16 January 2026 at 10:15:19 GMT

Day 7 continued

The beautiful sunrise hailed a mixed bag of a day where cloud cover and strong winds prevailed. Lots of fun!

I need to catch up on some shut eye, but for now, here’s a log entry to make you smile. Paul is obviously the master of the understatement. And really good company.

16/1/26

0400 SOG 7.5kts, wind 241 degrees, sea state feisty with strong waves.

Not much to report. Outside temperature remains warm while the weather fluctuates between calm and rough seas. Waves crash against the side while the water sparkles with phosphorescence. Wind speeds reach 29.6knots. Apparent wind angle 140degrees.

16 January 2026 at 21:59:27 GMT

Day 8

I just lost a day! Saved from my tiredness by Malcolm at 0730 I then slept through solidly for over 7 hours until 1445 missing both breakfast and lunch, but my considerate crewmates had saved a salad box for me and gamely covered the first couple of hours of my next watch. My sleep deprived body took control over my mind and did what it needed to do.

I awoke to Paul on deck in t-shirt, shorts and sunglasses and his computer, Malcolm reading a novel by Graham Greene, altostratus clouds overhead hailing the depression we know to expect in the next day or so. There were bands of cloud ahead and behind with rain evident to the northwest, but we are bathed in brilliant sunshine and a luminous blue sky the likes of which I don’t feel we ever experience on land. The crests of the waves are breaking in a playful manner all around us with little bobbling wavelets running at right angles to the main rollers creating a vision of waves at play. The rollers are mostly on our port quarter meaning every now and again one with our name on it slews us to starboard departing in a rumble of froth and spume, and leaving the main sail slightly confused. But order is soon restored as Sukama happily bowls along heading southwest seeking the tradewinds to take us to our destination and hoping to avoid the worst of the stronger winds billed.

Restored by two mugs of tea in quick succession I made up for lost time creating chicken chausseur for tonight and a chickpea salad for tomorrow as Paul and Malcolm slept. I admit to feeling virtuous but yet again I have created renewed mayhem in the galley!

Another couple of cargo ships have been spied by the electronics but being over 20 miles away they’re not visible to us.

Time for more sleep!

17 January 2026 at 09:39:57 GMT

Day 8 cont………..

Back on form 🙂 Chicken chausseur got rave reviews! We had bit of a think about the watch pattern over dinner and came up with the next iteration now that Paul is better acquainted with all things Sukama. For me, that now means that I have the prospect of up to 7 hours off after dinner with 2 hours of that on call. That sounds amazing.

Tonight has been full of changeable winds dropping down to 18 knots, up to 32 knots, varying by some 30 degrees in direction making our course somewhat erratic.

Day 9

Paul stood his first solo night watch – 0000 – 0400 and seemed very happy about it. He combined looking after George with trying not to fall off his seat as we heel, and stargazing where he is able to identify constellations thanks to an app on his phone. This firmament is truly breathtaking. You can see so many of the dimmer stars that it makes the entire sky look like the milky way – very busy. It is incredible to think that seafarers of the past could navigatge the oceans by the stars, the moon, the planets and the sun. And here are we, on this occasion happy to be glued to our electronics.

4metre rollers now established since dawn. Sukama loves these conditions!

Only 30 miles to run to our next waypoint. What will Charlie have in store for us? Continue to follow our noses or come round more westabout? Next exciting installment to follow……………!

18 January 2026 at 09:03:05 GMT

Day 9

Was an eventful day! The generator routine is now well established at 7.30am. Malcolm puts it on, or occasionally delegates, for batteries, water heater and water maker. We’re crunching through power fast with George employed 100% of the time. Sea was flattish at 0745. By 8am we had 4metre rollers, a very wet floor and cushions thanks to drizzle in the winds topping 34 knots speeding us along at 10 knots!

Followed by an identified leak from the fixed port in our heads requiring sealant, and a worrying graunching noise from the steering. We confirmed that it wasn’t the steering mechanism itself but rather the autopilot – still not great but better than the steering cable. In his mind, Malcolm had decided that we needed to replace the linear drive arm. Paul emerged to be told the news as big seas and strong winds continued to make Sukama’s movement very unpredictable. So then the pow wow. Read the manual, mattresses up in the aft cabin, boarding up, examine the problem together, and thankfully Paul’s fire door experience came into play. A squirt of WD40 in the offending ball joint fixed the problem instantaneously!

Sighs of relief all round followed by a hearty breakfast. And bit of a play for the paparazzi as I sipped tea on the aft seat. It’s a remarkably relaxing place to be once you get there, but fine so long as you’re careful and wear a safety line.

Strong winds and big seas continued all day. They have a habit of increasing overnight so we anticipated a really rough night, but not a bit of it. The winds calmed to a gentle 20knots, seas reduced dramatically. And we had dolphins!

Day 10

Relieving Paul at 4am all was cool, calm and collected. Another incredible sky lit by stars in the abscence of the moon – expecting to see the new moon any day now – phosphorescence shimmers in the froth as we forge through the water heading deeper southwest to avoid the worst of the storms to our west.

19 January 2026 at 09:02:55 GMT

It was a wonderful day overall! Strong winds and big seas continued throughout the rest of the day and overnight. It was another rollicking ride of a day, which is now our new normal. It’s what we’ve come to expect and got used to. On our last crossing we had big seas but only for a fraction of the time so I for one never got used to them and was very nervous. I couldn’t understand how Anthony and Malcolm were so relaxed about it. They used to lie on the cockpit seat reading books on their watch, whilst I was on tenterhooks watching and waiting for the next wave I needed to avoid tipping us over. It seems their attitude was the right one, and now I confess, I along with the others, am positively enjoying this ride. I too can sit and read my novel 🙂 Hence these watches have been about monitoring George and watching out for passing traffic – ships, birds, flying fish, dolphins etc.

We even managed some social time together which is not so easily achieved. Aperitif, nachos and salsa, followed by Sunday lunch! The other unusual achievement of the day was culinary! Thanks to Merie I can now make pastry, so goats cheese and courgette tart was followed by vanilla ice cream and caramel rum with kit kat! The likes have never been seen before on Sukama, will they be seen again?! Enjoyed by all.

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Team members: Malcolm, Sue, Paul, George the autopilot, Charlie our weather router

Photos from previous crossing 2019/20

Previous adventure updates

Day 5 – 6: https://blackwells.biz/atlantic-crossing-days-5-6/

Day 1 – 4: https://blackwells.biz/atlantic-crossing-days-1-4/

Preparation and setting off on day 1: https://blackwells.biz/the-call-of-the-ocean/