Heading South (a bit) - Noon Position 19 56.908S 175 32.831W

Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Sun 31 Oct 2010 03:09
left Vavau at 14.00 yesterday heading south. Depending on how the weather develops, the aim was to go to Tongatapu, the capital of Tonga and 165 miles to the south, or head for Minerva reef, another 250 miles or so, or carry on to Opua in NZ. The first night was not good bashing into high winds and seas and we were both seasick! The winds and seas have eased a bit during the day and we're feeling better now. We've just had a look at the grib weather data and at the moment we think it looks too unsettled to head for NZ (a low looks like it's forming in the Coral sea and could cross our path) and we're now aiming to go to Tongatapu and anchor there until the outlook is more settled. We have about 55 miles to go and it's hard on the wind which is a shame. The other 2 destinations are further west and it would have been a much easier sail. We will slow down a bit now or heave to when closer as we want to arrive in daylight and it's 16.00 here now.

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