Tango is sailing due South with a steady 10-15kt breeze on the port side. We are sailing between 5 and 9 kts depending on the wind at the time. Early this morning we enjoyed two boat and boat driver washdowns from isolated thunderstorms that we passed through. Mom and Paul learned how to look "under" the dark clouds to see if it was raining or not. Rain obscures the horizon and with good night vision you can see this easily. We also used Tango's radar to spot and track the storms. This helps us know when to expect the rain and wind shifts. For the first storm we got the topside hatches closed in time to keep the rain out. For the second, and larger storm, we got the geneoa furled without having to do it in the storm conditions.

We will enter the projected ITCZ zone sometime tomorrow afternoon/evening. The ITCZ moves around but we have good weather and satelliteinformation to understand it. The expected winds from here through the ITCZ and into the southern hemisphere are from the east at 10 to 15 knots. Our next turn, at 2-30S 120W will be our last planned Navigation turn and takes us into the Marquesas. We have 1840 NM to go. We are almost 1/2 of the way there!

Janet, John, and Paul