helm. In short, all is well on the good ship Spirit of Mystery as we get back to the business of Melbourne. In terms of paper mile stones we have two. The first is to reach the halfway fold in our present chart which spans from South Africa to the west coast of Australia, and the second will be to jump from that chart to one that takes us from the west coast to Melbourne. Three strides and we are there and I would like to think we will close to the first fold in about a week's time. Once there we will be in a position to make a tentative ETA.

Maintaining an even spread of rations across a long voyage such as this is always a challenge and anyone looking at my sleeping bag could be excused for thinking that I suffer from some kind of severe dandruff. The reality is that I have a net full of onions swinging above my head and over time they have shed their skin. Adding to the sense of compost like warmth once I am fully zipped up and snuggled down. This addition to my sleeping space is thanks to lessons learnt on the last leg where we realized that more fresh was possible and would add to our diet. Another winner, thanks to Andy's girlfriend Henriette is butternut squash which have a distinct and lovely flavour. With 3951NM to go I am pretty confident that we will have fresh for most of the way. That said we have already started to talk and dream about the food that we are going to enjoy in Melbourne. Can't quite taste it yet but it won't take long for it to creep into our dreams.

Cheers Pete

Another slow day I am afraid, we managed 30NM yesterday which is a mile more than our worst this leg so we are not down and out by any means. It's staggering to think that over the last nine days we have averaged 84NM a day or 3.5knts. We have 4037Nm to go.

Our hope of being on a roll today has been dashed in that we spent a lot of our time drifting with a very light southerly that only just filled the light sails. By lunchtime it died off and we could only just maintain steerage way as fog enveloped us in its cold and clammy embrace. Oddly enough this seemed to bring the surface of the sea to life with capsules, a bit like a long jelly bean floating by, new life developing its way toward a break out into the world. I also saw a small bug which could be described as a cross between a water beetle and a turtle swimming about. It was the size of a penny and I am sure would have made a good meal for one of the small birds that we see continually dipping the surface. On a grander scale Mark had a couple of large whales grace his watch.

Our port compass light has given up the ghost and I spent a couple of hours going through the circuit to eventually find it was a duff bulb. The devious thing would light up for a bit before going out and I didn't want to take it apart until it was absolutely clear that that was the problem. After an absorbing fiddle we came to the conclusion that it was for the bin and I am going to rig up a light that shines on the compass from under the bench seat. I also did a bit of whittling with a whittling tool that my Mum gave me for my birthday and really enjoyed it. One of the blocks now has Spirit of Mystery on it, bit wavy but it will get better with time I am sure.

We've just had a nice meal of Chicken Sauti, the fog has cleared, we have the big lug up again and although the wind is on the nose we are making ground. Tonight we will crack 4000NM to go and I can tell you that it has been one of the most elusive mile stones to date. The forecast is to have it back through the night so that we end up on the port tack, with 10knts and rising from the NNE to N and we can't wait to get the bit between our teeth.

Four seems to be a common number about at the moment for it is Mel's FFFFFFFThirtith birthday. So Happy Birthday from all on board the good ship Spirit of Mystery Mel and if anyone wants to know her real age, go and see Stubbles.

Cheers Pete

What two words did James Brown use to define the word Cool - James Brown? Such a cool answer and yes you've guessed it we have been playing Trivial Pursuit on deck in the sun with the tiller lashed and sails down. Sundays are always nice in that it's Pancake Day and present day which is always special for Eliot for it brings a bit of home in a package, and Trivial Pursuit was one of his presents from a few weeks ago. It's also our day for calling home and we have just had a chat which is such a weekly treat and a milestone that we look forward to. We used to call in the evening but now that we are four hours ahead of GMT we have just started to call mid-afternoon. All is well and Tracey is really looking forward to a dose of sun in Melbourne where I hear they are having a heat wave.

My last watch was really pleasant for I spent it sewing the secret weapon which now needs about an hour's more work to be done on it. Albatross were wheeling about and there was the smell of baking bread wafting up through the hatch thanks to Mark's efforts. The good news is that the forecast shows about five days of really good wind coming in overnight so we can enjoy today's make and mend in the knowledge that miles are to be had. It will be really interesting to see where we are when we next get the pancake pans out. A handful of days from today to half way would be nice if we can do it.

An additional routine to the grand scheme of things is that we call Falcon GT on the hour, every hour during daylight hours. We know they are in the vicinity as they overhaul us and the hope is that we will be able to have a chat or even see each other. I was convinced I saw their mast head light last night and stormed below for the binoculars only to find that it was a star that had just climbed above the horizon. If we do see them they will be the first vessel we will have seen since we cleared the Agulhas Plateau. I guess shipping passes further south as they chase down the great circle route.

Cheers Pete

Eureka; we have actually hit a mile stone in that we have crossed 50 degrees east which is our quarter way mark on this trip. I have to say it has been a long time coming, certainly a lot longer than we expected for we should have had much more wind and better progress down here than we have.

I guess things will change but at the moment it looks very stable with a day of bright sunshine just keeping the chill off and a steady barometer. It's amazing to think that we actually made better progress during the doldrums so we do need a change or we will be running way over schedule. I have no doubt that it will change but in the meantime we are reviewing whether stopping in St Paul is a realistic option.

I think the cold is because we have crossed some kind of convergence zone in that the sea is really very cold now. Below it's like living in a garage during the winter and we have noticed a sharp drop in the number of birds today. I have no idea but feel that this may well have some bearing on it.

'Talisker time' tonight, 50 degrees east might not look much on the chart but it has been hard earned and we are going to make the most of it.

Cheers Pete