Year Two
Date: 29/9/2009 18:00
Weather: Nice, very nice
Location: South Pacific Ocean (21 27.967' S,169 38.353' E)
Author: Peter

Whenever we are at sea we try to send two emails back home to a select group each day so that someone always knows where we are, how we are traveling and if there are any problems. If we miss an email we feel confident in knowing that someone in our family will start communication with AMSA sooner than later. We think family would be more passionate about this than some stranger. Hopefully this will never happen but it is always good to be prepared when at sea. So here is the one from this afternoon.

"We are definitely not setting any speed records. In fact we are no where near hull speed. Although slow, this trip so far has been rather comfortable. We have had a BBQ lunch each day that's how smooth it is. A bit more wind would be nice but we are getting there. We passed the southern side of Vanuatu around lunch today. Otherwise there is not much to tell. We have seen very little in the way of life since we left Fiji. Perhaps we will get our first glimpse of land before nightfall tomorrow but I'm not counting on it. We are currently at 21 27.967' S,169 38.353' E traveling at 3.5 knots at 250 deg true. If my weather information is correct we should start seeing a little more breeze some time tomorrow."

It has been our smoothest crossing by far, in fact most of the boat is opened up to let air through. Our speed at the start of the trip was around 8 knots but as you can see it has dropped to almost nothing as we pass through a no mans land between weather systems. I have not yet worked out an average speed for this trip but it is dropping rapidly and it feels slow. Many other cruising boats only average 5 knots which is well below our normal 7 to 8. The first fleet boats out to Aus were lucky to average 4 so i can't wait to see what it is in a few days time.

Our days are spent either reading, knitting, sleeping or watching dvd's. With the occasional gybe as the breeze swings. The days are really warm, but we are starting to notice the nights are getting cooler as we head a little south. In Fiji we mainly slept under a sheet. In the last two days I have had to get out a sleeping bag for warmth for when I lie in my pilot birth.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com