Position at 10.00 Friday 29th January
0736.851N
09354.623E
24 hour run from 10.00 28th to 10.00 29th 129 miles
758 miles to go

At 11.30 we turned the engine on and took the twizzle down. The wind had been gradually dropping over night and our speed had dropped to 3 – 3.5kts occasionally dipping to 2.7kts when we hit one of the ‘washing machine’ patches. The constant drone of the engine destroys the serene feeling of being at sea – and it’s boring!
As the sun started to dip below the horizon it was replaced with our old adversary – squalls. The radar was on and we tried changing course to avoid them but inevitably we got a soaking. Fortunately the lightening stayed beyond the horizon. The net was difficult last night with squalls overhead it was difficult to hear the transmissions. Nicone had been motoring for longer than us and had pulled ahead but to the south, Tintin have taken the northern route and were about 5o miles away, Inspiration Lady left harbour first thing and had spent the day motor sailing but with a 24 hour gap they won’t catch up with us until we get to Trinco.

Nicobar islands in the distance

Just after sunrise I noticed some islands coming into view on our port bow. They are the Nicobar islands that belong to Indonesia and are off limits to yachts, unfortunately, so we can’t stop for a few nights rest but have to keep going.
While Bill was sleeping this morning I watched the wind start to build again from the ENE, where it’s supposed to come from, and by 10.30 we had the main up as well as the twizzle sailing along at 5.5 to 6.5kts; that’s more like it.

Dolphins!

more Dolphins

There was a real treat this morning. Just after we’d finished messing about with the sails a pod of dolphins came to play. There were about 6 to 8 of them dancing and darting in and out of our bow wave for about 10 minutes. I sat on my new dolphin seat that Bill made me watching the delightful creatures; always beautiful to see.