The wind has finally arrived! Just after midnight last night, the breeze picked up to about eight knots so we were able to give the diesel a rest after more than 30 hours of motorsailing. Of course the wind is from the direction that we are headed, northeast, but what the heck, it’s free and it’s quieter than the motor.
The wind has gradually picked up to about the 15 knot mark so we are making about seven knots on a heading of magnetic north. Our position at this writing is 25 deg. 57 min. south by 163 deg. 11 min east, or 273 miles southwest of Noumea.
While it hasn’t been the most comfortable day, its warm and the fishing has been great. We boarded a 50 pound mahi-mahi just after finishing the last one caught for lunch. Yeeehaaaaa! With the freezer full, we’ve had to give the fishing rig a rest for now.
Cate and Tim have gotten into a keen chess competition and I have dived into an old James Clavell novel.
All is well on board and we anticipate another day and a half to two days to Noumea.