May 15th

Trip metre 6149nm

Dist to Horta 751nm

Dist in 24hrs 33nm

DMG 21nm

I have just been drifting under bare poles with the tiller lashed since yesterday until mid morning.  Wasting time till the depression passes north of me.  Put up the jib this morning to get a bit closer to the depression's forecast position as the weather models change.  I'm aiming for 35N 35Wby Tuesday.  Then I should be in strong winds but not too severe.  The weather models do not agree too well and for the long term forecasts they are completely different.  And the forecasts change every few hours.  Sailing at about 3 knots with the wind aft of the beam.  Sea still choppy with uncomfortable motion for a 5m yacht.  Still a lot of sargassum weed around.  There are no gaps bigger than 10m between patches of weed.  Most are the size of a side plate but some are as big as a car.  This does not look good for the future.