Finally, yesterday, I cleaned up the oil! Hooray! It took me 5 hours, three special oil absorber sheets, half a bottle of washing up liquid and a lot of elbow grease - it's still not perfect, but I'm happy. Not too much damage to the spares (except the mess). It's still a bit slippery, but I will be
careful.
Today is the day of sail changes! With the wind between 10 and 30 knots, I have been changing between Gennaker + full main, all the way down to solent + 2 reefs. It's pretty  knackering, so I am trying to find a compromise between course, speed and sail config to economise energy and not loose speed with a pointless manouver. At some points I was doing 22+ knots, which appeared to terrify Pierre Louis on the radio vacation!! I took his advice (!) and calmed things down a little!!! (it was a bit fruity at the time!!) I have also managed to stick up all my cards and photos that I had received before the start, so Roxy is looking even more "homely" than ever! I even have a four leafed clover stuck on my "dash board" too! (merci Nico!) Lucky and Foxy are finding their sea legs, and have returned to their normal "spot" on my chart table, after having rapidly taken cover at the bottom of a gear bag for the first two days to avoid any flying around(I don't think they realise they are birds!)

"Everything is fine, except that the lads ahead of me are going really fast. When I match their pace, it really gets to me, as it's very hard on the boat. I'm surprised about how much of a risk they are taking.  I don't want to lecture anyone, but I don't feel like sailing in that way.  It's tough seeing them get away.  But I always remember that the equipment will let you know at some moment what you have put it through."

From Steve White, Toe in the Water: " I am having a competition to see how many calories I can get into a sandwhich to try and fatten myself up for the South - I didn't eat lunch for the first two weeks I was in Les Sables as I was just too busy and consequently lost a lot of weight - I am up to about 800 I think, 600 calories of cheddar and about a third of a jar of peanut butter giving another 200 calories. It takes a lot of eating I can assure you, and the peanut butter sticks your mouth together, which most people who know me would say is probably a good thing! Then I sit at the chart table like an egg eating snake and wait for it to go down !"

Everyone will remember how in 2004, the skipper of VM Matériaux charmed us with stories about his little family.  There was his automatic pilot, Popaul and his mainsail, "Big Denise." The family has just grown with the arrival this year of Eleanor, the wind generator.
 

There were several pleasant surprises for Dee Caffari (Aviva) yesterday that she enjoyed talking about with Sam Davies (Roxy) during their little chat.  She explains today what she found so amusing...

"I couldn't stop laughing. The boys had left photos of themselves naked in areas of the boat that they had been working on so when I was in the aft department bailing out some water and looking at the steering gear, I turned round and there was Craig (Thompson) on the transom with strategically placed pots of resin. There was one of Martin (Piquet) coiling a line in the sail locker and one of Joff further forward. I haven't found Rob (Sleep) yet but that is something to look forward to. I have seen a side to all the boys that I'd not seen before. They are certainly not shy."

More seriously, looking at what has been happening in the race, Dee expressed her feelings about her own situation and about Alex Thomson's retiral.

"It didn't surprise me that Brian Thompson overtook me yesterday. The fact that I'm in with this pack at all is awesome. It makes me smile every time I see the positions come in - just being in the same bit of the chart as them is really cool."

"To have gone through everything they did to get to the start line and having worked so hard, it would have been heartbreaking for Alex to go back in. I really feel for them all. He now has to wait another four years - it's really sad. But there is so much more to him than a pile of carbon fibre. He now has another four years to do more and everyone should be very worried about Alex for the Vendée in 2012."

 

From Unai Basurko, Pakea Bizkaia " How is everything?  I have begun to enjoy sailing with a good wind, full moon and the boat in a perfect state.  I hope that all the problems that people have had after the front that we have been through can be solved.  I have spoken today to the Spanish press and there is a lot of excitement about the Vendee Globe. A big hug from A big hug from Pakea Bizkaia, enroute to the Canary Islands."