Day 20, Falkland Islands to St Helena

1030Z 04APR22, Day 20, Falkland Islands to St Helena. Yesterday the weather was mostly cloudy with only short portions of sun. The boat is getting quite warm and we've continued to sail hard.

Current Position: 30 28S / 016 06W
24 hour progress: 162nm, 6.75kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 2,605nm, approximately 1,034nm left to go via a great circle route to St Helena. 2/3 of the way done, 1/3 to go!

We had another great mileage day, straight to St Helena. However, we are all a bit worn out from the bouncing and heeling. It is a lot of work trying to get anything done on the boat like make food. We have been sailing with 3 reefs in the main and 1 or 2 in the genoa, and have moved closer to the wind from a beam reach to a close reach. The winds have largely been 25kts +/- 5kts.

The cats are now seeking out cooler places to lay despite the moving boat that inherently makes them want to park themselves deep in the blankets and cupboards of the aft cabins. They need to shed their manes and winter coats, but that will take a little time. Until then, we are finding them splayed out on the cabin floors in inconvenient spots as we move around.

The batteries are back to 100% charge so we should remain in good shape for awhile. Nike keeps working hard while the rest of us pretty much just hold on as we continue to plow along.

We are very happy with the amazingly straight line, fast progress towards St Helena. However, we expect that this kind of progress will change today as the winds move more towards the east. We will then be close hauled (again) and going as close to the rhumb line course as we can manage (again). Eventually the winds will die off as well, but this may be another day or two away.

Bird numbers are still low, mostly just petrels yesterday.

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