Antigua Inbound Day 2

Hi everyone,
At noon today we are at 15 23N 040 27W sailing at 5 knots on a broad reach under double-reefed main and single-furled yankee.  The wind is E 11G15.  The seas are 1.5m with a long 2m N swell. The air temperature is 24C, water 26C and above are few small Cu. Our noon to noon daily run was 114nm.  We have 1233nm to go.

Christmas Morn

Yesterday afternoon was fun with our 'holiday' watch regime.  Nic and I both kept watch jointly.  That allowed us to listen to Christmas Carols and watch videos together.  For our 'happy hour' we had another slice of gingerbread, this time with evaporated milk and a tot of rum over the top.  As close as we could get to Christmas Pud with cream and brandy!

During the afternoon and until midnight we had a series of rain showers passing overhead.  Happily the wind didn't exceed 25 knots so we only had to furl the yankee.  Their biggest effect was the light winds in their wake.  Come Christmas Day the showers faded away and the sky cleared.  For the first time I could see the Southern Cross and the 'pointers' Alpha Centauri and Agena in the southern sky.  Familiar stars in the south vice 'a star in the east'.

Christmas Day dawned spectacularly as the photo shows.  Since then we've been busily making calls using the Iridium Go!.  Our plan gives us unlimited data and texts, and 150 minutes of phone calls.  We've rarely use the Go! for phone calls and it is working really well with little delay in the audio.

We continue to head SW to stay in good wind.  Winds are expected to be very nice for the next few days.  And the swell is predicted to decrease substantially over the next 24 hours.  Some champagne sailing to go with our rum-soaked Christmas Cake perhaps.

Merry Christmas!