Mike was doing dinner last night and despite the swell managed to make a very nice Musk Ox stew.

Ben Edwards, North Atlantic 5 October 18.30

So things are getting a little more comfortable.  There’s a patch of low wind skirting the edge of the storm that we tried to get into and, astonishingly, succeeded. The stronger winds and waves we expected last night just didn’t arrive and we’re expecting it to start getting even smoother after midnight tonight.  We are moving along far quicker than we could have reasonably expected, we’ve hit eleven knots going down waves twice, and none of us have been sick recently.  At this rate the chart plotter estimates it’ll take us just over five days to get to Ireland.  Mike was doing dinner last night and despite the swell managed to make a very nice Musk Ox stew.  For those of you who don’t know, a musk ox is a massive arctic goat, and a stew is a kind of meat dish where you boil meat, potatoes, vegetables and whatever else you want before serving in a bowl.  They can be nice.

Combining the experience of the last few months and the three days of my first ocean passage I’ve come to the conclusion that while for many of us sailing for short periods of time, a day, a week, a month and so on, is enjoyable, in order to want, and continue to want, sailing as a profession requires someone with a very unusual frame of mind, and while I do enjoy sailing I am not of that ilk.  So to any professional crew out there I must say that while I am very impressed by you all, that when I get home I’m going to run and hide somewhere where the ground is stable for a good few weeks.  Sorry.  In the meantime however I’m going to run and hide to somewhere I can sleep, goodnight.