Last night we were trying to run down wind with the sails set wing on wing (genoa one side, mainsail the other) but the wind was very light, the seas lumpy and the crashing and banging was just horrible! We ended up turning the engine on and motoring all night – at least the noise was constant and the motion lass reminiscent of a washing machine – so we were able to get some sleep. I did best out of the whole scheme – went to bed at 3:30am and had to be woken this morning at 10:30! Finally I feel better.

However, Laurie did well to wake me – we set up the spinnaker and immediately set off like a scolded cat – at one point doing 9’s and 10’s consistently! The motion was decent too.

Now, Laurie says she can’t sleep during daylight, so I sorted the aft cabin out by fixing up some heavy drapes (towels) and turned the aft cabin into a cave. Fooled her brain into thinging it’s night and she finally got some decent sleep too.

This evening with a weather forecast that is taking the wind north east, we’ve decided to follow – so we’re back dead down wind – wing on wing 🙁  – but with flatter seas 🙂 – so hopefully Laurie will get some sleep tonight too.

We’re pointing right at Ireland now – but going rather slow – just 4 – 5 knots – but that’ll do. It’s certainly not going to be a fast passage – but uneventful would be nice!