December 20, 2018
Days distance: 89 nautical miles
Total distance: 1056 nautical miles
Prominent Feature: 172 miles to The Falkland Islands
1800 Position: 49-46’S 061-40’W
We never ended up motoring yesterday. We decided to be patient with the wind and save our 6 gallons of fuel for some other occasion. Progress was nil for the first half of the evening, but as expected a northerly breeze sprung up around midnight and sent us on our way. The wind is now northwest and slowly strengthening. We are sailing 6-7 knots dead downwind under single reefed main and genoa. We are sailing wing on wing with genoa poled out. The latest forecast looks great and if all goes well we should be approaching the Falkland Islands on the morning of December 22nd. The ocean is surprisingly turquoise and looks more tropical than high latitude. But the sea is cold, the air has a bight and we are definitely not in the tropics. In a few hours we will cross 50 degrees south latitude. The Roaring 40’s were unexpectedly benign and we hope for a similar welcome to the Furious 50’s.
sailing dawn treader 
Still stuck in Trinidad waiting on the gearbox, thanks for asking!
You’re getting near now so can anticipate getting in – a good feeling.
The US were friends to both the UK and the Argentinians so was in a difficult position in the war. The Argentinian air-force performed extremely well and had many direct hits on our ships but the US denied them the knowledge to change the fuse settings so lots of bombs hit but didn’t explode. Lots of bomb drops were at an extremely low level so didn’t trigger detonation.
Fast forward to 2018 and I have absolutely nothing to say but hope you enjoy this outpost of empire.
You’re brave and I admire that.
Good luck, Gerry
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