We left Opua on Wednesday noon local time and are now (finally) under way towards Fiji. It was quite a scene at customs during check-out with about 30 boats all using this relatively narrow window between two passing fronts...all handled in efficient and pragmnatic Kiwi fashion though. We had 8 hours of nice sailing after leaving the Bay of Islands and then had to resort to the engine as expected last night at 2200 local time. We hope to be through the center of the high we're currently crossing by tomorrow and to pick up sailable wind again then.

We currently sail a course of about 030deg towards Minerva Reef where we might stop for a day to let the outskirts of a passing front cross during the middle of next week. This would also allow us to time our arrival in Fiji for a weekday and avoid paying overtime for checking in there. How that will work out will depend on a depression that should pass well to the Northeast of us over the coming weekend. Depending on its course and speed the wind may a bit too much on the nose for Minerva and we may end up tuning north, directly towards Fiji a bit earlier - overtime or not ;-)

All is well aboard, stay tuned...