It was with some sense of relieve that we entered into more open waters,
although the open waters turned out to be very bumpy. Unexpectedly we
had some good wind to sail but were going to fast for the seastate. I
decided to reef both main and headsail to second reef. We were sitting
much better and not falling into the troughs slamming rodeo style. It
is as if we will be tested to the very last, no easy at last we are
nearly there. But yes, somehow we made a good 60 mile through the night
and at 8am this morning only had 150nm to go, a days work in our books.
The wind did fade in the early hours of the morning and we had to motor
a bit, but not too long before the wind settled in from behind and
Steven asked if we should put the twin headsails up. I gave him the
thumbs-up and since then we have been maintaining a fair speed under
sail. We are nearly at the point where we will have enough diesel
to motor the rest of the way. We should be arriving at Tahiti some time
tomorrow, but we are not 100% clear yet. We are really at the mercy of
the elements and do the very best we can with what we get.
Should we run out of diesel it won't be the end for us. We are close
enough to call for assistance from various sources. It will take a boat
from Tahiti half a day to reach us and we can decide on an exact
position to meet, or stay in touch via satphone and once closer via VHF.
But I am quietly confident that we will be better than ok, that we will
be in time to stick to our handover and flight schedules. One wouuld
think that after three months att sea sailing nearly half way around the
globe the last few miles should be a breeze. But not so, nearly never do
we have that. There is always that extra bit of effort required to stay
on top of things. Anyway, I have heard rumours that both Nick and Eduard
also wants to do a posting on the blog. I always invite my crew to do a
few postings which they hardly ever do, and I don't expect them to. That
way I don't get dissapointed if they say they will and they don't. I
will just make sure I do a blog anyway and you won't be dissapointed
when there is no blog. Only one or two more postings for this trip
though.
In the meantime we are busy with the big clean up. Packing, sorting,
shining, getting ready to hand the boat over on the 12th. And she will
be shining as the star that she is and has been the last three months.
Not saying cheers yet, just saying she has been exemplary thus far and
we will show our appreciation by treating her right as well.
Our position at the moment is 16*28'S/147*24'W. We are 140nm from Tahiti
and at 5kts we will be there at lunchtime tomorrow.
Take care
Paul
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