That was Better

Well the rain has finally stopped, the wind has gone round to the south and picked up to a steady 10 to 15 knots - that happened around midnight last night - and I have even seen the sun today but not much of it. And like a good housewife I have scurried round mopping up and cleaning and putting damp bedding out into the breeze - where the only wave to come on board today drenched it just after lunch when I was feeling so pleased with how dry it was all getting. With washing on a clothes line at least you get a bit of a warning of an impending shower, but not out here of an impeding splash. Also today we are seeing nice big southern ocean swells moving our way , getting in behind and giving us a little push every now and then. These pushes from the starboard quarter, along wirth the gust from the same direction would often have Sapphire trying to take a right hand turn, but I found after much fiddling that the best way to settle that issue was to reduce the headsail somewhat, but I am afraid I am going to have to put up with a bit of rolling and twisting for a while. If the wind went a bit to the east that would be perfect - I am never satisfied am I?

I decided to have my main meal at lunch time today - I had a Watties Big Eat - a tin of Rogan Josh - called "Gunk" by one of my kids who reckons I should be catching fish - and some rice of course, then an orange which was really juicy for once - and some chocolate. And yes, just after that I was outside reading my book when that damned wave came from nowhere and slopped a few gallons into the cockpit.

So its two weeks solitary confinement completed now and I guess another week and a bit to go. We only made 68nm in the direction of Tubuai in the 24hrs till this morning, because of those long spells of inactivity, and I think averages are closer to 85 than the 100 I was hoping for. Many cruisers opt to motor through lulls in wind - they leave port with jerry cans of diesel lined up along the decks - but without wanting to make a virtue of a necessity - my thinking was to avoid doing that if possible, and instead take the lulls as a chance to rest and recuperate and enjoy being out here without the worry of sailing to a deadline - to accept the rhythms of the ocean and the weather cycle. This was one of the reasons I wasn't so keen on joining a Rally, as the conditions of joining include being prepared to motor when winds are light to keep up with the group. Obviously I would change my tune if I got caught in some rotten weather that I could have avoided by getting a move on at an earlier stage of the trip - I think this is what motivates most motoring.But in this little boat its hard to escape the sound of the engine and the jouney is transformed by noise into an unpleasant endurance test. For me at least.

Sapphire I am sure has never been tested like this before, and neither have I. All the leaks seem to have been revealed now, and no undiscovered issues have surfaced yet but I daresay there's still plenty of time.

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