We are in our last day at sea for this leg. The last couple of days have been quite a contrast. Yesterday we were heading into the wind blowing 18 - 28 on starboard tack, not quite making our lay line to Bermuda. We had a 7 kt current in the wrong direction. The waves were choppy and the swell steep and only 3 seconds apart. In spite of the wind we were often stopped in our tracks. Translations: we were going up and down like a hobby horse. Today the sun rose to really light westerly winds of 3-4 so on went the motor. The wind is picking up slightly and may soon allow some peace and quiet of sailing. The weather has has cooled as we head north and we now need long pants and sweaters at night. The water temperature has dropped 10'. We have just passed the 800 mile mark with about 70 left to go. Showers for both of us so we can enter civilization again :).
We are have some issues with the Max-prop and have arranged to have a diver look at it and grease it in Bermuda. I have been looking at the rankings. It will be interesting to see how they all turn out. We each get a penalty based on the number of hours and miles we have motored. We need to balance this with the amount of time we want to spend in Bermuda. The actually race finishes at 12:00 tomorrow although everyone will be welcomed whatever time they come in. For us it looks like 0'dark:00 tomorrow morning. The Bermuda radio will pick us up about 50 miles out and once we can connect with our radio - about 25 miles, they will guide us in. It is a safe harbour to enter and they encourage sailors to enter in the dark rather than risk one of the many reefs. Customs is even open until midnight.
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