Adrian Flanagan re-started his round the world voyage at 1100 on 9 November from Falmouth. He’s now south of Cape Finesterre

Time

Friday 1248

After entering a period of calm weather south of Cape Finesterre, I turned south-westerly towards Madeira . The boat sailed beautifully downwind and we were making a healthy 7knots. As the wind lightened I rigged the spinnaker but the wind picked up before I could fly it.

I had been concerned for some time that the batteries were not holding their charge, and determined to get to the bottom of the problem have spent the last 48hrs going through the battery and electrical system with a fine tooth comb. I think I found a current leak which has now been isolated. There are a further series of test to conduct on the batteries to make sure all is well.

I still have not really got into a routine with the amount of maintenance work I’ve had to do, but at least it keeps the mind focused. One thing that is regular is my bowl of porridge each morning with brown sugar and evaporated milk followed by two cups of freash brewed coffee! There is a small pile of laundry steadily growing.