June 13, 2011 Monday Bora Bora to American Samoa Day - 3

[Yesterday's 24 hour ] Traveled last 24 hours: 151 miles [number should have] Miles from Bora Bora: 414 [been 133, not 163] Miles Remaing to American Samoa: 686 Lat./Long.: 15 17 139S/ 158 47 750W

After the excitement of catching two fish in a 9 hour period the night before, the rest of the day was uneventful, which is a good thing on a boat. No bad weather, no high seas, no broken boat parts, no injuries. We spent time reading our Kindle books and other materials which we have on the computer about our next destinations, studying weather reports, and snoozing. Night watches really interfere with normal sleep patterns; we need to take naps here and there to catch up. Seas were 8', winds 12-16. Our weather information indicates that on the projected 9th and last day of our crossing, the seas are going to increase to possibly 12', a doable but uncomfortable ride. With this in mind and when our speed decreased today because of lighter winds, we turned on one engine to assist in maintaining a speed of 6.5 knots in hopes of arriving Pago Pago before the seas build on that 9th day. We have decided to not stop at Suwarrow (in the Cook Islands), but make a straight line to Pago Pago. For dinner we chose to have tuna sashimi (raw) with wasabi and soy which was delicious. We plan to have mahi mahi for breakfast.

We have not been able to post website entries, receive weather reports or respond to emails as quickly as we would like because radio reception via our HAM radio has been very limited, only during late afternoons when propagation is good. Sunspots or conditions that limit radio waves bouncing off the ionosphere directly affects whether we can send or receive emails using our HAM radio. We will try for an earlier morning good propagation time.