On the evening of the same day when I told how wonderful was the spinnaker - it was hit with only 20 knots, and it tore. Turning on the deck lights revealed it collapsed, hanging out to leeward. To get it down I had to drop it in the sea; I then dragged it back on deck. We think it will be able to be mended.

The next day was light winds and going slow, but come night the wind swung onto the beam at about 10, and we were quietly doing 5 knots right on course. This has lasted all night, and now, as dawn comes, we are getting quite close to the first islands of the Tuamotus.

I asked on the Pacsea net for a phone patch for my daughter Emma's birthday, and it is looking good for a radio to phone hookup, from the Pacific ocean to Sydney, Australia.