weather

The wind strength has abated somewhat but I'm still sailing hard on the wind as it is still coming from the same direction that I'm trying to go. I'm currently on a heading of 121M and making about 8 knots. Horta is now 695NM away at a bearing of 087M; still hoping for a Friday arrival but I'll have to work to keep the boat moving at a good pace with this wind opposing me. That's one of my lessons from John Kretschmer; keep the boat moving. It's too easy to put off making sail trim changes and to sacrifice boat speed that over time extends the trip significantly. At night I give myself a break and I'm happy as long as I'm getting 6 knots or better but during daylight hours I've managed to be pretty vigilant at making adjustments frequently.
I've seen 2 ships in the last 24 hours and two more are near me right now per AIS even though they aren't in sight.
Had a nice breakfast of cinnamon raisin toast and coffee. Beautiful blue skies and the sunshine quickly brought warmer temps after a cold night.
I managed to connect with my Dad (& Mom) this morning via sat phone. I'm having much better performance after relocating and adjusting the antenna. Iridium is currently in the process of launching a new constellation of satellites to greatly improve bandwidth of their NEXT system. It was originally supposed to be online in time for this trip but I suspect it will be about a year before it's available. Future world travelers will still be able to be well connected (if they choose).