Aloha All,

We wrapped up our preparations at Riverside Drive Marina and made the trip down the Hatea River to Whangarei Bay yesterday. Weather was sunny and warm during our trip. Now it's rainy and winds are gusting into the 30s, and that's just in the marina.

Special thanks goes out to Blossom who flew all the way from Honolulu to New Zealand under the pretense of helping us to get ready. She shopped and shopped then cooked and cooked and cooked and now our freezer is fully stocked with pre-prepared meals, All servings are individually packed in vacuum sealed bags, and ready to heat up and serve. Our male cruiser counterparts might be a bit jealous and all their spouses probably think we are very spoiled rotten. I don't care what they think. We think it's just awesome!

The real reason Blossom flew all the way here was to verify that I was telling the truth about having Rob Kauhane and Clay Hutchinson signing on as crew for the voyage to French Polynesia. I can't believe that she really thinks I'd be fool enough to try to sail there by myself. Crazy right? Or maybe, "Crazy right!" Either way, thank you, Blossom.

We managed to take on nearly 290 Liters of "duty free" diesel at the fuel dock here at Marsden this morning. Make that 289 liters as I sprayed Clay with diesel when the nozzle slipped in my hands. Guess I was shivering too much from the cold, wind driven rain. Good thing Clay had just put out his cigar.

So here we wait on the weather. It's expected to remain boisterous through Friday then gradually taper off to something more manageable. There are many other boats here that are in the same boat. Wait! Boats in the same predicament, waiting on weather. Most are headed to Tonga or Fiji, a few are heading to Vanuatu, then there's us, heading for Tahiti.

We've been in close contact with our wise and trusty professional weather router, Rick Shema (WxGuy.com). Looking closely at a Late Sunday, early Monday departure. We'll see.

Everyone take care and stay well. All my love. logan