Two days after leaving Cape Town we came upon the real south eastern trade winds and ever since we have been making extremely good progress. With twenty to twenty-five knots of backstay winds we even touched thirteen knots of speed. Admittedly that was in a squall and going down a mighty sea, but nevertheless….  We saw whales up close, dolphins of course, albatrosses galore and all sorts of other flying things unknown to a bird-nitwit like myself. We had a Tropic-of-Capricorn-crossing estimate contest which was won by Heather, of the voyage crew who was only six minutes off in her estimate. Meanwhile with the favorable winds the possibility of our touching on the island of Saint Helena has turned in to a near certainty so the new bet is on…..

Rudi