Day 6 - things I'm thankful for, a mellow day, the numbers
25 November 2016 | Sailing south from Tonga to NZ
Vandy
First of all, we'd like to wish all of our American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!
It's nice to have a day on which to reflect on all the things we're thankful for. Here on SCOOTS, that list includes things like....
..having enough wind from the right direction to sail, and seas that don't bowl us over, ..a dependable engine that runs without glitches, ..autopilots, ..a dry cabin and cockpit, ..good sources of weather information, ..discovering a big bag of peanut M&Ms in the cupboard, a block of real cheese in the fridge, and one last Mexican arrachera at the bottom of the freezer (our Mexican cruising friends will understand that one), ..going off watch and being able to sleep for a few hours, ...glorious sunrises, blazing sunsets, bright sunny days and limitless starry nights, ..the technology that allows us to keep in touch with people we care about from almost anywhere, ..having bad weather pass us by, ..drybags, ..other cruisers who are always willing to lend a hand, advice, a tool, or a boat part, ..dolphins swimming at our bow, birds hitching a ride, colorful fish living under us, ..full sails and full diesel tanks, ..easy dinghy landings, ..language translation apps, ..sunscreen, ..beautiful, calm, bug-free anchorages with good holding, ..accurate charts, ..new places to explore, new people to meet, new birds to see, ..good times with good friends, good times with each other, ..complete, interesting, and accurate cruising guides, ..the skills, knowledge, curiosity, and open-mindedness that the two of us each bring to this endeavor, ..and the opportunity to live this nomadic, explorative life that we live.
Today has been a pretty mellow day. We had to run Y the M for a few hours, when the wind was light, but we were able to spend a long time sailing wing-on-wing, with our two jibs out, for most of the day. I filled out paperwork that we'll need to provide to NZ Customs and Immigration when we arrive tomorrow. In the afternoon, we listened to an hour of an audiobook, Eric ran the evening radio net for the few remaining stragglers who are still out here. We were amused to speak with a border patrol officer on the VHF radio this morning, as she was flying overhead in a P-3 Orion, calling all the sailboats she could see to collect some identification.
That's it for now, I'm about to go off watch and catch some zzzzzzz's.
The numbers: Day 6 position: 32 45.20'S, 175 00.10'E Miles in last 24 hours: 148 Average speed: 6 kn Total miles traveled: 1058 Miles to Opua: 128