"It feels like December 23rd"

That was how Julian described the mood on the boat today. The big celebration is there on the horizon but it is still too soon to get too excited about it. One major problem was solved today though - now we have finished all the fresh food there is space in the fridge for the champagne! (Don't worry, there is still food should the wind die down, but it would be pasta and rice from here on in.)

Talking of fresh food, we had corned beef hash today, made with the last of the potatoes. It was surprisingly good, considering how it looked and the comments people made when handed their plates. Mike explained it to us. "This is the secret of my success. I know how to turn s**t into gold".

There has been a turnaround in the long-runing "paper,scissors,stone" compeition between Mike and Giles. Mike had a long running streak today and Giles is now two behind in the series with only a couple of days to go. Nail biting stuff.

Perhaps more nail biting than Diana's position in the race, where we are consistently holding third place. Our consistency might well have paid off in the longer run since we still have all our equipment intact, wheras one more accident on any of the other boats and they would have problems patching things up again. (You have to admire Juno for keeping up as well as they are without a spinnaker, managing to sail with their enormous "number one" jib poled out.) Anyway, there are still a few hundred miles to go so things could change. In the end it would be nice if all the boats can get in on the same day, which might just be possible as it stands.

The dolphins, turtles and aeroplanes continue to be elusive (ie we have not seen any yet). We do get seabirds though. Today we were entertained by three gannets fishing around the boat. Often it is only a single bird that circles the boat, perhaps just to break the monotony of its own long journey across the ocean.

I am off to take a turn on the helm. Goodbye for now, from Phil and the crew of Diana.