18:08.720S 157:15.372W

Position at 0000  UTC 30/08/10

Daily run...... about 9 litres of moderately expensive French Polynesian diesel

 

We sit in the middle of a vast, blue, windless ampitheatre. In our 6 O'clock anti-clockwise round to our  3 O'clock there are towering cumulous clouds on the horizon. From there round to our 7 O'clock the horizon is clear. At the 7 O'clock point there is a patch of Alto Cirrus cloud and the last weather download indicated that there was a disturbed area there (about 350nm away from us) with heavy rain and stronger winds, neither of which show any signs of putting in an appearance where we are.

Very occasionally the wind will gust up to 3 knots, but most of the time the wind vane on top of the mast is spinning faster than the wind-speed detector. We motor gently at 3 - 3.5kts at a fuel-sipping 1300 RPM on one engine, all sails furled. This should put us at the entrance to the pass at Aitutaki just before high water, Tuesday 31st. That's around lunchtime our time, or 0000 UTC on the 1st September.

All is well on board.