Another clear night last night so we broke out the star chart book and during breaks from shifts I managed to identify a couple of constellations.

So far I have shown the guys how to find the North star using the Plough and Cassiopeia and we have been using it each night to keep us on track.  It is amazing how you become accustomed to having it sit just off your left shoulder and on the cloudy night I actually miss it. 

What we have also been looking at is how the sky, well actually the earth, rotates around the North star during each night, this means that new stars are constantly appearing on the horizon on our port (left side) as others disappear over the horizon on the opposite side.  This constant changing skyline is fascinating and I was really keen on this trip to learn a little more about it.

So once I get up for my 11pm – 1am shift I consult the star book to find something new in the sky.  Initially I was using my www.Peli.ie ‘Heads up Lite’ to read the book and then turning it off to find the stars.  The problem with this is that the white light from the torch ruins my night vision and it takes about 5 minutes to re-adjust and focus on the dim stars.

So instead of the head torch I now bring the book an my www.Peli.ie Mitylite 1900, which has a red filter on the lens.  This allows me to check the book and keep my night vision intact so I can immediately go from the book to the sky and find he stars.  So far I have located Leo and the Little Plough as well as all of the stars on Orion.  IT is a great way to pass a 2 hour shift and it really brings the night sky to life.  We have another 5 or 6 days of no moon so hopefully I will have many more stars located before the light from the moon cancels out the distant stars.

The day was another scorcher with temperatures back up over the 30 degree mark for much of the day.  The winds also remain light and variable and came mainly from the south west today making the rowing hard work, but we are still making mile towards Barbados, just very, very slowly!