Position: 16 degrees 53 minutes South, 177 degrees 54 minutes West
Wind: 16 knots North North East
Speed over the ground: 7 knots
Sea: 1 metre
Distance towards Fiji: 162 miles in 24 hours
Looks like tomorrow should be 'Feee Geeee' - we are practicing our bogun Aussie accent for arrival back in aussie crusing grounds - yeh nah, get a slab and chuck us a stubby, mate.... we have a longer list but it gets explicit pretty quickly.
So progress has been good and conditions were nice yesterday afternoon, until a big squall with 29 knots passed us with lightening and the sky went so dark (quickly all crucial electronics were in the microwave). After that we were left with no wind, we struggled to sail slowly until early evening but it was no good, engine assistance was required. With low revs and full sails we motor sailed through the night, with mostly regular wind about 6-10 knots from the NE. We abandoned our standard watch system after a winch got a big wrap and required deck work in the middle of the night - silly mistakes can happen when tired. So Andrew had a big sleep and then I did (until 0930 this morning!!) With the gentle purr of the engine and breeze from open windows it was good sleeping. Bacon and egg muffins and strong coffee prepared us for the day and after removing our pole set up, the wind backed to NNE and we were able to sail again, throughout the afternoon it has strengthened a little at we are currently sailing on a beam reach at 8 knots, Askari is loving it; so are we.
The second sourdough popped out of the galley today - for lunch with a jamon iberico platter and the last tomato - beyond delicious.
We had a beer with lunch today to celebrate that this afternoon we will cross the half way round the world point with Askari - we have sailed her exactly 180 degrees west since leaving Ipswich in the UK April 2016. So that's twice we have sailed half way around.... We will cross the international date line just before we arrive in Savu Savu. We are actually only just over 40 miles from Fiji's Lau Group - we unfortunately cannot visit this group of islands until we have cleared customs, immigration, been tested for covid (better hope it wasn't a faulty test Andrew...) and obtained a cruising permit, so we just have to wait to explore this remote part of Fiji.
Distance to go to Savu Savu approx 162 (same distance as we did in last 24 hours - spooky).
Yes I think he's feeling better.... but still needs A LOT of looking after apparently ;-)
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