I’m writing this early today, hoping I won’t want to spend any time on it this evening. I’ll leave it until then to send it, in case there’s any updates.

As expected, I spent the night on the para-anchor. To be honest, it wasn’t too bad. Unlike the heavy night I faced earlier on in the crossing, this was just big, long waves, with the addition of a moderate wind, so, while it was impossible to row in, I wasn’t getting constantly battered by breaking waves. Rather, I was rocked to sleep as if by an over-enthusiastic big brother.

I must admit, I don’t think I’ll ever master that para-anchor. Not in getting it out or in - that goes fairly smoothly (and I’m sure there was a little shark shepherding it in yesterday) - but more which way it takes me. The boat doesn’t sit calmly into the waves, but shifts from side to side gradually. When facing one way, the direction of travel is almost completely opposite to the other. So, as has happened, when one way is west and slightly north against south-east the other, I’ve tried everything to try and persuade Pete to stay one way, with very limited success.

Last night, thankfully, the directions were broadly west, so while I still lost a few miles south, I gained a few more west, which is no bad thing. The winds should be improving from now on. Supposedly, they were 45° at 6 o’clock this morning, will be 60° at midday, and then 80° by 6 o’clock this afternoon. Unfortunately, the waves take a bit more time to disappear but, given the good performance of the para-anchor, I’m giving it until midday to start rowing.

The big moment will come when, while not rowing, my course is such that I don’t need to use the para-anchor. Even pushing myself, for more than a day or two it would be very difficult to row much more than 16 hours per day. If you can get the benefit of an extra 10 miles or so in that other 8 hours, it turns an acceptable day into a good one. As for when that’ll be, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Let’s hope that, this time, I stick to my plan. Equanimity is the name of the game!!

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This is my quick update! So far, everything’s going well. I was rowing by 12.30, and have done pretty well since then. While it has been suggested “it’s all downhill from here”, it isn’t quite that simple. A more suitable analogy would be a big rounded hill: I’m past the really steep bit and, while it’s still uphill, it’ll get gradually easier over the next 48 hours. Once I hit 17°N, I’ll be able to relax a little more, before what sounds like quite a frantic finish. To end up in English Harbour safe and unassisted appears to take a lot of care.

The other really positive thing is that, while not rowing I haven’t had to worry about getting blown south too much; it’s been fairly gentle. I’m still undecided about whether to put out the para-anchor when I sleep. I’ll wait and see how it’s all looking when the time comes.

So there you go. The worst is (hopefully) behind me, but I have still got 300 miles to go with a bit of extra work to make sure I hit Antigua. It’s all feeling a little easier today, which is nice!