Pos 1710, 7/5/19. 17 41'N, 124 52"E , That neat little gadget called a barometer, which most of us ignore in daily life on land becomes a useful tool at sea. It foretells the changing weather well before the event. Last night for example at just over midnight, the barometer read 1009.5 . Nothing wrong with that and within the norms of tiny fluctuations here around the tropics. Th highest reading we've seen around here was about 1012. The readings slowly went down overnight until it read 1006.3 at 0600hrs. That's a bit low and tiny bit outside the daily fluctuations. There were no other signs of an approaching or developing low other than that. No rising sea swells in a new direction for example. At about 0900hrs I connected the sat phone to see if there were messages from our weatherman, Kenn, and sure enough he notified us of a small, weak developing low pressure system along our path barely 40 nm away. Right now I would say we have entered that area. There are quite high, (2 metre) but smooth sea swells from the NE, while we still have sea 'ripples' under one metre coming from the SW. It an interesting sea but not rocking us yet, just a gentle movement. We are expecting the low system to generate a bit more wind so will take in one reef for the night. Most nights we tuck a reef in the mainsail, just in case the wind should rise quickly. With only a single person on watch and the other one sleeping we do not like going out on the deck, even with safety harness attached just in case of an accident or worse. We usually leave the headsail out full if appropriate as that is easy to furl right up if conditions require it. The low system is expected to move to the east out of our way but we hope the wind will remain with it. Right now it is very hot and humid with a few building storm clouds to our east.

We a living a life with no news, no great dramas belonging to us or anyone we know, or no knowledge of wars, bombings, terror attacks, terrible crimes or anything else. It is a relief to be able to live life without such things on the edge of your mind. We do have small concerns such as whether or not some equipment will be up for the job when needed, and of course general maintenance continues. John is at the moment down in the engine room, which is stifling, changing the engine oil. Yay! Not my job any more. I just had to run with paper towel to his aid so I presume something (oil) has spilled somewhere. The last time I sailed that job was mine and I had two engines. The big concerns are the fact that the ocean definitely doesn't seem to be as full of life as I recall 10 years ago. Mind you we have only seen about 5,000nm of it so far, but don't like what we DON'T see. What will the world be like for my grandsons and John's little granddaughter? That is the big question? This is one of the things that has motivated me to sail again to look at the state of the oceans even though I am not formally studying it. I am not a scientist but listening to people around the world talk about the issues concerning the ocean, especially ocean islands people is enlightening. They need a much greater voice in world affairs as they observe daily the changes in their world. Not too many big nations are listening it seems. Anecdotal information gathering is grossly underrated. We younger folks, need to listen to our older folks or else. We all must listen to those who live by the earth, farmers and fishers and adjust our lifestyles to live a more sustainable life where possible.

Until tomorrow. John and Ginni