Wow. Last night we had a lot of lightning in and after the Solent.  As the storms passed, the wind did crazy things: 0-25 and directions from all quadrants.  We escaped without incident, but we are a bit tired, and it was busy.

This morning was fairly settled and, despite the engine only reluctantly starting, I got some sleep.  Hannes did too.  A bit after lunch the wind went to 30.  Yuk! We put in two reefs and set up the J2 on the lock ready to go.  I needed a snorkel mask on the bow.  Of course, then the wind went down to low 20s, J1 conditions. 

We have now lost one of the two reefs, but the wind just dropped to 13!  On top of that, a warship “Queen Elizabeth” just announced live fire exercises not too far from us.  It’s been quite a day.  We will wait a few minutes before shaking out the last reef. 

The new solar panels are working great and putting in a lot of charge. 

Stacking the gear is a nice work out and well deserved after the baguettes and French pastries.