Damn that reef really forced us to do a jibe – after three days. We busy sailors…. Heh.
Right now as I’m typing this, we’re right inside the ‘Grand Recif’ and the little motu to our starbord side is called ‘Atoll de la Surprise’. I don’t wanna know what caused that name but I really had to laugh out loud as I read it. So – anyway – we’re ‘past’ New Caledonia now – which means we’re in the reefs and have to navigate with great care. *rrr* This really makes the captain edgy: to sail through reefs in the pitch dark. But there is no other way, the area we have to cross is way to big to do it in daylight. And we have plenty of space, the ‘pass’ is gigantic and the sea state is perfect.
Speaking of: This is the kind of weather that makes a captain smile. – Since we left Tanna, we had absolute rock-stable wind from the east with 20-25 knots. That’s our ideal weather and thus we’re sailing daily runs of more than 140nm. Fast sailing for once !
LATITUDE: 18-47.98S, LONGITUDE: 163-19.58E, COURSE: 242T, SPEED: 6.1, WIND: E5, DISTANCE TO DEST.: 757nm