land ho !

land !

now we see it . 09:21 AM Local 20:49 Zulu time

there it is - the land of the long white cloud !

we have crawled into merciless winds for 9 days beating at 3 knots an hour taking a bashing every 8 seconds.

a sort of crawling into an everlasting spanking ...

so overall 185,760 bashes since Minerva reef - 1 % of them hurt - those violent gasps in mid air - upon release the vessel shatters itself onto another rogue 6 - 10 foot wave - repercussions - percussions - shake rattle and roll - the bang - the roll - repeat .

this has been by far the most miserable part of the voyage thus far - it "almost" broke our spirits - a broken boom - a nasty and cold wind of 15 kts steady on the nose as high as 23 - consistent - relentless - but there on the horizon is the prize - the finish line - our home for the next 6 months.

no remorse .

new zealand - land ho !