SOUTHERLY CHANGE

Hi everyone,Welcome to day 43 0f our voyage. As forecast the wind backed around to the south west this morning and has strengthened to 15-20kts with regular rain squalls that are helping to keep everything a little cooler. Hopefully if the forecaster has got it right the wind should continue to back to the south west overnight which should have us sailing again and catching up on a little lost time due to today’s strong headwinds.It is interesting how quickly the Atlantic Ocean can change because as I was writing this log last night we had experienced a day of next to no wind with hardly a ripple to be seen to 24hrs later where we are now fighting against a 1-1.5m swell and a rather confused sea.Despite these challenging conditions the World Voyagers keep on coming up with new ideas to keep themselves active and entertained like today’ s ‘crazy competition’ run by Amy and Zac which I believe the newly formed White Watch were the winners today.Even being as isolated as we are Miquela is still managing to jump onto the internet and provide us with regular sporting updates from around the World which is most important when you have the AFL, NRL Grand finals and Australia playing England in the Rugby World Cup Series (Go the Wallabies!!!) all going on this weekend which is a sporting feast. Poor Caitlin is still trying to get over the Eagles loss but as we know there is always next year.As highlighted since encountering these strong headwinds our boat speed has dropped off and during the past 24hrs we have only covered just over 100nm which means that we now have sailed/motor sailed 550nm since departing Mindelo.Kindly volunteering to write tonight’s edition of Captains Log is Rowan and Jess, please enjoy! Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain Gav Shout Out:To my Dad Max hope the minor surgery went well and that you are now home recuperating and taking things nice and slowly. GavCAPTAINS LOG: 3 OCT 2015Hi everyone out there. This captains log should begin with a particularly thought provoking quote from our intrepid leader, Captain Gav: “sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes when your in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself”. Particularly apt, considering where we are now.Today we find ourselves in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The closest land is over 700NM away, and we still have a long way yet to travel. The breeze has freshened to a steady 20kts, but unfortunately it is on the nose (or as Miquela would say: “dead ahead”) and therefore precludes sailing. In order to make Rio on time, we have been motor-sailing or motoring, and still are falling behind schedule. Despite this, most of the crew are in good spirits, with everyone having gotten over the “Mindelo bug”. The notable exception to the cheery mood is Caitlin, who has been miserable all day, due to a rather unpleasant surprise this morning, when Dougie put over the loudspeaker that the Eagles won last night against the Hawks, when the result was actually reversed. When she found out there were very nearly tears, and since then she has been even more horrible than usual (sorry Caitlin, we all love you really).Incidents for the day included Adzie being sailmaster (not that there was much sailing to do), Nina winning the photo competition, constant engine room alarms, and a PT session which no-one turned up to (excepting Bob and Sam). We also had a competition run by Amy and the lovely Joshua Bloom (Zac), where we all had to complete a list of rather strange activities, including (among others) licking Dougies big toe, rubbing banana into our hair, and solving puzzles.On another note, our fearless chef, Marcus, has been given a reprieve from the galley, and has been joining us on watch. He seems to be loving the change, and I’m certain he will make a great watch leader when the time comes. Replacing him downstairs is the wonderful Keeley, who has already been accepted by all the crew as Marcus’s equal in the galley, serving up five star meals despite limited ingredients and space.On that positive note, I think its time to sign off now, so I can get this to Captain Gav before he puts his head down. Take care, and I hope everyone reading this is having as much fun as we are!Written by Rowan and Jess Shout Outs:Rowan: Hi everyone, missing you all. I am enjoying this, but I also can’t wait to get home. Particularly excited about spending a couple of years cruising, which this voyage has inspired me to do. Love to everyone, and I shall call you all from Rio.  XXXXCaitlin: Condolences to all back home, especially to you Dad – hope you’re all doing okay in these tough times. It’s been a rough one over here, co-opted Karla’s happy onesie dance a little to early this morning, but I’m trying to stay strong. Shout out to Tug – Congrats!! Am sure you’ve been celebrating in style, hope there was more face paint today :p Mum – It’s over for another year – life can go back to ‘normal’. On a sailing note, we’ve had rain!! Nearly makes this sweltering heat bearable!! *fingers crossed for a storm! Miss you all xxxxxxxxxxxxx