It was really windy today. In the evening the high wind alarm started going off. I usually set it to 30 knots. I upped it to 35 so that it wouldn't be so bothersome (we were trying to watch Star Trek for heaven's sake). It still kept going off. The wind was not blowing steady 35, more like 15, then 20, then 25, then 20 then, 30, then 25, then 35, then 20. I ratcheted the alarm threshold up to 40 to be done with it. About an hour later it went off again! This crush zone with the stationary sheer line above us was really kicking it up. The Gribs report almost 10 days of high wind counting the days already gone by.

The seas have also been 4-6 meters the last couple days. This makes the lagoon passes very interesting. Even the stretch between Raiatea and Tahaa (which share the same lagoon) can get pretty crazy with this kind of wind. The diagonal angle exposed to the southeast creates a fair amount of fetch and up to a couple feet of sea on the Tahaa side not to mention the wind velocity created by the squeeze between the islands.

Not to be slowed by a little breeze we got a few more projects done today. Fred finally got all of the parts for the diesel fitting swap out. It went well and the new bronze parts will last the life of the boat. We used a 90 out of the tank shut offs to a T that provides all of the appropriate connections with good European A4 stainless hose clamps. It was a little tricky ensuring all of the shut offs had swinging room but it all worked out nicely. One shut off arm needs to be shortened a bit but we should have that in hand tomorrow, after which we can finally go visit Tahaa!