Half Way to Auckland - 9 October

Family and Friends:

The wind finally filled in and we are sailing. We worked hard yesterday afternoon, trying a number of sail combinations to get the boat moving in the light breeze, only to have it change speed or direction once we got her set. A steady breeze finally filled in about midnight so we set a full main and genoa and have been moving well ever since.

Our noon to noon run was 186 miles and at the time of writing we had 400 miles to go to Auckland. We are close reaching into confused seas which is a bit uncomfortable and makes for difficult typing, but at least we're not burning up a bunch of dinosaur juice and listening to the diesel all day.

The weather gurus think that we should have fair conditions for the rest of the trip, as a front just passed over the North Island and it will be a few days till the next one comes through. That is a good thing and will help us rest easier.

Still no fish this passage-lost the third one this morning. We'll have to raid the freezer for dinner again.

Cheers, George