D+2 Laundry

The winds and seas are now very quiet. All the crew got a solid night's rest and the air has a certain warmness to it now we are south of the Mediterranean. We have discarded the jumpers in favour of t-shirts. The winds are fickle and we keep swapping between genoa and spinnaker as it shifts mischievously, but still have "Mr. Red Spinnaker" for company ahead. We've committed to routing through the Canaries as James doesn't fancy the pounding we'll take if we tackle the forecast 20kt westerlies further north. We've also had our second minor repair - a small tear to the spinnaker.

Hygiene at sea is paramount - poor hygiene can lead to food poisoning which can sweep through the entire crew causing incapacitation and dehydration. Fortunately, we can be generous with our water with desalination aboard, but still prefer to use a salt tap for rinsing when possible.

We ran the water maker for the first time today. It runs off the engine, turning salt water into fresh but has the added advantage that the engine heats a tank of hot water up for us and tops up the battery charge. Whilst this was happening, the crew enjoyed the luxury of a hot shower each off the back of the boat and we did our laundry. As the weather was so slight, the crew decided on a celebratory beer over a lunch of cured ham, artisan cheese and the last of the fresh bread supplies.

D+1 Isolation

It's quite isolated now being at sea. We spot other vessels occasionally - we are on the heels of one of our fleet with a red spinnaker, whilst we still see a few ships running north up the Portuguese coast - but we have no idea what is going on in the outside world. Yesterday was a constant hustle of press attention and we wonder how much of that coverage made it onto your screens and your journals but have no way of telling.

Even the wildlife is sparser. We saw no dolphins today and only a fulmar and a couple of gannets. We did have a brief visitor on board - a rather lost and exhausted wood warbler landed on the main sheet for a brief rest before continuing its migration.

The seas smoothed and we have hoisted the spinnaker. Ollie is enjoying teasing the most out of it whilst the rest of us are content just to see it filled and stable. The latest weather favours staying east of the mark and we now plan to run to the east end of the Canaries and then southwest directly into the trades. We will review this tonight when the latest forecasts arrive from the race control. Yesterday's positions confirmed our thoughts that Mat has stormed away in The Blue Peter. She is an amazing boat with such attention to every last detail and a pleasure to lie next to at the marina in Cascais. We hope she goes on to win.

We are making the most of the cooler conditions to eat our soup supplies, and plan on a supper of pork in white wine saue followed by chocolate steamed pudding. Julie - I'm afraid Dave won't be losing any weight on this trip and Ollie may be filling out. The children have returned to their school work and both are now settled and back to their normal selves, swinging wildly between being best friends together before bickering and the immortal phrase "I'm telling...!"

D+1 First Night at Sea

The crew of Croix des Gardes are settling into their life afloat. The wind has finally turned to our tail and we are running downwind at 5kts towards our mandatory turn off the Canaries. The last yacht is disappearing from sight on the southern horizon and we are alone in the ocean.

We dropped back in the race overnight, but we were always here as participants, not combatants, and have already ceded 10hrs on the other boats as we did not do a feeder race. We poled out the genoa and put a restrainer on the boom so giving us a smoother and quieter ride. We're also towing a water generator and that takes another half knot off the speed.

Soon after yesterday's start, the winds became fickle and the swell rose causing the main to flog until several sliders broke. Now the main is rather classically lashed to the boom and drawing well.

Elizabeth had a distresed hour yesterday feeling queasy, but a pod of common dolphins playing off the bow lifted our spirits and she devoured her supper. We intend to cross in style and had a chorizo, tomato and capsicum stew with new potatoes and salad.

Sleeping is proving a challenge with the constant rolling ten to fifteen degrees each way. James says it takes a few days to adjust, but it means we all got to watch Venus rising as a shooting star pierced the inky night.

Dolphins!

Just joined by a pod of common dolphins! I wonder do we get the prize for the first photo?

And we're off!

We're now one hour into the race. The winds proved light and variable at the start. We wanted to head up for the line but got squeezed so ended up doing our classic Croix des Gardes tactic of actually starting a few minutes after the line opened.

The turn out was spectacular with everyone on the water to see us off. Even the J-class Endeavour was there.

We had a parade start along the coast and did rather well in the light airs, actually making on some of the larger and faster boats. James proved master tactician at the first mark, and took the wind off three boats in extremely close quarters - Valteam, Gimcrack and Artaius. We took the mark first and are now heading out into the ocean hard on the wind.

We're currently making 4kts with 690nm to run to the Canaries. The faster boats have once more overhauled us but we're about to settle down for some lunch. The children are content, both playing tic-tac-toe and hangman in the doghouse and enjoying the fine conditions. We just hope for a following wind sometime soon...

Barbados Awaits

Soon we slip our lines and head west. Our destination is Barbados, 13N 59W, some 3300nm away. Although we are at sea, we have established the sat phone comms and will download all your blog comments each evening. We'll endeavour to give you an update at least every other day and are greatly encouraged by your messages, so do please keep those comments coming in. It's such a boost for morale to know that you at home are thinking of us.

Barbados Awaits

With the current forecast models, GFS shows that a frontal system lying SSW to NNE across the Atlantic continues to generate low pressure systems whilst the true trade winds are established firmly to the south of the route. Several of the boats are racing seriously with stripped out interiors and minimal supplies on board - it will be interesting to watch their tactics. We, on the other hand, are content to take an easier route and will probably head south quite rapidly before turning west for the Caribbean. You can follow us live on the tracker day or night.

Last Day Ashore

D-1
The day dawned bright and still breezy. Breakfast was delivered with another inspirational quote and taken in the sunshine in the cockpit.

Breakfast by Panerai at D-1

We had a slow start - last night we attended the Officine Panerai Crew Dinner at the very exclusive Hotel Grande Villa Italia. The children continue to be the centre of attention and their behaviour was impeccable, despite the very late finish after midnight.

Matthew waits for his supper

Today was "boat show" and press day, so I fielded questions and ensured the children were admired for their good looks and stoicism for the forthcoming adventure. The lads finished the very last chores and Croix des Gardes is ready for the ocean. The children were especially impressed at being the centre of a French news story, with Elizabeth demonstrating the lifelines. Footage will be shown "in nearly 200 countries" we were told.

The Panerai official photographer pored over our boat and children. Panerai also delivered a large mystery parcel with treats for us to open and enjoy at the half way point.

So now we relax. The crew have gone into town to watch the rugby, the children and playing in the park and we can prepare for tonight's exclusive supper. This time it is owners only and the CEO of Panerai will be in attendance. The Committee Boat is in position at anchor to mark our start - a glorious 80m four masted classic schooner. Tomorrow's forecast is for blue skies and fair winds. In less than 24 hrs we will be off.

The start line awaits us