St Martin to Bermuda - Day 3

We spent the day under a thick canopy of clouds but didn't mind because it was a welcomed reprieve from the sun's rays. The daylight hours were surprisingly almost rain free but by night we were visited by squalls. Throughout the day the wind continued to lighten resulting in a disappointing day's run of only 156nm. Early in the day we did a port jibe attempting to get us closer to our rhumb line, which we did but by the end of the day the wind direction forced us back to where we had started, 40nm to the right. While the wind was directly behind us, we opted against a spinnaker due to the sea state and instead sailed wing-on-wing with the jib poled out. Wind became more scarce as my first night watch started at 8pm. At this point the flogging of the sails was painful so we went under engine for 4.5 hours. By then the wind was from the north as forecasted. The wind remains light (unless we are near a squall) but now the boat is sailing close hauled (35 degrees apparent) just the way she and my captain prefer. As for the sea state, now there is less wave chop but the 8-10ft swells remain. This was our second straight day without traffic or wildlife sightings. We still have nearly 350nm yet to go and another three days at sea, based on the rate of progress as I write.

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