27:32.589 S  167:03.694 E

02/11/09

21:30

The full moon rose about an hour before sunset.  The skies have cleared and it’s a beautiful evening.  At 5:30 this afternoon the cross track error reached 128 miles, and I said “Basta” or words to that effect.  The wind was still SE but under 15 knots so I turned on the engine and we began what may turn out to be a long motoring session.  The sea has reduced  a lot and we’re able to motor on course at 7 plus knots.  The cross track error is slowly coming down, currently 122 miles.

10:00

Last night the full Moon rose majestically an hour or so before sunset.  We had a clear very bright night and this morning the Moon set about an hour before the Sun appeared.  The wind has gone WSW but it is under 10 knots (Force 2) so we’re still motoring. The sea is almost flat and glossy.

 The Sat Com doesn’t work on this heading and the Iridium is not very reliable.  I’m having trouble receiving a new GRIB file with updated wind speed and direction predictions.  Maybe it’ll work later, otherwise we’ll have to stop for a few minutes and face North long enough for the Sat Com to log on and  receive the message.

12:00

Current ETA would get us into Opua well before dark on Friday but that’s assuming a constant speed of 7.8 knots (with no cross track error), so I imagine we’ll be in sometime before Saturday morning. Ish.

Yesterday’s run was  181   miles, with 18 ½  hours under engine. Cross track error down to 103 miles.  We gained a net  153 miles on  Opua. 595 miles to go.

Around midnight tonight we will pass just to the East of Norfolk Island where we stopped last year.