19:52.58S

176:04.50E

Tuesday at 9am

Left yesterday at 11am

We left amidst sunshine and full of food. 
The reports were correct; high winds and big swells so, soon after we left the reef at 1pm, the whole crew was quickly less than 100%.  After Thom and Bruce landed a fish (wahoo) and did acrobatics filleting it on the bouncing aft deck, they had spent their energy with the result that Thom was sick and Bruce fatigued and dozing midday, an indication of a mild form of discomfort.  Robert was a little queasy.    Pre departure, I had taken ginger and a pill I found in LA, so was ok.

Babelfish sailed well with 3 reefs and a tiny bit of rolled out jib.  There were many huge swells but only a handful of times when she hit the waves with a thud.  A couple broke over the boat so the foot of my berth was wet that had traveled down the air vent.

Just after we exited the reef the light on the E120 raymarine screen that carries our chart plotter, position, speed and direction data, and radar lost 90% of its brightness and now is really totally unreadable.  We can and did replace the position and speed reporting with the handheld gps but the radar is more problematic.  We can get it to come out on the screen from the computer I am using now to write this, but still have to remember how to operate it from down here.  Last night I was using the computer screen to guide me on pushing the soft keys (those are the ones indicated on the bottom of the screen) on the E120 screen in the cockpit where they are not readable.

Last night had two chats with nearby boats, both going to NZ, their home.  ONE is 102 feet and the other C and C 51.  We exited the reef with the 102 foot and then quickly lost sight of him.  The other seemed to catch us up on the middle of the night.  It is comforting and gives a warm feeling to find other souls to chat to out here.  This trip is different from the others; the weather, if it could have a character, is more menacing.  Even as the winds have turned more easterly from south, our south track means they are a close reach with the resulting increased apparent wind strength and less comfortable swell.  We have to watch weather conditions and how they form up as we move south as they can be extreme in their winds and waves.  Not exactly the downwind ride across the Pacific.

Now, have to go figure out getting the radar onto this screen.

All are well today,

Babelfish