We’re two nights in to our 1400 mile passage from Jamaica to the USA, passing east of Cuba then up through the Bahamas chain. Guantanamo Bay is prominent on the charts. The relationship between the US and Cuba has not always been straightforward so I’m curious to know how the US have / had a detention centre there? No internet at sea so I can’t look that up and find out the history. That thought will disappear into the ether. Bye.

We bought a couple of paperback books each in anticipation of reading lots on passage. I’ve read both of mine plus one of Dave’s too. Hmm. It’s a bit like buying a large bar of chocolate and thinking, ooh, that’ll last a long time then gorging on it mercilessly.

I do read fiction although my preference is more for something based on real life. Travel stories, personal accounts, biographies, that kind of stuff. Forget sci-fi or fantasy. Can’t get into that bizarre malarkey and I have an 8 year old ally.

We met an American family a few weeks ago who self school on the boat. Their daughter was eight and son eleven I think. Advice from their schools was as long as the kids are up to date on their maths and english for their academic year, they’d be fine. They set off with a stack of school books and resources, occasionally FaceTiming into their class to catch up with school friends, be part of lessons and share what they’ve been up to on their year long sailing trip.

The children were fun to be around, although they always went back to their own boat at the end of the day 😀. Mum was really struggling to get her daughter to read. This was how this 8 year old evaluated fiction. “I’m not reading it. It’s all made up therefore it’s all lies.” Difficult for mum to argue that one.

Quick boaty update. We have anchored off a Bahamian island to rest up after 4 days at sea. My the water is so amazingly clear here. All good. All safe. Some fine sailing. My only grumble is some blinking fish took my lure. Probably a barracuda. So tinned tuna for tea not mahi. Grumble.