Close to Palmerston
Miss Molly 4
Bob & Peggy Wilkerson/Geoff & Merel Pettifer
Sat 18 Oct 2008 14:11
We are in our 4th night and still no sign of the Southern Cross. That means that so far we've had at least low clouds off to port at night. During daytime we were able to keep sailing in the lighter winds (153 Nm in the last 24 hours) with a wet afternoon, but at night the wind left us so we had to start motoring. At least it stayed dry, despite the frontal lines that started bugging us and the last one we are having at this very moment is not only giving us a windshift from ESE to now ENE, but the air is feeling much chillier as well. Relatively speaking, that is. Just one fleece will solve the chilliness while we are still comfortable with bare feet.
We are currently almost North of Palmerston Atoll, one of the Northern Cook Islands. We have heard great stories from cruisers who have stopped there, but we will keep on going until we've reached Tonga. Nice to know that there are some other people nearby though in what feels like the middle of nowhere. Odd to think that there are people living there year round, on this remote spot, with a supply ship stopping only once a year - if they are lucky. The Palmerstonians are therefore always happy when cruisers leave goodies like flour behind. But the families who live there are always happy to share with the cruisers. Sounds like a very special place, but you can't stop everywhere if you want to make progress.
Talking of which - we have 684 Nm to go, which means we will reach our half way point later today!
Cheers for now,
Geoff & Merel