After 23 hours of motor sailing in light airs, a ten to twelve knot northeasterly filled in and we were able to shut down the engine. It was perfect weather for the spinnaker, which we carried through the evening. Seas were gentle so moving about, eating and sleeping was very easy.
We have enjoyed some great pre-cooked meals, lots of bird sightings, but no dolphin visits or fish caught so far. The line is out!
The winds and seas gradually increased to eighteen knots, which, this morning, were moving us along easily at nine to ten knots. There is an old adage that says if you don’t take the spinnaker down when it is time, the wind Gods will do it for you. Well, after a gybe to put us on a better track, the wind gusted and a big wave caught us at just the right (wrong) angle. We rounded up and the spinnaker came down, torn down one side. Bugger!
Graham and I were able to recover everything and afterwards we set the jib in about 18-20 knots. We’re moving along nicely again at 8.5 to 9.5 knots. A weak cold front is approaching us from the west, which should bring the wind around forward of the beam and give us a bit of rain. We can use the wash, but could pass on the close reach.
At noon today, our position was 27 deg. 17 min. south latitude and 169 deg. 09 min. east longitude, or 180 miles closer to our waypoint off North Cape (New Zealand) than noon yesterday.