Yesterday’s more intense night gifted us a truly spectacular sunrise.

The wind returned and has stayed with us ever since, blowing steadily at 15–20 knots, with occasional gusts up to 25. Overall, the day felt far more consistent. We initially continued on our southerly course under reefed main and genoa, with the plan in mind to later on align more closely with the rhumb line toward the Gambiers.

By the afternoon, we dropped the main and poled out the Code 0—fingers crossed, the repair is still holding up beautifully! Suddenly, the wave angle became so comfortable it almost felt like we weren’t moving at all. In reality, we did slow slightly, but we’re still making steady progress at 6.5–7.5 knots—this time without everything flying around.

For our little pirates, though, the moment nearly went unnoticed. Even before the course change, they had already immersed themselves in their “gem pictures”—those tiny plastic jewels placed onto a canvas (a thoughtful gift from the Christkind, who clearly believed a fine motor skills challenge would be great fun!).

Aside from that, we continued with our usual schoolwork. Later, I found myself caught in a moment of quiet pressure. I can’t help but wonder whether what we’re doing out here will be enough to reintegrate the boys into school without losing a year. I’m fairly confident Nino and Uki will manage well—but I struggle to judge the situation with Joe. I can see we’re keeping up well with what his class is learning… but still, there’s this quiet worry in me. The German school system is so driven by pressure and expectations, so different from the way we live and learn out here. I just hope that, when the time comes, he’ll be given the space to find his way back into it. While repeating year 5 wouldn’t trouble us as parents, it would be very hard for him. Of course, he’s gained so much from this journey, but I know it wouldn’t feel that way to him.

For now, we’re doing our best and hoping he’ll be given some grace at the start—enough time, if needed, to catch up.

Another quiet worry to carry for now and set aside until its time comes—a risk we were aware of, even before we began this journey.

For now, we sit on our moving island, finally feeling like we’re getting somewhere when we look at the charts. With a bit of luck, we’ll have completed two-thirds of the journey by the end of day 14.