A �"SQUASH�" Zone is not normally heard in coastal sailing circles unless you have transitted the Pacific and Indian Oceans where the high pressure cells dominate local trade wind sailing and the amount of rough weather you can expect on a passage with them in residence is proportionate to your knowledge of them in the trade wind seasons. There are several interesting articles about �"fearing�" and �"working�" such squash zones and they demand respect at all times but can assisit in fast efficient passage making if that is your goal. It may not be too safe but it will be fast and exhillarating and more than likely quite wet. We sailed the Indian Ocean a few years ago to round Africa and made the weather systems work for us. Instead of taking direct routes and �"rhumb lines�" we used isobars and had decent winds and breakage free sailing through some of the reportedly dangerous waters in the hemisphere while others sank, were damaged and were towed into port. Admitedly you do not use a squash zone to round Africa but you do use one to get you to the Cape on time. We are currently in The mid South Pacific with 30 to 45 knot winds on the port beam, gloriously fine weather, no mainsail, heavily reefed headsail, breaking seas of 4m and a very long (15s) swell topping 5 to 6m. Yep, we are in a good squash zone where the high pressure systems, as they inflate and move east are sometimes forced further north than intended and get �"squashed�" by convergence areasand frontal systems in the tropics and also between developing lows on either side of the high. These conditions result in sqaush events where you get to sail in good weather but high winds and sometimes very high seas. Everything has been going well for us today in these conditions. We are basically locked up tight down below as waves sweep the deck and everything off it. This includes a spinnaker sheet that I left lying around and now it is wrapped around the starboard saildrive and will necessitate a dive before entering our next port. The swells have topped 6m and the wind waves 4 to 5 m making interesting sailing with about 1.5 square m of genoa poking its nose out into the wind. Chaotic Harmony sails for us in these conditions like a surfacing submarine unless she is slowed down hence the dramatic loss of sail but we need to keep an engine ticking over to assit the autopilot as she is tossed sideways by the big seas. She bangs and crashes her way through and shudders and most times seems to recover well but it appears without the engine she will actually heave too in about 3 seconds after falling off a large wave on autopilot . We have worn breakers over her three times today as she crests over one wave only to find another cresting over and above her. Some of these buggers are quite steep and we tend to fall off the back about twice an hour. Good thing we do not scare easily. The cat is not impressed but I think this is largely due to a lack of being able to crawl to the kitty litter tray floating from one side of the cockpit to the next.. The weather fax from Fiji shows conditions moderating tomorrow to sub 20knots so we will give it till Friday to enter Suvarov which will give us more time to swim and undo the spinnaker sheet from the saildrive. Be good