New years body beautiful

The wind and swells finally now seem behind us, and we're making betterprogress!

Friday was a great day as we passed 39 degrees West (our half way mark) and finally made it to 18+ degrees North. There was high fives all roundand a general agreement that we surely just sit here now waiting for the trade winds to find us!T
he day was made even more special as there was 9 ginger men in the Haribo super mix. A sure sign that things are looking up!

Another air lock meant we had to "bleed" the water maker as well. We also decided to change the (much overdue) filter and immediately regretted the decision as we struggled for some time to get the new one on. While working under deck we noticed that the +ve wires to one of the batteries for the solar power monitor had completely eroded away. Another job to be added to the list of must do (now that we have the lowdown from Richard) but one of low importance compared to rowing andsleep.

Now that everyone has united in telling me to complete and not compete I've turned my sights to other things that every normal 31 year old thinks about at this time of year; weight loss (surely I can win this one!) and sun tan. Following friendly comments from Kilkullen boys we think the sea diet programme is going to plan, so fingers crossed it'll be a winner! Although both of us have been heard to whisper the previously unheard comment "I think I'm hungry" in recent days. The plan for an all over glow is not going to plan though. Due to the fact that we're wearing musto deck shoes 24/7 our feet are now very pale and flaky, not a sight for those Jimmy Choo shoes but not one we can overcome as our steering system needs shoes. Furthermore, our surfboard strap (thanks Joe) which we wear round our right ankle as a safety harness to keep us strapped to the boat is leaving a very white mark! It would generally make you think that we had been detained at her majesty’s pleasure and ankle tagged for some time! Other white bits are probably best not mentioned. All in all, at this rate black denier tights will be needed for the rest of this winter, just like every other.