Day 25 :15 57 S 36 27 W

This morning finds BP Explorer still charging down the coast of Brazil; an episode in our journey which is set to last some time - descending the Brazilian coast is the equivalent of sailing down past France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco and most of Mauritania - in all, over 2,000 miles. We have had a fantastically bright moon to guide us for the past few days and will enjoy a full one tonight, whilst beneath us we have Cadeia dos abrol hos - steep volcanic pinnacles on the seabed where the depth decreases from over 4,000 metres to just 23! Although we are now over two-thirds of the way to BA, we are trying to avoid discussing an ETA on board; there is little to be gained from thinking too far ahead, and certainly some more time would probably work in our favour right now. Kiting ever-more quickly downwind as we pass
south of Salvador, we are still locked into the same pecking order, with the three leaders having pulled away from us slightly overnight, and things with BG SPIRIT and Spirit of Sark remaining little changed. Undeterred we may be, but all of us realise that it will take days rather than hours to achieve any change in position. We keep our spirits up with inventiveness in the kitchen and take comfort in the knowledge that we have a superior TTS on board. Yesterday we had a breakfast which would have been deemed 'a marvellous spread' by any self-respecting member of the Famous Five off on adventure; chocolate birthday cake with blue icing to start, following by scrambled egg (powdered) and 'bacon' (soya) on freshly-baked brown bread, finished off with more chocolate cake. Here on BP Explorer, it is definitely a case of weight on the high side!