Day 20, Atlantic Crossing

1230Z 06JAN19, Day 20, Atlantic Crossing. Yesterday we gybed to get a more southerly course. We continued to sail with the main and the jib. The wind was definitely up yesterday and the squalls were bigger. We sailed in 20-25kts and the rain cells lasted longer and had winds in the 30-35kts range. We sailed with 3 reefs in the main and reefed the jib when we were near and in the squalls. We avoided the really bad looking stuff and we have not seen any lightning in these cells. The seas have been big and uncomfortable in the squalls but mostly ok otherwise. The occasional bigger wave pushes us around a bit. Over night the wind fell and we shook out reefs, going down to 1 reef before sunrise. We also ran the engine for 2.5 hours to charge our batteries - with all the seaweed we just can't keep the hydro-generator clear and the wind and intermittent sun aren't keeping us charged enough. At sunrise we brought down the main and put up the asymmetric. We are sailing downwind and the winds are lighter, around 15kts now. The skies are sunny and clear.

Current Position: 15 03.7N 057 24.8W
24 hour progress: 143nm, 6kts avg SOG, 2797nm total progress, approximately 210nm to go.

We are all getting anxious to make landfall. We are calculating and recalculating what we have to do to arrive in daylight. The last 24 hours we have not put up the speed that we needed to ensure a daylight arrival. This morning we put up the asymmetric hoping to see some speed, but so far the winds are just too light. So we will need to aim for arrival at first light on Tuesday. Friends of ours that are there now say there are lots of fish traps and it therefore is not a good idea to arrive in the dark. So very close, but best to wait another day and have champagne for breakfast - at least the refrigerator is currently working so we can put it in to chill!

We have tried all we can try - just a little life lesson in patience, perseverance, doing what you can with what you get, and safety.