31:47.948 S  166:34.973 W

25/5/09

15:00

Just had a really promising e-mail via the Australian Nespresso Club....yes I’m a member.

Hi Sir,

I’m Christophe TREBOUTA, sales Manager on Tahiti and we send and repare NESPRESSO machines.
If you come in Tahiti for a few days you can call me on my phone: (689) 734101

Thanks

So it won’t be Nescafe all the way after all. 

18:30

When I bought the new computer I also purchased on-line a compact wireless keyboard with a laptop type  mouse pad which is clearly designed for little Chinese fingers.  If you so much as hover over a bit of text it instantly selects it and also frequently moves the insertion point while you’re typing which for a hunt and peck merchant like me is a disaster. It tries to anticipate your click. This bit of kit along with the insanely complicated oddities of Word can drive a grown man to distraction.  All I want to do is some simple typing with no frills and automatic inanities.  I nearly threw it overboard this afternoon, until I remembered I had given the spare keyboard away whilst I was busy tossing everything I had been collecting over the last  4 ½ years.  It mysteriously locked the Numerical Caps function so you couldn’t type a number and try as I may I couldn’t rid the thing from this feature.  I took the batteries out of it for  half an hour and when I replaced them it started to behave as normally as it ever does.  A new keyboard will be second on my Papeete Shopping List.

The water pump impellor of the DC generator died today.  Steve replaced it. It had only done 140  hours but probably sitting idle in New Zealand the last few months didn’t do it any good.

It’s been a cloudy damp day.  The wind  has been pretty much ENE all day and we’ve done a couple of big tacks which haven’t got us all that much closer to our destination. Squalls are appearing on the radar, the low pressure system must be getting closer although the barometer is steady..

19:00  The rain has begun in earnest.

26/5/09 01:00

It’s been a wet evening.  The wind has continued ENE Force 6. Sometimes it goes NE. We are sailing at 3-4 knots almost due North.  We are deeply reefed, sailing to windward slowly so as not to get too far North.  There is very little motion on the boat and it’s good for sleeping. The wind is expected to go North and even NW.  Then we’ll tack and speed things up, and actually head for the Australs. We have just crossed the original rhumb line.

Just received the following from Anthony:

“The wind sat picture shows an area of considerable convective activity between 29S and 31S and 164W and 167W. The maximum wind speed is 50 knots and I expect there will also be a lot of lightning. It is moving southeast. Now is the time to be heading north. In your area I can see maximum winds ENE F7 but mostly ENE F5 - 6. This will put you into N winds (and soon after NW winds) within 12 hours.”

Hmmmmm... I think we’ll carry on North. 

03:00

The wind has started to back.  Our wind course was taking us away from our target and toward the low, so we have just tacked. We’re already further North than Anthony thinks.  I just got a new GRIB and  we should be fine.

08:15

Well the wind didn’t carry on backing and in fact returned to NE/ENE, consequently our course on the new tack  kept us on the same axis as  the oncoming low so we decide to motorsail NNE for a few hours which should  place us in a better position when it does arrive.  Also it appears that the stronger, more favourable wind will be to the North of our current position after it passes.

It’s actually turning into a very pleasant morning after the rains of last night.  I have put away my thermals hopefully for good.

13:00

It’s become into a really balmy day.  The wind has finally backed NNW F4 and we are sailing again. On course.

It’s shorts and  T-shirt time in the cockpit as this wind is warm and it’s  24 Degrees C.

What with one thing  and the other yesterday’s run was a measly 140 miles not a lot of it in the right direction. Engine hours 4 ¾. Still  we’re doing better now.