Blue Velvet Ocean

Today we felt a just a taste of what we hope is to come - sunshine and blue water. This afternoon the wave tops were more orderly, almost friendly even, the threatening nastiness left well behind.

A cobalt blue tinge appeared when the sunlight hit the water, and even a few sea birds graced us with their presence. Things are definitely looking up.

Our friend Chrome, back in Cape Town, has been talking to the swell gods about the nasty, quartering, South West swell, but he says the surfers must have got there before him! Nothing he can do now - we'll live with it, the frequency and severity is reducing.

In the afternoon we jibed over onto a more northerly heading, keeping us closer to the rumb line to St. Helena. The blessed winds have stayed with us, still at 18 to 20 knots, so we continue to make good time on our simple "mainsail only" no fuss rig.

On this starboard tack the galley works better, certain cupboards don't empty their contents on to the admiral when she opens the door, so the karma is good. So is the food - tonight I had venison (African buck) skewers with grilled vegetables, while the chef had Haloumi with her vegetables. We'll stay on this line for a couple of days I think, until the wind reduces on Wednesday and we have to seriously think about the big asymmetric sail to keep the boat moving.

Crystal Blues is at 23 degrees 17 minutes south, 002 degrees 58 minutes east. Course over ground is 313 degrees true, and speed over ground is 7.2 knots. Only 659 nautical miles to St. Helena.