Happy New Year!

We left Fortaleza yesterday at 8:30am. After 2 miles, we came back in the small bay just before the marina because our log wasn't working. It is not fundamental but it is quite nice to have it. Greg cleaned the unit and there it was, working again! Fortaleza had very green waters. We had to scrub our anchor bridal as it was all green. Same for our lines. We were there for 9 days and it was enough!

We enjoyed the pool (attached to the hotel facing the marina). The kids went for 2 hour swims everyday. Clea was more and more confident. We took advantage of the hotel shuttle going to town to go to the craft market, to do our shoping,... We met nice people. e.g. there was an old norwegian yacht (from 1884) with young guys on board. Everything on board is manual. They helped us fixed the main sail.

There was a young Frenh sailor (wbout 20) sailing solo on his 28ft "Chimere". He crossed the Atlantic and was going to explore Belem and the Amazon.

We left with a bumpy sea and good winds. We had the feeling that we lost our sea legs during that Fortaleza stop. We weren't feeling too good until the end of today. Clea was again the worste but it seems that it didn't last too long. So the kids watched lots of movies. DVDs can be such great babysitters!

We, the parents, had to try to be the best, but also to sleep whenever possible.

We are only 2 adults now doing 12 hours of watches each. As we are doing the same times everyday, our body will adapt to this new pattern and all should be fine in a couple of days.

We saw 4 small dolphins yesterday. A small bird used Merlin as a shelter for the night today.

We are back watching the sundowners (we missed them).

Merlin is fantastic since we left, breaking again the daily distance sailed. We did 210 nmiles for the first 24h of that leg! We were doing easily 9 knt with 2 reefs in the main and a small genoa. We are now doing 7-8 knt approching the Equator, few miles to go!

As Emmanuelle had crossed the line before at sea, she'll be the organiser of a small reception we'll do for Neptune tomorrow. We'll be having a quiet new year, under the company of the stars and the waves. Felix is really keen to join the midnight watch.

Our current position is 0 deg 4,59' N and 42 deg 24' W.

WISHING YOU ALL A GREAT HAPPY NEW YEAR!