Neal McDonald reports

for madforsailing on the unusual weather and how he nearly destroyed Assa Abloy

Flat calm and smooth seas may have been unusual for the north east trades but how about a wild storm cloud and 15 knots of boat speed to sling shot us through the majority of the Doldrums! Way to go - that beats the usual nightmare of no wind, lumpy seas and endless sail changes that I remember the doldrums .
Now we are in the south east trades having crossed the equator and as far as the results are concerned the rich are getting richer. Having gone the first two weeks being in sight of at least one boat every day the last three we have seen none.

Pleasant trade wind sailing has only been interrupted by the occasional black cloud coming our way necessitating an all hands on rush sail change. The remainder of the time we spend trying to get the last few percent of speed out of the boat - all pretty civilised really - I've even managed the odd salt water shower!

However, we did not leave the northern hemisphere completely with out drama. A couple of torn chutes kept the on board sail making team busy and a small steering gear failure ended in a near miss.

It must be me, as on Club Med it was also me on the wheel when a similar problem caused a wild broach at 35 knts and a near capsize. This time I was swinging on the wheel spinnaker reaching when after a large bang I found the wheel spinning uselessly in my hands and the boat broaching wildly into a wind direction check! 'OPS' I said to myself as I expect the worst - a broken blade. Fortunately it turned out to be less serious and by using the leeward wheel we got safely back on our way.

Better here than in the middle of a gale in the Southern Ocean!