Sunrise on Sunday finds Temptress at the centre of a lonely silver disc around 7 nautical miles in diameter half this being distance of our horizon from the deck. Our little liquid world appears to rise up towards the edges yet the distant boundry with the sky curves down and away from us. With Central America only 50nm to windward of us (ie astern) the seas are remain fairly flat, there being no distance to build an ocean swell as yet. A gentle F3 out of the NNE propels Temptress forward through the water whilst a favourable current adds an extra knot or two to our speed over the ground.

Life on the silver disc is rapidly settling into a sea going routine familiar from other ocean passages. Supper was cooked and enjoyed prior to sunset last night so the crew could see what they were eating – a veggie rissotto – then shortly after cups of tea the First Mate and Admiral of the Fleet took the 7 – 10pm watch whilst the skipper snoozed first on the new cockpit cushions then later in a bunk below. Small dolphins or porpoises came to play for over an hour, their phosphorescent trails and the slight pmff as they surfaced the only sign of their presence as the moon is just a tiny sliver of new spun gold hanging low in the sky.

The little green triangles on the AIS display dwindled away as Temptress headed away from both land and the shipping routes until eventually even the VHF fell silent and Temptress’ little world closed in. Nothing has seriously troubled it. The bilge pump float switch continues to jam but the skipper cleans it out regularly. Today’s GRIB shows maybe 20 knots of wind extending all the way to the Galapagos which is good news, we just have to stay in the zone as long as possible though our intended route lies to the north of those islands.

We’re not entirely cutoff- Around 9am we tuned into 8134 USB on our SSB receiver and heard Ben of Guinevere II’s crackly voice as he broadcast the weather to the Pacific Cruisers Net. We recognised his voice but it was too indistinct to really make out the forecast, we’ll try again tomorrow.

Supper was bluefin tuna – a nice little treat to end the day on, lightly floured and fried with potatoes and broccoli plus homemade tartar sauce. The skipper is an excellent chef. The wind is backing to the E or even ESE so having gybed onto 230 degrees we now have winds forward of the beam for the first time in ages and are making about the same as we were on the other gybe ie 255 or 260. Hoping the winds pick up a bit though as now down at a gentle F3.

All well on board

Noon to noon: 134nm through the water, 166nm over the ground Position: 06 15.95N 080 31.83W