We continued to switch between motoring and sailing as the wind went up and down around big storm clouds. As we get closer to Bermuda we are aware of being on somewhat of a highway of yachts moving north. We can generally only see them when they are within 5 miles, and pick them up on AIS within 10 miles – it reminds us what a huge ocean we are on!

It poured with rain overnight, and the night watches were mostly spent sheltering down below. The morning started with flat calm. We could look down into the water and see fish swimming; we have also been seeing Portuguese Men of War drifting by – the Sargasso Sea is amazingly clear. Around noon there was enough wind to sail. As soon as we started to heel, we realized that the bilges were awash – yikes! It turned out that a fitting on the water maker had come loose, so that when we ran it for a few hours earlier today, some of the waste water ended up in the bottom of the boat. It took us over an hour to pull ships stores out, pump bilges, get everything more or less dry and stow it again. Fortunately the water doesn’t appear to have done any harm to the electronics on the boat. We are now sailing again and looking forward to being in Bermuda sometime tomorrow.