It is now Wednesday afternoon and a picture perfect sailing day in the Indian Ocean, though a little more wind than our current 8 knots would not go amiss. The water here is about 2.5 miles deep. The sun is very hot and the wind is cool. We are running under sail and engine power to keep our speed respectable, and to make up on an electrical power deficit; at this low speed the wind generator and hydrogenerater can't keep up with demand from the autopilot's hydraulic steering, multitudinous instruments and various small water pumps. We might even get a bit of hot water of it, which would be very welcome.
We have settled into a three four-hour watch system for the overnight sailing. My allotted place is 3:00am to 7:00am, not so different from my old part time job taking inventory very early every morning, though this place of work is a bit easier to take. I sleep easily enough, though my bunk is waaaaay up at the front of the port hull where the boat motion is exaggerated. When No Regrets drops off the front of large swell and down into the trough I find myself airborne and happy that I have a pretty thick mattress beneath me. The others have let me use their bunks amidships when they are on watch and that is a lot easier.
We are now about 300 n.miles out from La Reunion with another 257 to go to our first turn about 60 n.miles south of Madagascar. From there we set a course that aims somewhere north of Durban that is estimated to bring us to Durban as we enter the strong southbound Agulhas current.
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