Well the wind and the seas were relentless the whole day and night until around 3 this morning. Around 20 knots on the beam with 3 – 4 meter seas and the noise!  I tried to get some video footage but it’s really impossible to capture the size of the seas.   Actually not too bad for this passage as we made decent progress without too much effort in sail changes – till night that was!  The big swell is from the southern ocean with a 11sec period, so not too uncomfortable. The issue is the 1.5m wind chop on top which leads to a bumpy ride – it’s hard work just trying to brace yourself against the motion of the boat.  But at the sun came out in the afternoon which always seems to make a difference.  We sailed with a heavily reefed main and genoa so the boat was well balanced and not too much ‘on our ear’.  We were both tired from lack of sleep which kind of made for long day.  Stood 3 hour watches last night because it’s too cold to be out much longer in the night – certainly out of the tropics now! Last night was frustrating due to lots of squalls and shifts, so many sail changes and adjustments to keep the pace up.

Quite a lot of shearwaters around yesterday – amazing how they manoeuvre between and slightly above the waves.  Had a visit from an albatross this morning as the sun was getting up, then another couple later. Fantastic birds to watch as they glide effortlessly without ever flapping their huge wings. Wind is much lighter this morning at around 12 knots and had gone aft the beam. So back to full sail and currently doing 7.5 knots. The good thing about going to Opua is that it’s a bit shorter so all being well we should sight New Zealand tomorrow and be in Opua on Saturday.  Just had French toasts and a cuppa so feel ready to start the day!

24 hour distance:  183 miles