A wet and bumpy ride to windward

Whilst we are enjoying glorious sunshine off the west coast of Ireland, the
fresh northly winds and accompanying waves are gives us quite a bumpy ride.
It only took one wave to soak Trevor before the spray hood went up. Doesn't
seem to have affected boat speed as we are still punching through the waves
at almost 7kts. But the effect on crew moral was enormous - hunkered down
uner the canopy we are able to stay warm and dry whilst the autohelm steers
a steady course. Winds have varied from 18kt to 27 kts, so we have put the
first reef in the mainsail. The Heavy jib with its ability to be furled and
reefed without us going on deck is much appreciated.

Latest GRIB files still predict a tack around midnight as the wind backs to
the west of north. But prediction for our arrival at Barra is 5kt of wind
for the last 10 hours will will seem frustrating after all this hard work.

Richard & Trevor