The last few days on Silver Fern as we travel faster towards Australia have been great. We are now west of New Caledonia, and to the south of a military firing zone. We have been busy in the schedules of watchkeeping and are well used to the routines now, but not so much the chores!

The boat is making between 160 and 193 miles a day, with speeds between 6 and 10 knots. It’s absolutely fantastic now the seas have calmed down and the wind is more gentle. The crew saw 3.5m seas and max 32kts of wind for two days and were christened with queasy tummies. Three sunsets later, we’re all a box of fluffies.

Will and Greg in the Lions watch can claim first prize for eye-spy, they called “Land Ho!” yesterday afternoon as we passed south of Walpole Island. They also got to see dolphins on watch, these porpoises flew through the waves past us and carried on with a smile. Their other claim to fame is spotting the only other vessel encountered so far - a 169m log ship which passed 1.5nm ahead of us. Greg is enjoying time at the helm while dodging any photos being taken of him, and the lolly jar. Will is enjoying trying to catch fish and managed to see a shark slide through our stern wave. He’s also enjoying the lolly jar. His favourite boat breakfast: toast with butter and salt!

In the Eagle watch, Ross and Mo tick along and their watch is the only time we get to sleep in the aft cabin - they’re polite and talk quietly, or gaze in silence looking out at the sea. Mo is sad we didn’t get close enough to New Caledonia to shout ‘Land Ho’ but happy she’s got a bunk set up again after an unfortunate episode with a leaking hatch and a wave… The rest of the crew are delighted at Mo’s culinary skills - she’s producing some awesome meals from the small galley, and is enjoying the lolly jar. Mo has also been seen with cucumber slices on her eyes while off watch. Ross on the other hand is fully into the sailing, no matter the condition. If Sharon or I don’t want to get wet from the waves, Ross will volunteer to do a job without knowing what it is. He’s typically either behind the wheel or at the mast and has been Mo’s sous chef in the galley too. There was an incident with Ross involving the gimbled oven, an open oven door, a large tray of chicken roasting in juices and a badly timed roll. An almighty crash followed by “I need help!!” was heard and I rushed down to find a sea of chicken juice in the galley, with the oven door jammed open and the pots and pans threatening to fall off on the next wave! Crisis averted, the chicken was eaten for dinner and well received. Ross never says no to the lolly jar either.

Our Albatross watch with Juliet and Scott are getting along really well and great hands at everything from cleaning to sail changes to meals (although Scott is better at eating the meals). Having overcome her faint seasickness from the first two days of passage, she’s now in the galley searing a sliced pork roll roast before popping it into the oven on a bed of apple. If you like pork, it smells delicious. Juliet is prone to the lolly jar as she’s paired with the worst lolly fiend on board - Scott! I have a recollection of Scott, at 2am under the red lighting, digging under the saloon seats to restock his beloved jar, ripping the bags open with his teeth. I’m pretty sure he’s eating his veggies though so it’s ok.

All in all, the crew are fantastic under the leadership of Sharon. She’s great at getting the crew to do exactly what’s needed and I wonder if she ever sleeps. Today with the gennaker, Sharon showed us how passionate she is about sailing and getting the most out of the boat. We were giggling as she was on the foredeck doing a vlog interview with her and the candy cane sail. I ran the water maker today and most of the crew have had a shower, we also cleaned Silver Fern top to toe so it feels like a new crew on a new boat.

Favourite lollies are as follows:

Mo - soft fruit jubes

Ross - pink musk sticks

Greg - fruit jelly creams

Juliet - black jelly babies

Will - hemp gummies

Scott - fruit jelly creams

Hannah - strawberry creams

Sharon - the lollypop/candy cane gennaker

We need to do a sail change now. Until next time

Hannah - Chief Mate - Silver Fern