We're sitting in the midst of the still slow moving "BFH" and the wind has petered out to a 2 knot, very confused zephyr. The sea is glassy, the sky is clear and we are motorsailing in order to maintain SOG and make our landfall in Opua on Friday as scheduled. As I alluded to in a previous blog entry, planning for this southerly passage to NZ is quite intricate from a weather perspective and we are aware that there is a potential gale due to hit the Cape Reinga region on Saturday morning when we expect to be tucked up in our Bay of Islands Marina berth. Unlike sailing from Madagascar to South Africa, there is nowhere to hide once past Minerva Reef and speed is now of the essence; luckily we still maintain our powerboaters instinct of having fuel and being prepared to use it! We're currently cruising along at a steady 6.5 knots; as at 0800 this morning we were averaging 7.1 and had ticked off 488 NM of this 1029 NM voyage.

The air is crisp and cool, so much so that my Tahitian Monoi Tiki Tiare hair treatment, with such glorious viscosity when purchased at the market, has solidified. The conditions are actually perfect for motoring as the saloon is remaining at a comfortable ambient temperature even though the engine is pumping out plenty of heat. It's been necessary to pull out a heavy cotton blanket for nighttime sleeping and we have our feather doona, last used in Cape Town, ready and waiting to go. The freezer has now been decommissioned as we work our way through our passage meals; the vegetable locker has just enough by way of salad ingredients for three more lunches and the fridge will soon only contain the bare minimum. Other than a quick clean up which I will attend to as we transit the entrance to Opua, we are shipshape and ready for our NZ inspection.

All well onboard.