Hi there! Yes – fantastic progress: we just sailed 640 nm in 3 days (about 100 more than we did in the same time to get Fiji to Vanuatu). After a couple of days of plenty of wind, we are now sailing in a lovely light wind and brilliant sunshine. The spirits of the crew are very high – much better than I might have expected, and everybody is pulling their weight in terms of sailing, cooking, cleaning. Glenda had a bit of a wobbly start (despite a bomb), but has really overcome any seasickness and is happily sleeping in the forward berth even when the boat is crashing around at 9 or 10 knots at night. She is also fantastic at keeping everything clean. Andrew has been a star as well, doing a large chunk of the cooking, and perfectly happy to go in Bill’s torpedo berth. Ian is very easy going and incredibly appreciative of the opportunity. So – all in all it couldn’t really be better.
The real challenge is ahead of us in the form of a confusing (though not dangerous) forecast. I am watching it closely and trying to figure out how we make our way through a weather system off Brisbane. I suspect we’ll be up a bit tonight, changing sails and things.