Date Monday 5 December

Good things come to those who wait, as the Guinness advert goes. We have waited one hell of a long time, or so it seems to get under 1,000 miles to
St Lucia.

We passed this significant mark at 0930 UK time this morning. We are making good progress. Last night we were hitting a max of 12.9 knots under spinnaker and beginning to average around ten miles per hour. Life goes on and bread needs to be baked. Gary Castle has turned into a master baker and is without doubt the best on Juno.

I forgot to mention that we had a few minor tears in the lightweight spinnakers. When re-hoisted after the repair someone noticed that the patch applied had a startling resemblance to male unmentionables. Who did the sail repair? Skipper Dr. Evil will find our in due course.

More peg leg repairs yesterday. This time to Wayne's leg. A bolt had been tightened, snapped and has to be cut out with a hacksaw. A new bolt inserted and job done.

We regularly see wildlife, particularly porpoises at dusk. When they are spotted and observed for the 30 minutes they usually spend with us, a feeling of serenity and wellbeing settles over the crew... Not for long.

Skipper, Dr. Evil bellows: "More speed Mr. Christian", "keep to the code" and
"don't tell 'em your name Pike".



Yachting World, 5 December 2005