Bermuda > Azores - Day 8: Guest blogger Gill here

We are sailing along nicely at a speed of 10+ knots under Mainsail and with varying degrees* of the Jib out.

The crew have spent a good bit of quality time together by this point so I thought i’d share a brief insight into their main qualities.  

Diorbhail - Wild card at Uker card game, the most house proud of us all and far superior blog writer. Resident expert in various topics including the highlands, Bruce springsteen, horses in films and seagrass. 

Sé - Our in-house weather man, top wildlife spotter and champ who shows outstanding patience when teaching us how to do cryptic crosswords. Dotes on his wife, kids and grandkids which is always heartwarming to hear. 

Andrew - Persistent in the face of defeat with fishing (until yesterday), sings to every other word said and falls asleep anywhere at the drop of a hat. Very avid, strategic and competitive Uker player. Doesn’t mess about with portion sizes. 

Cheryl (in absentia) - Whilst Cheryl is not crew on this passage, we have been enjoying her delicious meals throughout and your beef stew has gone down a treat tonight, thank you!

Otto (autopilot) - Very conscientious, excellent accuracy and almost always does what you tell him. 

We have finally been joined by some wildlife today, Wilson’s Storm-Petrel birds have been swooping the skies and a fleeting encounter with a pod of common dolphins. Definitely worth being sprayed whilst bouncing on the bow to see!

Today we have also celebrated the second 500 mile pass of this leg with approximately 517 nautical miles to go. The countdown is definitely on to the Azores, especially with the growing tension in the daily Uker card game and the increasing difficulty of the cryptic crosswords. 

Blogs with relevant sailing content will resume tomorrow. 

Gill over and out.