Yesterday we turned left and started heading north, finally, just east of the date line, along the outer edge of the North Pacific high. Just after nightfall we got seriously doused by torrential rain for a good nine hours. There was also plenty of lightening to go along with the rivers coming down. Morning came with clearer skies but messy big seas that increased as the wind hovered between 25 to 30 knots. We made some good headway today, but we also managed to break one of the slides on our mainsail. This means we have to sail with three reefs in the main until we repair it, which we will do as soon as the seas abate a bit. Speaking of which, we are now sailing along nicely in 15 knots going about 6. We would be shaking a couple of reefs now if we could! Hope to repair tomorrow. I see the southern cross and its pointer stars directly astern. I wonder how much longer we will see it ...