Yesterday we celebrated our half way party. We had a proper bottle of bubbly and an excellent meal, followed by banana cake with whipped cream and Irish coffees (hot chocolates for the boys). Everyone was in a good mood and we even danced to Freddie Mercury and another one bites the dust.

The past days we have enjoyed steady winds around 15 to 20 kts, we have been making good progress averaging more or less 140Nm per day. We have not caught more fish but haven´t really made an effort either, tomorrow I think fresh fish will be on the agenda again and our captain will surely be busy with fixing the lures.
The nights have been peaceful without hitting any major squalls, unfortunately they have also been cloudy and the stars have been hiding from me during my watches. We are keeping regular radio schedules with two other boats that are out here also and they report similar conditions to us. It´s good to speak to the other yachts, we are all sharing this experience together and also it is reassuring to know that others are out there as well. Actually, radio contact with the two yachts is the only contact with other boats that we have had since we left the Galapagos, I guess there is not so much traffic here in the South Pacific and also the ocean is so vast that the probability of crossing paths with another yacht is minimal.

yesterday the Boys sent their first message in a bottle from the pacific. They made such an effort to make a lovely picture which was then fitted into the Champagne bottle and sent on its way. We wrote our e-mail address on it so lets see if whom ever finds it sends us a response.

Twelve days out here and we still have loads left, 1349Nm to be absolutely specific, at least we are now getting closer everyday and have less in front of us than behind us, this is if we keep to our plan and stop at the Marquesas. A different thought has been building in our minds....As it is very late in the season maybe in order to save some time we should head straight to Tahiti, this would enable us to slow down a bit there and enjoy the Society Islands. An other consideration voting in Tahitis favour is that the wind patterns we have been experiencing with Southerly to Easterly winds, it would be easier to start going South already now.

If we are unlucky and the winds are predominantly from the South when leaving the Marquesas we could find ourselves beating to the wind again, not something to look forward to. We will see how we feel in a few days time, going straight to Tahiti would mean an additional 600Nm or five days out on sea. It could be that we will be very eager to reach land before that. I will let you know what we decided. In the mean time hopefully the winds and the seas stay favourable to us, more rum to Neptune.

MF