We set off from Lanzarote on 17th of November. There was no wind so we motored to Fuerteventura and anchored overnight. Alex went for a swim next morning with a scrubbing brush and removed any weed from the waterline. We refuelled in Fuerteventura and finally set off on the Sunday evening. The wind was still very light so we bobbed around and didn't go far but we didn't want to use all our diesel at this early stage. We headed south for the Cape Verdes with the intention of turning west when the butter melts, ie about 20 degrees North and hopefully picking up the trade winds. What wind there was, was on the nose until Thursday, when it changed and we finally got the expected north easterly 20-25 knots. We sailed goose wings with the Genoa poled out and started to make real progress doing 150 miles a day.

All went well until the nut at the top of the mast holding the mainsail in mast furling came out, causing the whole mechanism to drop and preventing us from being able to wind in the sail. Hence the mainsail stayed fully out all the rest of the way and was finally dropped a couple of days before we arrived. This was not an easy process as the sail had come out of the tracking at the bottom and it took William and the boys about 2 hours of struggling. The good news is the furling mechanism doesn't appear to be damaged but its a trip up the mast for William. However the mainsail has torn so its a patching job for me. We needed a new set of sails anyway so the old ones have served there purpose and got us to the Caribbean where we will replace them. The pole chaffed the jib sheet which broke, to be replaced by the spinnaker sheet, which has a plastic protector on the end. Unfortunately we were unable to keep the Genoa poled out all the way across as the spinnaker pole track became detached at the bottom of the mast, again fixable but not in the middle of the Atlantic.

Just when we thought we would make Antigua by the 8th of December the wind died and we were becalmed for 2 days. We finally arrived late evening on Monday 10th December but decided it was safer to wait till morning to come in. After all our efforts to go fast, we now needed to sail slowly but of course the wind picked up to 30 knots. Just as we were getting the fenders and mooring lines ready it started raining stair rods and blowing a gale, so we got a soaking wet welcome to Antigua. I suppose we could all do with a shower after 3 weeks! There were a few cases of 'boat rash', the nautical term for minor injuries sustained due to being on a boat, such as bumps and bruises and the inevitable stubbed toe. William suffered the worst, injuring his ribs when he fell against the winch. (Please note that rum was not involved until afterwards and then for medicinal purposes only). I was injured falling off the toilet, which was not funny at the time. The boat always seemed to lurch violently at the most inappropriate times, such as when pouring tea or serving dinner, I suffered badly with sea sickness most of the way and found it difficult to eat, hence I have a new slimline figure and all my clothes are too big. However I am trying to make up for it now we are on dry land, plenty of steaks, rum punches and pinicoladas.

We spent the time reading, watching videos and playing chess or backgammon. William caught several fish which Alex gutted and cooked. We saw lots of dolphins and flying fish but weren't lucky enough to see any whales. At night the stars were very bright and there were lots of shooting stars.

Anyway we have made it all in one piece, including my Wedgewood dinner service! We are in Jolly Harbour, the weather's hot and the champagne's on ice.