Well, after a kind of rough first 24 hours, we set two head sails on poles and settled in. Kind of funny, with the forecast, I thought we would be sailing fast on a broad reach and make the 500 miles in 72 hours. Well, we have been out 72 hours and we have 172 miles to go. With a boat speed of 4.5 to 5 knots....

Night watches have been very nice with a fingernail moon and incredible stars. The days have been pleasant,, although the sun seem especially hot. We have not seen a single boat, although we have been having HF radio chats with Tewaka, who is in Tahiti and Mystic who is now under way from Nuku Hiva to Rangaroa. The net continues to bring something different to the boat. Maybe there is an innate desire to be social even at a great distance.

We learned a new trick from Tewaka... which we used the other day when putting up our spinnaker. We use the ATN chute, which is pretty great... but with this it makes it more manageable if there is any kind of roll or sea. We took a snatch block and connected it to a bow cleat with a strop. Then the line that is used to raise and lower the sock runs through the block on the deck. This way, when you are pulling the sock up or down, you pull up from the deck, which is much more secure than hanging from the sock and dancing around... or sitting on the deck and being dragged around. With this even Isobel can deploy the Spinnaker!