This morning as the sun rose, we realised that the windows are getting thick with salt. We will wait until tomorrow to clean them in Nukualofa.
During the day the wind and waves eased and moved more west which has put us on a direct course. This meant only a few sail changes. We are all listing the first things to do when ashore, Ice-cream, ice-coffee, beer, fish & chips, etc.
this morning started with the usual removing of flying fish from the deck and unreefing the sails. With slow progress over night we now won’t reach Nukalaofa until Wednesday..
Its been a day of bruises as we have been bounced around. The swell is coming from the east, but there are waves coming from the north being generated by the squalls.
With us setting out to head to French Polynesia and then changing to Tonga, it has made the trip a lot longer than it would be just heading to Tonga.
As we glide between two underwater volcanos alone in the cockpit I just listen to nature. The shshsh as the bow cuts through the water. The quiet whistle of the breeze passing though the sails. The creaking of Imagine as she rocks over the waves. With the sun lighting up the deck these are the days that makes sailing a pleasure.
Still heading to Tonga, we are being pushed north west, slightly off course. As the wind curves us more west, we will tack across and back on course.
In the galley this evening while preparing snapper (caught from the feezer this morning) for dinner I can see the blue water rushing past the galley porthole. We are all waiting for the chance to sunbathe, skinnydip, but most of all to walk along a beach and stretch our legs.
After another night of dodging squalls, the sea died down and we had a pleasant day’s sail. The sunrise this morning was beautiful, but tonight’s sunset was not as spectacular. It was just a relaxing day. I think everyone is imagining a cold beer for lunch on Tuesday when we reach Tonga.
Tonight Pauline and Connie made dinner. Pauline didn’t last the whole time in the galley, but she made a nice sauce to go with the pork.
This morning brought calmer water and lighter wind, so we unreefed all the sails and put out the headsail. It has been a relaxing day as we head north. On the way the Autopilot stopped working. Straight away I new what the problem was and 10 minutes later it was back in action. We have decided to head to Tonga. Partly for a few minor repairs and partly to give everyone a rest. It’s only 4 days to Tonga instead of the 15 days to French Polynesia.
It way another rough night. This morning everyone was tired and slept where and when they could. Today we have made it one third of the way to French Polynesia.
The day continued with squalls and overcast conditions. The Grey skies turned the sea black, making the 3 to 4m waves look even more menacing. Sails got put up, put down, furled in, furled out and reefed. Now we have tacked and are heading back north west to get around more squalls.
Last night the wind changed as we passed and went through several squalls. Early this morning we’ll after the squalls had gone the wind changed 100degrees so its been a day of sail changing and tacking.
The waves crashing over the bow have found their way in through one of the ventilation pipes. Hopefully we have now fixed that.
Everyone is exhausted, but we are plodding on. The weather is predicted to get better later in the week.
Ìm not sure if it’s the sea sick pills their taking or they are just crazy. Berengere saw a crocodile in the sky, confirmed by Connie. John saw 3 mermaids and an angry Sirene during his watch. That just leaves Pauline and I as the sane ones.
We are still making our way north east. We have been able to sail today as the wind has shifted and increased. The water temperature has risen from 18degrees when we were in Auckland to 24 degrees out here in mid Pacific. It’s just a normal day out at sea.
We motored most of the night and all of the day as the wind was under 10kts on the nose. One forecast says the wind will come back tonight from behind us and the other says no wind till tomorrow night. Either way they both agree that after tomorrow night we will have wind the rest of the way. So we just have to wait and see.
This morning produced a beautiful sunrise. We are enjoying the slight swell and sunny days but we would like to turn the motor off. The day is ending with another beautiful sunset.
As the sun sets in the west we reminisce about the exciting things we did today.
Overnight was quiet uneventful. We were being tailed by another boat the weather and waves were low giving everyone a bit of sleep. This morning we turned more east, sailing through a few small squalls. The wind has been varying from 15kts down to 6.5kts. The swell is still only 1.5m as we head over the Kermadec Channel. In some parts the Kermadec is over 8km deep.
That was our exciting day. How was yours?
