By Anna Wardley Mid-Atlantic

Sailing rookie Anna Wardley will be sending updates from the Clipper Race as she bids to sail around the world.

En route from Portugal to Cuba, we saw the glimmer of lights from Gran Canaria across the moon-lit Atlantic Ocean.

It will be our last glimpse of Europe until we complete our wind-powered circumnavigation of the globe next September.

We're all pretty exhausted after battling against relentless gale force headwinds, but life on board Hong Kong clipper has been particularly action-packed of late.

With gusts of 50 knots across the deck and towering waves crashing against the boat, our steering failed.

Within minutes, our mechanical-supremo Stephen was out of his bunk and fixing the damaged cable before we lost too much ground.

It's like being on a rollercoaster, except you can't get off to go to the loo or cook a meal.

Even for a sleepaholic like me, it's been hard to get any sleep in my bunk as I anticipate the impact of the hull on the water after every 30-foot freefall.

Many of the crew have been suffering with seasickness. Thankfully, though, I've been a bucket-emptier rather than a bucket-filler.

But there seems to be a respite in the "sickathon" as the wind moderates and we're looking forward to some vomit-free days as we start to pick up the trade winds.

We're hanging in there, making good speed, so I think I'll try to get some sleep and dream of sipping a mojito on a Cuban beach.