Day 5 from Ascension

1100 Friday 3rd February

We crossed the equator about 1700 yesterday but not before experiencing a
mixed bag of conditions for the entire day.

Thunder, lightning and heavy rain at 0600 that morning were the first signs
that we were very near the northern limits of the trusty SE trade wind belt.

Last night was even more intense, with lots of electrical activity and
torrential rain - all phones and tablets were stored for safety in the
microwave and our trusty Skipper, James, turned off as much boat electronics
as practicable.

Right now we are about 100 NM into the Northern Hemisphere - the wind is
under 8 kts but still behind us but will probably shut off sometime later
today - things will remain hot and sticky I suspect until we reach into the
NE trades after maybe another 400 NM (or 3ish days).

The Line crossing was marked with a Gin & Tonic as a homage to Neptune (our
first bit of alcohol since Ascension) and some crew even joined Neptune in
the deep and swam across. A very tasty vegetarian dinner washed down with
tea and banana cake perfectly rounded off this milestone passing day.

TC