Second Day

I am slowly getting better but even now as I write I am nauseous and my stomach is queasy. I barely slept last night because of worry and nausea and the heat and perspiration. Ive been nibbling at various foods today and having plenty of water.

At noon today, 25 hours after leaving Bora Bora we had travelled 127nm, the heading on the compass is exactly due West (270 degrees) and its 559 miles to Suwarrow. Everything seems to be working fine there are no new problems , no leaks or breakdowns and Sapphire is making good time as the winds are strong, but from behind, mostly around 20 knots with gusts to 28 on one occasion when we caught the edge of a squall passing astern, and we recorded speeds around 7 and 7.6 knots briefly, but I dont like sailing at that sort of speed, its not a race and I dont want to bust something. So now I have a second reef in the main and a reduced headsail poled out to port. I have never ever sailed using a pole before, never been shown how to use one or told what to do but the RYA Sail Trim Handbook has some quite good diagrams on what to do and this morning after getting fed up with the headsail flopping all round the place decided to try and set it up. Its working well and Ive been fiddling round all day trying to work out the best combinations of sail. Still havent worked it out but there was too much sail out all together, the boat was going hard and almost broaching on occasion, and the occasional accidental gybe which is arrested by the preventer but it was all too much. Now with less sail things are more calm but theres lots of movement from side to side as the swells are almost from the south. WE are making 5.5 knots, with gusts 6.5.

I saw a small trawler early this morning but no other asigns of human life. I caught a beautiful big yellow fin tuna on the line Ive been trailling across the Pacific since last year - my first catch - and fortunately it got off as I was admiring it right up by the boat and wondering what on earth would I do with it - it was about a metre long so could have fed a small crowd and would have been wasted if I had bought it on board. But it was a thrill to catch and work really hard to pull it in.

Motu One is a small atoll a few miles ahead of me right now but once Ive passed that, theres only open ocean between me and Suwarrow.

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