Tuesday morning, June 24

On a long port tack we have seen only one race boat, Aurora. We followed him most of yesterday and although slower, she can point much higher than we. If we stay on our present course and maintain the same winds, we will end up 90 miles wide (west) of Bermuda so something clearly needs to be done. But the what depends on how the winds change. So far, the grib (gridded binary) have not been very accurate.

At times yesterday, we had too much sail: rail buried, and water, turquoise water, above the cabin windows on the leeward side. Out of prudence we put in a double reef and with that markedly reduced sail area, our speed of over 8 kts was maintained. When the wind fell off to 15 kts in the late afternoon, the reefs were shaken out and we maintained boat speed of 7 - 8 kts.

More dolphins frolicking and flying fish flying.

Dinner: goose stew over rice following the recipe from the book, After the Hunt. It was prepared in a slow cooker and then frozen. Rich taste.

Over the night, the wind quieted. Aurora, whom we had been gaining on steadily, quickly outpaced us in the light winds of about 8 kts. Whisper has an aversion to such whispers of wind. We are still moving but on this tack will be 90 miles from Bermuda when at its latitude. The problem is that on the opposite, starboard tack we will be sailing away from Bermuda. A change in wind would be welcome.

Wednesday night or Thursday are most likely finish times.




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