I discovered today that I’m not the only living thing on Pacific Pete. But these weren’t welcome guests, so I got rid of them ruthlessly. Now there’s nothing slowing me down!

The last 48 hours have, unfortunately, not continued in the way I’d hoped from last week’s successes. It’s been a bit peculiar actually; on the face of it, the seas and winds have all looked to be in my favour, but progress has been very sluggish. So, after struggling to a disappointing position last night, I decided that I had to do something about it.

The nice blue bit on Pete’s hull isn’t just to make him look pretty. It is, in fact, anti-fouling paint, designed to stop anything attaching itself to the boat. If you’re flying across under sail, it’s probably not a big issue, but when you spend half the time barely moving, they have plenty of time to come and grow on you. And the important thing is they slow you down, and I don’t like things that slow me down. They had to go.

Going for a swim in the ocean can be a beautiful serene experience. However, doing it when there are 16kt winds and 10ft waves every ten seconds or so is not quite so pleasant. I got myself prepared. In fact, everything you see in the picture is not required for the job itself. That all serves the purpose of safety: if a shark comes along to eat me, I should have enough time to get back on the boat before it finished laughing.

Somewhat reluctantly, I plunged into the actually fairly warm waters, to find exactly what I’d expected: a whole world of marine life. Not particularly wanting to hang about, I got on with sending them to sleep with the fishes. While I was down there, it really makes you realise how much the boat sits on the water, rather than in it, and gets thrown about a lot as a result.

Having finished the job without loss of life or limb, I felt quite satisfied actually. It would be lovely to be able to calculate exactly how much it has helped, but sadly the weather never stays constant for that. As soon as I’d done it, though, my course changed by about 15° to the good. I doubt that was my doing though! But, to put it into perspective, if it speeds me up by just 0.1kt, that works out to a free hour and a half’s rowing every day. Not bad for a quick job.

I’m now faced with a dilemma. My meteorologist (in case you hadn’t guessed, that’s also my mum) has warned me of some northerly winds on the horizon. Instinct suggests to push myself north so I can absorb them better, but apparently they’re not as bad further south. What to do? If I head south, will I be able to keep on course for Antigua?

Umm, always one for making firm decisions, I’m going to do neither and go west. There’s nothing like being decisive!