Leander is at 22 17 North, 24 00 West, on a course of 265 magnetic, sailing at 5.5 knots on a broad run, taking the wind off our our starboard side, with the jib, only, out.

We had a rough moment earlier today. After setting up the boat to sail wing-and-wing, the main sail luffed and got backwinded. Then, dipping down into a deep gulley in the waves, the main got caught by a strong gust, and the preventer snapped. The main swung to the other side, but we were fortunate that the only damage were two bimini straps and a torn zipper, in addition to the snapped preventer. We got things cleaned up, re-sewed the zipper, and are back in business. After the boom had crashed to the other side, and the bimimi collapsed about us, Alexander let us know that “This part isn’t much fun.” Boy, he got that right.

But the dolphins came back and visited us for a while after we’d cleaned up, and things are back to normal. The seas are still very lumpy, to say the least. The sailing, though down-wind, has been a little bit washing-machine like.

560 miles done, 2,130 to go. After the difficult day we had today, that seems like a long way away.