Day 23 – Sunday

Dawn! It is now 6.30am when the sun rises from the east and sets in the west around 8pm. We are definitely moving west but just not fast enough. The night had
returned yet again a poor distance for us and we are finding it difficult to feel positive about the rest of the trip. We are totally at the mercy of the wind out
here! Each day that goes by we seemed to get further and further away from the cut off on the wrong side. Our realistic assessment is now the 2nd but more likely the
3rd under the current winds.

After breakfast the crew a called meeting to discuss the starting the engine again but with a view that should it start we would put it into gear and motor to the
wind or finish. Everyone agreed that this should be our course of action. There was one small challenge left! Could we get the motor started? There was in my
estimation a 10% chance! Out came the companion way stairs and the various ropes we had used previously. We strapped it round the fly wheel and we pulled it from the
cockpit. We managed to get it turn. We then attached a block on the roof of the cockpit that dangled in through the hatch and then put the rope through it and pulled.
It still did not give a long and fast enough pull. We then rigged and attached a set of blocks to the original block and pulled the rope through this set up. It
worked a lot better but still was not fast enough. There was only one thing more to do and that was to attach the rope to the boom and gybe the boat and hope the
force of the boom moving one side of the boat to the other would have the desired effect. After careful planning we were finally ready. Mark gybed the boat and it
pulled the fly wheel through 3 revolutions but there was no sign of life. We were just not getting the speed we needed from the wind when we gybed. Also, we not sure
whether there is something else wrong with the engine. So 4 hours of trying was in vain. I guess we are destined to complete this under wind power after all. I
suppose that’s what we all bought into.

Most of the crew slept for the afternoon. While Shaun and I stayed in the cockpit keeping watch. Later in the late afternoon everyone started to make their way back
to the cockpit. We have all been practicing our knot tying and once again everyone had a turn with available rope we have. All good sailors know their knots!
Kevin’s cabin is swarming with little flies and they seem to be breeding. They are now following him into the cockpit and Galley. (At least that’s what we tell him)
They are definitely get worse and we have no doom to kill them. The water leaks in the fore cabins are related to the fresh water tank and seem to spill when the
tanks are filled from the water maker.

Mark has been suffering with a blood blister on his tongue for the past few days and it has been difficult for him to speak and eat. Mark is a healthy eater so this
must be getting to him a bit. He asked if anyone has a syringe as he wished to inject his tongue with peroxide, which according to him is a magic mooty that can be
used on almost anything from sores to ear ache. Unfortunately no one could help.
Mike is coping with his finger although he seems to be constantly pulling a “zap” sign. Don’t worry Mike we will get over it, we know it hurts!
We continued west for the day with very light winds making 4 kts in the morning and up to 6 kts for the afternoon and evening. Jean would like us to go south west but
Mark wants us to continue in the direction we are going so we did. This has become a constant discussion on board.

After seeing a Turn (bird)yesterday we were hoping that we might start seeing more wild life but it was not to be. The closest we are getting to any scary wild life
is the sight of everyone one you first see them walking up the companion way after a good night sleep. Remember showering is not something we do every day!
Warwick and I have continued our gym sessions and have been doing our exercises on the front deck. It consists of sit ups and press ups. Actually quite difficult to
do when the boat is rolling.

Jean and Warwick made bacon pasta and a vegetable bake. I had a cup of soup. We are starting to run out of certain food stuffs now. We are almost out of snacks and we
had our last pack of biltong yesterday to help cheer Mike up after his finger incident. We are now down to a packet of sparkles and endearments’. The orange juice is
finished and we are almost out of vegetables, cheese, bread and cereal. Don’t worry though we have tons of milk, tinned pilchards and condensed milk for who I don’t
know! We could be a lot worse as we have heard other boats are running out of food!
Everyone was up very late into the evening as they had slept in the afternoon so I hardly noticed my 8pm to 10pm watch. It was another stunning night out here.
From wind power .. till tomorrow