Every day of good weather is a gift. That's how both Steen and I felt before starting this trip across the Tasman Sea in late May. We continue to see the trip that way. Conditions so far have been better than either Steen or I had expected, with sunny but cold days, few rain showers and fairly stable winds of 10 to 15 knots from the SW. It's cold enough that I wear the same Coastie suit I wore coming down the Oregon coast in December '06. Plus fleece, gloves, and hat at night and fleece and jacket during the day. I expect we'll be shedding some of the layers as we near Australia. Hope so.

Early this morning we did go through our first squall. Wanda the wind vane was steering and I was on watch. The release button to disengage Wanda was stuck and I was somewhat frantically trying to force it to release. We were on a beam reach heeling over too much in the gusts. To control the wheel myself, I had to get Wanda to disengage. It's dark, raining, and Steen is sleeping and can't hear me, so I finally go down below, grab a screwdriver and pliers and force the spring lever to release. Just a little spurt of excitement amidst the other 23 hours of routine. Routine is good.

Healthwise, Steen and Malou are feeling just fine as usual and I am mediocre. Since the Fiji to NZ trip, where I was sick the whole trip, I have been more susceptible to motion sickness for some reason. Not seasick ever, just yucky. Hopefully a couple more days will iron that out. Steen must be feeling pretty good because he's already got the fishing line set. He got a couple of bites on the line within two hours, but they both let go. Still a good sign. You sure wouldn't find me out on the side deck cleaning a fish. Just the thought...got to stop writing about that.

The pleasant weather we're having probably won't last as there is a pressure trough forming to the NW and moving our way. It may help us out, since it has probable winds from the east around 20 knots and could expedite our arrival in Australia. That's okay, as long as the winds aren't on the nose. We had our fill of that back in November. So far so good.