Hi, Well it is day 17 of our crossing from Panama to French Polynesia and have traveled about 2500 nautical miles. The total distance is around 4000nm give or take a few hundred and my guess is we will be there early Easter unless the winds pick up a bit. Currently no greater than 12 knots for 2 days now and we have been flying the Code Zero sail (like a spinnaker) to make the most of it. If we had 15 knots from the same direction we would be pulling 9 and 10 knot speeds which would make a pre-Easter arrival.

Today we saw out first ship in 14 days. We did see a sail a few miles away but a ship is a ship and it means lots of people. It was called "Sumi Yushi and was a massive Tuna mothership They did not answer our calls but then again when Tuna are plentiful I wouldn't bother with the radio either. Actually we need to put the lines back out as we have run out of fresh fish and I had to have a steak today. When we bought Chaotic Harmony it had two large fishing reels mounted aft on the guard rails. One was torn off by a massive nuclear submarine type Tuna just south of St Helena Island in the Atlantic and the second one was stripped of its gearing two days ago by a huge something or other. I think we had a Bonito on and then a large sailfish or Marlin attacked it. the seas are bountiful in this part of the world. We feed Tizer plus collect bait fish and squid every morning from the decks. If fresh enough I have some for brekky.

We have been chatting with a few other yachts on a MF/HF radio sked called the Pacific Magellan Net. It is all very formal these days and all the nets operate the same with the same script. No chance of informality in this part of the world but still nice to talk to other humans once in a while. There is a huge fleet of yachts crossing this year and we are one of the first to have left so we can beat the rush. Also there is an Oyster Rally and these boats are literal gold mines so the prices tend to move higher in some ports. We want to miss that hopefully. They will visit Darwin and I think some may have a rude awakening with their toffee accents and demanding attitudes.

Our landfall at Mangareva has been changed once again to Hiva Oa, our original plan. We have had electrical issues aboard and need access to funds and food and beer and diesel fuel so Mangareva out as no bank, no cash, no cards and no beer. Pity really but it will still be there when we come around again.

Last time I said no major problems to date Well, the engine again would not start and it was a flat battery. The house batteries were also dead so something was amiss. After much reading, thinking and playing around I sent Gavin an email or two and between us I think we have it sorted. On each engine electrical system there is a battery "isolator" that allows the flow of electricity one way only. That is from the alternator to the house batteries. It appears that the one on the starboard side is shot and is now manually isolated each time we shut down the engine and needs replacement. We will do both as the other is bound to fail as well and it will leave a spare just in case.

We are nearing 115 degrees west latitude so will need to retard clocks another hour in a couple of days before sunrise is once again at 0800. Funny but every time we retard it always seems to be my watch.

We heard before we left there was to be a Federal election in The Land of Oz. Who won?? (Probably not the people) Be good.