Passing the half-way mark and hearing that despite light winds the Spirit of Bermuda was in second position on the water gave the crew a much needed morale booster.

Until yesterday the crew felt like it was stuck repeating the same day over and over again.

Each shift they would emerge and still the winds would be light, the ship would be making a slow and steady pace of five knots and the view, well it was still the sky and the ocean.

Luckily Bermuda Day brought Chef Michael Scott's delicious fish chowder and Johnny bread.

Soon after lunch the crew gathered in the galley to watch a documentary of a large Tall Ship sailing around Cape Horn, the southern most tip of South America, which is known as the worst sailing in the world.

The following day the Captain decided to observe the public holiday and cancel sail training class so everyone could catch some extra shut eye.

But it wasn't until a Mahi-Mahi was caught that our luck began to change. The crew decided to try out a Hawaiian tradition and hung the fish tail from the tip of the bow sprit on Monday.

By Tuesday it seemed to have worked, the wind had grown stronger, the ship was speeding up and the weather was sunny but cool.

The good mood continued as the crew also participated in a "knot off" where they competed in watches to see which group could complete six knots the fastest.

The winning watch got to choose which section of the ship to clean for Captain's Inspection and following that everyone celebrated reaching the half way mark with ice popsicles on the stern.

As of 2 p.m. yesterday the Spirit had covered 1,290 nautical miles and has 1,265 to go.

She is currently second on the water, and fourth on corrected time.

The Royal Gazette's reporter Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch is aboard the Spirit as a watch leader and will continue to file regular reports from the ship.

Spirit's Log:

Spirit's position at 1400 UTC: Tuesday May 26th.

27º27''N x 40º43''W

COG 281ºT

SOG 8 knots

Force 4 SxE'ly, slight sea, Blue sky interspersed with Cumulus and Stratocumulus.

Barometer 1019.0mb and steady.

Under full sail on a broad reach.

Daily run since 1400 yesterday 172NM as the crow flies.

1290NM from Santa Cruz de Tenerife

1265NM from St David's Light, Bermuda

Celebration as we pass the halfway point and manage to steer North of West at a competitive speed.

It's a beautiful day and many are making the most of it some exercise, laundry, buzz cuts and a thorough ship-wide cleanup.

It feels good to be steering toward Bermuda for a change and all are savouring the breeze while it lasts.