They say that sailors make their plans in the sand at low tide - a pretty accurate portrayal of passage planning as schedules change with the fickleness of both Mother Nature and Huey, the fabled Aussie weather god. Here at Maupihaa, the copra boat has been delayed due to a series of intense low pressure systems in the far south; this weather pattern creating strong Easterly winds all across French Polynesia as well as whipping the sea state to a frenzied 3.5M. Coupled with these conditions, Bob McDavitt, the NZ based Pacific weather guru has advised that the eastern flank of the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) is drifting southerly towards Samoa. Having spent some very uncomfortable sailing in the ITCZ on our Atlantic Passage, and again on route to Galapagos, we have decided to alter our voyage plans and head directly from here to Tonga. Whilst disappointed to be missing out on both a reprovisioning stop (mostly drink supplies at US prices in Pago Pago) and the opportunitiy to explore Tutuila and 'Upolu, our amended route will give us a good angle on the wind, with a long port tack directly tio Va'Vau. We now plan to leave in the next couple of days to ensure that the swell has abated sufficiently to negotiate out of Passe Taihaaru Vahine. We've relocated back to the northern end of the island and are looking forward to spending more time ashore with Marcello, Faimano and Karena.