31: 36.3 S

176: 16.9 E

 

Distance last 24 hours:             143     nm

Distance since Nuku’alofa:      891     nm 

Distance still to go:                236    nm                                                 (All distances are in nautical miles:  1nm = 1.8km)

 

Short one today, the heading says it all! ....Sorry!

 

We are getting closer now, and change is in the air!! The most obvious is that I am sitting typing this on the high side of the heeling boat, want to fall out of my seat all the time! Last night the boat was on the other tack, as it has  been for all the trip, and I had a nice comfy writing position, nicely leaned back into the low side of the heeling boat! Yeah, sailing is all about learning to live on an angle all the time!

 

The last 24 hours have been busy, with firstly the loss of wind as expected, and then the headwinds, but stronger than forecast.

The sunrise this morning was a special red one..maybe a warning for the day ahead, but the sea at that stage was like a pond and we had to resort to the engine. The wind come and went all morning, and we stuck to an effective motor sailing strategy than saw us moving along nicely at up to 6.5 knots, but with minimum fuel usage.  (And noise!)  Late morning the wind moved to SW and stronger than forecast so that has taken us off our rhumb line course.  Fortunately the seas are not big (at the moment!), but it does stress me a bit that we are heading direct south now, when we should be going SW. One has to trust the forecast, as the forecast westerly winds for tomorrow are what my gamble was based on.  With a bit of luck we should be in westerly orientated winds by late morning tomorrow, and that is when we can make to turn SW direct  to Opua. Fingers crossed, and mean while, tonight will be a bit of a restless night, as the wind is changeable, and so the boat needs adjusting all the time. Ruth and I have agreed that I’ll go into solo sailing mode, sleep outside, and essentially be on 24 hour call, catnapping through the night, unless there is nothing to do, then I get to sleep the whole night!  She will do ship watch, getting up to check for shipping. We shall see how it goes!

 

Not much else to report, ..... So, you know what that means regarding fishing!

 

Cheers

 

H