4th November  2009 – Passage to Opua.

27.43S 173.33E - 445nm to Opua. – 0330hrs

Ah well looks like there is a high developing to the west of the Nth Island tomorrow which although it augers well for you North Island land dwellers for the weekend, it is likely to provide us with unwelcomed S-SE winds to finish the passage. My feeling now is to desist from our westerly angle as the likelihood of there being SW winds to finish is remote. Chris of course is not so sure. He would like some more information of 500mb pressures, perhaps some information from NASSA on stratospheric ionic activity and a dollop of any other scientific mumbo jumbo he can analyse to further confuse the situation. So to go right or to go left. Bertie the Frenchman who sailed with me from Singapore in 1990 used to be amused by the length of time I could spend pondering such a question. He said the French had a phrase for it which I forget now, which meant "to Lob for trajectory or to Bowl for momentum" as it applied to patenque (sp). He said the old men playing patenque in the villages would spend hours pondering the question. As Chris says " What seaman worth his salt wouldn't spend hours mulling the question, to go right or to go left". I suppose you could say " The one with the answer". One thing remains. We are gravely concerned the Italians may have the answer that we don't !!

The moon at dawn – 2 days after full.

If we were to be allowed to sail a straight line we would likely be in Opua Friday night even as we are, motoring at 6.5 kts, but you can be assured, Hewie won't allow that. He never does. So Time will tell. Hopefully we will have gleaned enough information by tomorrow morning from our various sources, the Grib files, Commanders weather, MetVu , Nassa, to make an informed decision on exactly how far up shitters ditch we are.

Last nights butter chicken proved beyond doubt that a jar of Pataks lobbed in with a dozen chopped up simmering chicken thighs and onions, and hiffed on to a plate of rice, is infinitely easier than scaping the burned remains of a carefully prepared from scratch beef tagine from the bottom of the pressure cooker. We've been spoiled by the conditions of yesterday. Sitting here as I write, apart from the Perkins ticking away, we could be on the marina. It allows all sorts of activities during the day. Dons piscatorial pursuits have taken on new energy, sadly to little effect. The flare Chris puts in to his lunch time wraps of ham and salad, beggars belief. And Dons breakfasts of scrambled eggs and bacon really should be photographed. I'm sure I'll bust the scales again when I get home. So casual were we yesterday that I missed the morning radio skeds, so I have no idea where every one else is, something that bugged me the rest of the day. Not sure whether it was the relaxed conditions or Mad Cow. Anyway I'll make sure it doesn't happen again today.

Little else to report. Ran out of diesel in one tank an hour ago. Changed tanks, bled the engine, on our way again. Poor tank management. Must be the relaxed conditions - or Mad Cow - will make sure it doesn't happen again.