The temperature has dropped dramatically as we head directly north. With 17-29 knots of wind on the forward beam, the open Atlantic ocean had a bit of an attitude last night. But by midday today, the wind came around and is now pushing us gently towards the Faroes. We sighted our first Minke whale with great excitement.

For hours fulmars swoop swiftly around us like bombardiers. With Dan feeling more confident, we can now share watches and we do 3 hours each – 6 hours off. It makes a huge difference to be able to have solid sleep for a good few hours at a time.

After almost 3 days at sea, we drop anchor outside Midvagar on the island of Vagur in the Faroes at around 1500, under blue sky and sunshine. Tired but happy to be here.

With the rough seas leaving Stornoway, we gave the dayhead a good test and are happy to report that it is leakfree and we no longer take in water – it’s a major relief!  And after making water successfully (yay!!), Calin cranks the Refleks without any trouble this time. Finally, the big issues seem to have been smoothed out and we feel much lighter for it.

We hook up the Starlink that allows us the luxury of having internet (wifi) almost anywhere we anchor and after a nice dinner and a hot shower (a luxury that we don’t take for granted after days at sea!), we settle for an Icelandic series – not having much energy for anything else.