Position 17:56.16S 173:49.78E

After taking a weather forecast and leaving the security of the reef yesterday we were looking forward to a nice steady sail – big mistake !

The winds gusted between 25 and 40 knots and the waves were 5 metres high with spray that covered the cockpit.

At some points the guard rails and horseshoe life buoys were under the water as we slid down the side of the bigger waves.

 We reefed in well and retired below to stay dry, keeping watch from our raised chart table and saloon area.

We hit our highest speed ever at 12.3knots and we also finally smashed the 200miles in 24 hrs barrier, achieving 215 miles through the water in 24 hrs with average speeds of nearly 9knots.

I will be quite happy not to do that again for while – I just can’t take all the excitement !

This morning the wind has decreased and the seas have flattened to moderate, we have now shaken out the reefs and we are sailing along nicely at around 7knots.

Our ETA for Port Villa in Vanuatu is Wednesday lunchtime.