For the second time on our journey Guppy and I have crossed, coming from the West, the line between Eastern and Western longitude. The first time happened soon after our departure from the Netherlands when we were sailing in the British Channel. Now ‘Gup’ and I are being pulled by a light breeze from astern towards another knowned benchmark, the line that separates the Southern hemisphere from the Northern one, the equator… Happily this is still some time away, ‘Gup’ having on her bow 2300 nautical miles of South Atlantic Ocean water still to sail. So far this one Ocean has been good to us and with some luck things should stay this way… For now the steady Trade Winds blowing at between 10 and 20 knots are helping us make good progress. The days are still cloudy and without the stars or the moon shining the nights are darker. Really darker! So dark that I can’t tell the sea from the sky which is something I don’t like, preferring to see what is going on around me. In the daytime too the clouds can appear threatening even though they seem to be just hanging up there in the sky. But for all their placid, friendly and peaceful look I know by now how fast things can change at sea…

Laura