November 15, 16, 17 enroute from Vanuatu (Espiritu Santo) to PNG (by way of the Luisiades) Days 3,4,5 =======================Did I mention that a boring passage is a good passage? Not much to report. Great sailing conditions all days. No need to motor except to charge-up the batteries. On day 5, we ran with the spinnaker up all day. Took it down at night as the wind picked up a bit and clocked so that we were able to carry the genoa with little loss of speed. LOVE the masthead sail configuration of this boat!

November 18 Landfall - Talgula Island, Luisiades, PNG Day 6 =======================There were some BIG squalls around so we decided not to carry the �'chute today. At 11:00 am, because of some strong winds coming off one squall, we dropped the main and motor-sailed under genoa alone. With this combination we were able to make 9-10 knots all day with the wind dead behind us. At this wind angle, the main is REALLY inefficient and causes a LOT of stress on the gooseneck and preventer hardware. It�'s much easier on the boat (and the nerves!) to use just headsails when running directly downwind.

We made landfall at 15h50 and entered the barrier reef through the Deijei Radi Pass (11 41.4�'S / 153 30.1�'E). By chance we arrived at very close to slack high tide and there was less than a knot current through this lovely, wide (1/2 nm) pass.

We made our way to the lee of Vanema Island and at 17h10 had the anchor down at 11 35.59�'S / 153 30.35�'E.

In all we sailed a total of 917 nm, at an average speed of 7.25 knots and took 5 days, 6 hours and 35 minutes. Not bad considering the wind was aft of the beam the entire distance and rarely above 15 knots true!