Ain't no sunshine when she's gone

Another day of rain and more rain.Not one ray of sunshine could pierce
through the heavy cloud cover.Squalls coming and going,wind up and down
and shifting around but we push on regardless,through it all.When the
wind drops to just about nothing,the genoa is furled in,when the wind
picks up we furl the genoa out,motoring all the while and fighting to
keep our required average up.Less than a 1 000 nm ahead of us and time
is running out.At 6 kts we won't make it,at 7 kts we will be OK and at 8
kts we will be making it in style.Not always knowing what lies ahead for
us it is paramount that we don't ease off,not for a minute.It could
cost us dearly.24/7.

Today was Father's Day and hope all the dads were spoiled a
little.Thanks to my wife and daughter who also made my day very special
and also stood in for me with my own dad,getting him a little
present.Thank you.It was not Malcolm's birthday today.As I hit the send
button I realized my mistake but it was to late.His birthday is
21 June.But having two birthdays and a Father's Day he's got no reason
to complain.He was ultra delighted when his daughter Storm called him to
wish him happy Father's Day.He always refers to her as Stormi and Gareth
and myself have to watch our p's and q's when referring to our Storm
jib,Storm coming over,Storm brewing,Storm warning and one of our
favorite songs by The Doors,you guessed it,Riders on the Storm.In
nautical terms a Storm on the Beaufort Scale is Force 10,48 to 55 kts of
wind.Very high waves with overhanging crests and seasurface looking
white.Force 11 is termed as a Violent Storm,56 to 63 kts of wind with
exceptionally high waves and the sea completely covered in foam.To say
there is a Force 10 warning,a Force 10 brewing,a Force 10 coming over
and a Force 10 jib,a small sail for such adverse conditions could be
technically correct but doesn't have the same ring as Storm,so yes,we
are having some Stormi weather.With due respect to Stormi.

In Biblical times a man saw a cloud the size of his hand and had faith
that it will end the drought.today we saw a patch of blue sky about the
size of a hand.We trust that we will see more of that tomorrow and who
knows,maybe even a bit of sun.The rain is a welcome relief to the
incrdible heat when the sun beats down on us all day and we are
certainly not complaining,love the sun,love the rain,the
moon,stars,rainbows,flying fish,all creatures big and small,all
conditions,from the doldrums to the squalls.Stardust,all of us.

Our position at 01:30 AM UTC is 08*21'N/052*58'W.The barometric pressure
is 1013 mb/hPa,humidity 97%,temperature 27*C.Distance from Tortola 960
nm.We wish you a splendid Monday.

Until next time