Distance traveled:225NM
Course Over Ground (COG) 265dg
Speed Over ground4-5 kts

Our track since Raiatea looks like a seagull (kinda curvy Vee) but now the wind is back to where it should be from (SE) and we're headed directly for our waypoint that clears Palmerston atoll by the north about 450NM away. The wind is now 11 -14kts but should pick up in the next few days while backing to the East.
Lunch was the beef curry 2nd time but I added a bunch of basilic leaves that looked like they really wanted to go bad. Didn't change the taste in any significant way, but it was nice to chew on some green (green -black really) stuff.
This morning I set up the port whisker pole to make it easy and efficient to take out, connect to the sails it takes (the jib and the
reacher) and bring back in. This means finding ways to run lines and blocks, that are both fair and efficient, but also minimize the number of moves for the maneuver. So this weather is perfect for this kind of work. I like the arrangement I found and the sequence of moves necessary to handle the pole. But I'll wait until I actually try it with a sail before I repeat the work for the starboard pole.
I also checked the chafe on the main halyard, so I lowered the main: it looked ok but it isn't great. I did some monkeying around with it but I'm sure in a few days I'll have to redo it. I'll really have to find a permanent solution to this in NZ.
This am was grey and a bit drizzly but it cleared up nicely as the wind picked up. There has been a million birds around the whole morning and they were fishing. Birds eat small fish, but big fish also eat small fish ergo when you see birds you should catch big fish, as goes the logic..... except by 17S and 155W when that logic doesn't apply. Here the logic is: whatever the fuck you see, it don't mean squat, especially if it's alan fishing... so go open a can of tuna, looser!
I'm typing this after lunch in the shade of the solar panels in the cockpit with a cup of coffee...so what could be missing???? Oh yes...YOU!
Being alone on the boat is quite weird: there are no structure to regiment your life; you can eat whenever, sleep whenever. So I am slowly finding my self establishing a framework: morning work for the boat a couple hours; afternoon work on cleaning up stuff a couple hours. I'd like to get up at midnight for a couple hours after having slept for 4 hrs but I was too lazy last night. I do get every hour to check things but go back to bed quickly if everything is fine.
You probably read my letter to the broker. Don't go too quickly with the tickets yet and let's see how this deal evolves. Contacting the surveyor might be a good idea though to get an idea of how busy he is, if he surveys aluminum sailboats etc....