Day 3

Hello from 30:05S/173:33E at 17.45 ship's time.

 

We are glad to report good sailing and that the Maunie crew is enjoying the passage, now that we've all managed to catch up on some sleep. This morning had us worried, though, as the weather files showed a patch of light winds on our tail and, sure enough, the breeze began to falter leaving us rolling in the swell. Happily that only lasted for an hour or so and since then we've had around 20 knots of wind and big (3m) seas. So we are making good progress in the right direction and getting used to the motion of the boat.

 

It looks as though these broad-reaching conditions will be with us for the next 24 hours so we have tweaked our sails for best speed (regularly reaching up to 7 knots with the odd touch of 8) and Winnie is coping very well. Laura talks to Winnie nearly as much as Rich Fetherston did on the Atlantic crossing, but the on-going motivational talks seem to be working!

 

We are still working through the stocks of meals in the freezer so food preparation is very easy (chicken curry tonight) but we'll throw the fishing line out in the next day or so to see if we can add something interesting – we'll have to remind Laura the Marine Biologist that it's for eating, not dissecting!

 

Cheers from the Maunies!