We are still struggling with our oil leak, but the situation is improving. A bit of luck and "Happy Spirit" was just passing by us (literally less than a mile away) and had just changed their oil and gave us 14L of used oil which we hope will allow us to make it to Opua. They tied up the oil jugs in [...]

We have really been blessed with beautiful weather the last few days. Though the oil leak is foremost in our minds at the moment, the fine weather makes it much easier to handle. With the light air, we've been risking taking the reefs out of the main during the days and today noticed a section that [...]

We the international dateline during the night...about 0300. Not sure of the ceremony you're supposed to do for that event. David slept and I yawned, perhaps we should have done more?

We're having some engine problems...leaking oil somewhere in rather large quantities. We motored leaving Nuku'alofa and a bit after for a total of 15 hours and lost nearly a gallon. Yikes! We don't have that much in reserve on board...probably a gallon left, we need to keep the motoring to a bare minimum [...]

The winds are light as predicted and though progress is slow, it is progress and in the right direction. Pleasant days...cool, but bright and sunny. We changed our clocks today...one hour back to be on NZ time now. David has been finishing up the coachwhipping on the wheel and I've been working on our Xmas newsletter and website.

With light to moderate winds and big, gentle rollers, we're making slow, but reasonable progress. Our repaired permanently triple-reefed main is costing us speed, but otherwise, the passage, so far, is pleasant. We're traveling with the full moon and the night sky is fantastic. Starting to feel the "cool " necessitating fleeces and long pants.