We set of yesterday afternoon after a long wait for customs to stamp our passports and clear us to leave the Canaries. The stamp had a boat on the top corner instead of a plane which for most of us was still an exciting novelty.

Sailing off from the island, It felt important to look at it for as long as it was in sight as land would soon be becoming a rarity. We raised the main sail and sat down for a cup of tea just in time for a whale to emerge from the water. No one got a photo before it’s huge fluke picked itself up to dive down below the water but we think it may have been a pilot whale.

It eventually got dark and we fell into our watch patterns. The sun set behind Gran Canaria and lit it up with a golden backdrop that silhouetted the island. It became just shapes and lines as the sky filled to the brim with stars. Some of them were the sort of shooting stars which look as if they are really falling from the sky. Long and slow and bright. Being closer to the equator they feel bigger and brighter than when you sail in the UK. It is very hard to describe the night sky at sea and how immense it is. We also saw some bioluminescence.

We have just come back on watch again now for the overnight shift where we wake up and go to sleep in the dark. The kettle is on for another cup of tea and we are talking about what other things could be out there (both in space and on the water) to try keep us awake.  It is not a challenge yet and everyone is still feeling well rested and motivated, I think. The wind is building and that will only lift spirits more.

Caitlin

As we roll into Tuesday the wind began to die down, clouds began to shift revealing a beautiful clear night sky. The stars are tremendously bright unlike anything you see when back home. As the sky got darker the bioluminescence in the water started to become prominent once again.

Looking out you could see shapes which appeared to be a pod of dolphins swimming alongside us.

When coming back on watch at 7am the rain began to come in, thankfully it ended up only being a short spout before clearing away leaving us with once again with the privilege of sailing besides dolphins; this time seen riding out bow for around 10 minutes!

It’s honestly so hard to describe how amazing the experience is even with the cold weather starting to roll in.

Arlo.

We have just come onto watch to more pitch black. You can’t tell who is who until you can recognise their voice or wait for your eyes to adjust. It is a waiting game for the sun to peak above the horizon and illuminate our world in any colour that isn’t black or grey. Last night we did get a visitor in the form of a tiny bird. They followed us for a while lit up by our nav lights. It made them look like a small fairy or firefly circling round us. I wonder if they rested for a while or just came to see what we were up to.

Moral has come in waves the last few days where one moment you are tired or sick and hyping yourself up to keep going and in the next beyond excited at where you are and what you are doing. We are preparing for a few sail changes as the weather shifts and this will mean we are all a little bit more active.

Either way it is impossible to not to feel in complete awe of the immense power of the ocean and how small that can make man feel. It can pick you right up in the air and land you back on your feet. It feels a little like we are on a circular dinner plate and we have stayed in the exact same place with the world moving beneath us. Like some kind of simulation. Which of course is not the case because we are now half way to the Azores and filling ourselves up with Jim’s fabulous scrambled eggs.

Caitlin.