Day 8: 11.39.674'N 042.34.478'W, 128nm (24h)

December 15, 1200 UTC
Distance to go: 822nm
Wind and waves: NE 10-15kn, 2,5m
Sails: Main, genoa and cutter sail (amidships), wing and wing

Still light winds and sun so although we are slower the waves are longer and it is much more restful to travel. We saw the Victory sailing close to us early this morning, fun to see a boat that you know well at such close quarters after a week at sea. Jan-Bart and Monique have trouble with their rudder and as a result their autopilot no longer works. They have been steering day and night by hand for the past two days and expect to have to continue in this way for the duration of the voyage. This is an incredibly physically and mentally taxing thing to have to do requiring 24 hour focus. They are managing well under the circumstances and Jan-Bart even saw the upside in that he got to spend his entire watch last night outside and was able to see over 100 falling stars in the meteor showers. That is a lot of wishes. I stayed outside for about an hour of my watch and only saw about ten, still very beautiful.

After our celebration from yesterday we are now back into our daily routine. We make a plan for the day every morning and discuss the weather and sail configuration to be sure that we cover all that needs to be done and have enough activities to break the monotony for the little ones. Our days run more or less along the following lines:

0800 Emma and Macsen wake, play games and read while Rhiannon bakes whatever needs to be baked for the day
0900 Communication via SSB with Mjolner, Victory, Tangaroa
0930 Breakfast (generally yogurt and cereal)
1000 Morning activity (bath time, crafts, puzzles, games, etc.)
1100 Fruit Time (an excuse both to move into the cockpit and get some vitamins)
1200 Lunch (bread with various things on it)
1230 Emma and Macsen to bed; Seb and Rhiannon perform daily deck inspection, laundry, dishes and any general maintenance
1430 Afternoon activity (face painting, tent building, dress up, games, etc.)
1600 Afternoon Treat (another excuse to move to the cockpit this time to eat something unhealthy)
1800 Dinner
1900 Rhiannon to bed
1930 Emma and Macsen read books and to bed by 2000
2015 Evening communication via SSB with the other boats

Every now and then we toss in something new or special such as a visit from Neptune who bangs on the outside of the boat and leaves presents for Emma and Macsen. We have never seen him but he manages to time his visits perfectly to know just when they (or we) are getting bored of frustrated.

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