Hi Everyone!

My sailing mates Ellen McArthur and Neil Spencer flew up from Auckland to Noumea Sunday to join me on the 800-mile trip across the Coral Sea to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

A nasty tropical disturbance delayed the start of our passage by a day. The low that passed over Noumea Sunday night brought gale force winds and lots of rain throughout the day yesterday. We were happy to wait it out in the comfort and safety of the marina at the CNC Yacht Club.

With much nicer weather, we sailed out of Noumea this morning at 0830. The winds still have quite a bit of south in them, but are slowly backing around to typical southeast trades. We've been beam reaching all day in 10 to 20 knots of breeze, tracking a bit north of the rhumb line at 7-10 knots.

I had just gone down for a short nap this afternoon when I heard the others yelling. I popped up on deck to the sound of the fishing reel unwinding at a fast pace. We furled the headsail and staysail to slow the boat down and began to haul in what seemed like a fairly large fish. It took us awhile to get her on board, but we had landed a 4.5 foot (1.3m) mahi-mahi which weighed in at about 50 pounds. We're having fish for dinner, and with the freezer chock-full of fish and other goodies, won't be setting the line again on this passage.

As of 1700 hours this evening, we had put about 70 miles under the keel since departing Noumea. Conditions are beautiful out here and getting better, and the sailing is excellent!

Cheers, George, Ellen and Neil