22 November 2011

About 5 boats left the anchorage yesterday, but we were happy to wait one more day. Just as we were about to leave, the winds picked up to about 30 knots in the anchorage, so we weren't sure whether to leave right away. The question was answered by the kids' toilet becoming blocked and so Mark spent some time trying to work out the problem. He even went in to the water to see if he could unblock it from the outside. Unfortunately, it seems to be more a pump issue than a big log issue, so for now we'll all be using the same head!
The winds did lessen, so we left at midday; if we had left any later, we thought we might risk getting in after dark. When you're heading to a reef in the middle of the ocean you don't really want that. And now, conditions are best described as lively - the wind is 30 knots SE true on our beam, swell about 2-3 metres in the same direction. We have 3 reefs in the sails and are still going 6.7 knots. SO now we might be getting in at dark, though it will be the night before! Mia is asleep - her remedy for seasickness and we're all feeling a bit queasy - we should get our sea legs just as we arrive in Minerva! Curr position: 21.16S 175.43W