It was another calm day yesterday, flying the spinnaker half the day and night with a light wind from the east northeast to northeast. We can count the number of times we have used the 'chute this year on one hand as normally the winds are either too light to counteract large swells or too much to handle the sail without risk of a knockdown. But here we have fairly calm seas, so we saved our mainsail and jib from flogging and UV damage by letting them have a holiday. Our speed varied from 2.5 to 3.5 knots with the added gust pushing us past 5 knots. Yes, very exhilarating! At 3.30am we packed it up and went to bed for a couple of hours while the wind played hide and seek.
During the mellow morning, Chris worked out his frustration by writing some sailing lyrics to the music from "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel. He entertained our cruising friends later by singing it on the radio net at noon. Several well-meaning folks suggested he launch his career on "Youtube" and they would provide the backing vocals. Maybe he will make his new career debut in Opua!
Our friends' children on "Long Shot II" played "battleships" with their pals on "Water Music" while some adults sounded like they were having fun playing "Name That Tune", all via VHF. In the evening we learnt that "Long Shot II" were towing "Wondertime" who have engine problems. As I mentioned before, most of the boats on passage from Tonga to NZ are motoring to reach Opua before the next "low" front on Wednesday. Why have never heard of these "doldrums" north of New Zealand?
Our whopping 24 hour daily run for yesterday was 60 miles and our position at 0745 this morning was 26 45S 177 44E
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