Last night felt like a bit of a halfway celebration. We marked the moment with Top Gun: Maverick for the boys and a proper feast: steak, potato gratin, and cucumber salad, followed by chocolate mousse with passion fruit and/or strawberry topping. Honestly, having a freezer on board feels like pure decadence.

We also covered some fantastic miles yesterday. But as I tried to get some sleep, Mark was busy handling gusts pushing over 25 knots—I could hear the wind alarm sounding—while I was dealing with the explosive bangs of waves slamming against the hull. Needless to say, relaxing it was not.

When I came up on deck at 2:00 a.m., the wind had completely vanished. Gone. Disappeared. We’re now running a single engine very slowly to conserve fuel while maintaining steerage against the waves, with a reefed mainsail flapping in protest. We’re hoping the wind returns soon. Mark, understandably, was frustrated—but I’ve chosen to believe that Neptune is simply setting us up for a perfect spinnaker day: calming the seas first, then delivering a steady 15 knots from the east. Neptune and I have an understanding – I am just worried he doesn’t know it yet!

We also tried our luck at fishing. One unlucky bird got hooked but thankfully managed to free itself before being dragged into legend at 8–9 knots. Then there was a much bigger catch—something powerful enough to take the lure clean off without us ever seeing what it was. Possibly a sea monster. Possibly just a very lucky bigger fish – and it wasn’t stopping for anything.

Meanwhile, the boys have escalated things by imagining their own underwater saga, staring giant octopi—and a shocking twist: these creatures are devouring baby whales and unsuspecting sailors left, right, and center. It’s basically like the movie It Came from Beneath the Sea— just with fewer special effects and more imagination.

It usually only takes a little inspiration for the boys to find hours of entertainment—and after watching Top Gun, building paper planes was inevitable.

So we press on, adapting to ever-changing conditions that are making this passage a bit more “character building” than planned. Fingers crossed the wind returns soon—I had really hoped the second half would be a tiny bit faster than the first.

P.S. – The wind is back as of 4:00a.m., and I’ve been in the “gym” ever since—furling, unfurling, and dodging squalls like a slightly chaotic sailing fitness routine. Highly effective, not recommended.