17:15N 151;16W

 

As we hoped, the night was boisterous but under the reduced rig we had a good sail in 25 knots of wind. With the sunrise and no red sky in the East, the conditions improved with a regular sea and a steady 15 knots of wind from the North East, now behind us. We are cruising at a speed of 7 knots heading straight to Hilo in full sunshine and white fluffy trade wind clouds.

We had a very close encounter with a cargo ship, proving the point that visibility in high seas is heavily reduced and vigilance needed. Calling the bridge we were told he had not seen us, when we were only a quarter of a mile of his port beam.

Unfortunately our AIS is not working and this is high up on our to do list to be sorted out in Hawaii.

 

24 hour log; 146 miles and 270 miles to go! ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) Thursday morning Honolulu time/ evening UTC.