It’s another beautiful evening on Ericsson 4 with very pleasant conditions.  The sky is clear and the full display of stars is on view - with the Southern Cross directly on the bow.

The sea was very flat today and the wind has topped out at about 12 knots but been in the 8 - 10 knot range for most of the afternoon.  We have been cruising along at around 10knots with the code zero up and have been sailing on the wind. It has been glorious.

We managed to get ourselves out of the terrible cloudy doldrums area, managing to hold off the rapid advances of Puma and Ericsson 3 - for now - who knows what will happen over the next week or more.

We also passed back into the southern hemisphere today - not quite as much fun as when we last did but more to the relief of Ryan Godfrey and Phil Jameson who said it took a while to rid themselves of the smell provided by Neptune and his bride a couple of months ago.

The majority of the crew did however make their point felt that we were returning to the ‘proper’ side of the planet - but then these same nine originate from this side (three of whom seem more interested in carnivals and homecomings to be honest) - however the minority once again know themselves to be right and let the antipodeans and pals celebrate their misguided beliefs in peace!

There has been a distinct lack of wildlife - yet again - on this trip, at present we have seen a dolphin and a whale (both singular!) and quite a few birds - we were hoping for a better turn out, but then, if you were a sea creature you would also probably stay well away from a VO70.

One thing which would be great to have right now would be a trivial pursuit question pack - we do try and have a few questions floating about but we seem to be drying up a little. Already we have exhausted sport, yachting and a fair few general knowledge questions. Pop music has also been featured, but there seems to be a huge gap in taste. Stu Bannatyne, who is normally the quiz master, is definitely stuck in the ‘70s with his tastes - and often bands which only he, and the south end of the NZ north island, has ever heard of.

Never mind only about 30 or so days to go

Guy Salter - MCM