The last two days were not as exciting. After the wind had died down, we started our engine. Since then we have been motor-sailing along. It looks like we have reached some winds south of the equator. So now we need to get ourselves in the best position before we are planning to switch off our engine later today. We will have reached the end of our motoring window and start to navigate with nothing but the wind again.

We used these days to perform a lot of checks and do some necessary repairs. They are mostly finished now. We could reinstate a few items and fix others temporarily to prevent further damaging them through the remainder of this race. Only the repair of our spinnaker will need some more time. But some great progress has already been made.

I am looking forward to be back sailing. The silence after the engine is switched off again will be a relief. And it is much nicer to sail along calmly plus you get to really appreciate the force of nature.

With our current position around 5 degrees north we have about 309 nautical miles remaining until the equator. If we can head mostly south we should be able to reach the equator by the day after tomorrow. It is only a virtual line which you cannot see when crossing it. But it is significant. For us because we will become shellbacks upon crossing it. But it isn’t just a line made up by men. The Coriolis force is changing sign so that the winds will rotate in the opposite direction around weather systems. As will the swirls in a draining sink. I am curious what is waiting for us and excited for anything coming our way.