Saturday Feb. 4, 09.00 – Sunday Feb. 5
09:00 The wind has dropped to 17-18 kts and Yorgos suggests to hoist the main again. Since we put it down last night when the moon set, we’ve gained the 5 miles we had missed.
10:00 The main is on second reef ( theoretically as both our sails are on roller reefing) and our speed gained one mile. Half an hour later we reef down the main as there’s not enough wind to keep the sail Our genoa sails us nicely but slow the wind is dropping more and more. The sun is burning hot and there are but very few clouds in the sky .
11.30 We are hungry and I heat yesterdays dalicious potato souffle , I’ve been dreaming about it all morning. I then try unsuccesfully to get some sleep. It seems impossible even though I feel so very tired. When Yorgos goes to bed he makes a 40 minute power nap and he is as good as new.
14.00 We use the Iridium to send emails and read the news, Reuters articles are all about Donald Trump.

17:00 There’s one more day to go to arrive in Colombia and we are getting really excited. We are sitting at the cockpit, talking carelessly about our voyage when we suddenly apprehend a repeating swatter. We listen closely and we perceive that it’s coming everytime Filizi heels to the right. We think about the possible causes, it may be the bicycles down below, or the bass bottles in the lazaret, or…. We search cabinB, we search the lazaret, but at the end we realise that the cause is the radar column! Having some trouble with the radar column again during the Atlantic crossing we are considering the options.

17.30 After discussing how to deal with the problem, Yiorgos takes two long ropes and ties the column so to strengthen it. I watch him do that while the boat swings with the big swell and I worry tremendously that he may fall to the sea

18.00 The sun is setting and it’s  absolutely beautiful, a burning red orange coloured ball diving in the sea but, of course there’s no time for watching the sunset right now.
22.00 We expected very strong wind tonight, but instead we have a beautiful night with a sweet breeze and huge long waves. A night of exceptional beauty, floating gracefully under the bright moonlight over foams of breaking waves. I’ll never forget this night, ever! Deep inside I am worried for the radar column and I listen closely over the sound of the wind and the sea to hear a squeek or a crack but no, there’s nothing there. The waves are amazing tonight, they are coming huge and menacing behind us, pushing and turning Filizi but in the end she’s just heeling and rising above them. This is harmony, I think to myself, trying not to be intimidated by the size of the waves. Sometimes they are so big, that Stubby vane looses control for a second and Filizi starts surfing to the left  turning towards the wind, but then it stabilises again.
Day 6: Hours of sleep Karina 2.5 Yiorgos =3.50 Distance 120 NM
01.00 We sleep in shifts at the cockpit, with  loud music on the speakers, under an amazingly bright  moon. I feel  very alert, happy and excited
02.00 The moon sets and now we have the stars lighting our way. The sky is very clear, and this feels amazing, after tree seasons in the Caribbean where clouds are constantly in the sky. I study the stars, the Scorpion is dominant and the Orion, too. I see the Southern Cross and beside it the constellations Carina for the first time in my life.
I see the Twins, Castor and Pollux , the Dioskouri of the Gemini constellation  – my astrological sign, I see Leo and of course my old friend the Ursa Major. The wind is getting stronger and I’m alert in case I’ll need to reef the genoa but, no.
-“Are we going too fast?” Yiorgos asks half asleep
-“No! We are sailing with 6,5 its darling, Go back to sleep” I answer and he lies down again.
Sometimes, when I’m doing a night watch, tired and sleepy, I thing of my friends lying comfortably in their beds back home. Tonight I ‘m think of them again, and how much I’d love to have them all here, to share this amazing night, this amazingly beautiful night above the waves 100 miles away from Santa Marta Colombia….