We are approaching New Zealand after three days of beautiful sailing, even having Johan pull in a mahi-mahi. The forecast since we departed Minerva Reef has changed somewhat to show a greater increase wind speeds than predicted when we left. We have spent much of the last 48 hours gathering information from weather routers, other boats, weatherfaxes, grib files, and discussing it at length with routers and boats. It is definitely not the old days where one stuck one's head out and looked. The Commanders' staff had a meeting today and changed their initial recommendation to heave it (ie slow the boat down and wait) to one to go ahead and heave to as needed. This is mostly based on the fact that after the ENE blow from behind, there will be W and SW winds which we would have to bang into (really hard). So we are tightening down Hannah, organizing our communication and food, getting out cold weather gear, and getting psyched. We will post here upon arrival in Opua. xoxoxo Tracy, Steve,and Johan