Nearly 3/4 of the way!!

Sunday 23rd March

Its 10 PM here on my watch. We're tramping along at 7.6 knots, full main and goose-winged jib on a pole. All is well. There is the usual amazing moon out tonight, I was in the cockpit and well able to read the Jeanneau name on the main bag. All the stars are out, even if they are foreign ones. I can see the Southern Cross and the Southern Star. It looks like we're on course as they are off to port where they should be.

The sea conditions are in the log as slight. That means about 4 to 6 ft waves and a swell rolling along about 15 ft high. No breaking water. There are no steaming lights visible anywhere, and no aeroplane lights either. The only sound is the water coming off the hull around midships and the chuckling noise from under the bathing platform. Down below I can hear the fridge fan working away, but the freezer one is so quiet you have to feel the outlet to see if its on at all. There's the occasional bump of a wave on the side of the boat. That's the ocean saying stay awake, I'm still here, pay attention! We haven't seen another boat or light since the first night leaving Puerto Ayora. There is no-one in VHF range, about 20 to 30 miles, so we really are alone out here. The daily roll call is very useful, not just for positions, but also because we all give the wind and current conditions, and then at the end there is chat time. Some useful advice goes around then if there are any problems.

A couple of days ago we celebrated the 1/2 way mark, now we're down to 873 miles to go. Its just incredible how the miles unwind so quickly. Even though we had a slow night last night due to lack of puff, we still did 143 miles 12 to 12. What's even harder to belive is that in 873 miles Val & I will be 3/4 of the way to Melbourne from Dublin. The log is reading 12350 miles total, say a couple of decades sailing on the average yacht. We have enjoyed most of the sailing, rarely have we been bored or lonely. Ithink we are lucky with most of our crews. We're certainly looking forward to the islands. A bit like a reward after the work of getting here.

We are now within 200 miles of being within motoring range of Hiva Oa, so its unlikely we'll be stuck out here, especially as our forecaster says at least 3 more days of the same conditions. What a life!!

Incidently, The Royal Irish pennant is still flying happily from the port spreaders, it looks in good condition even after all these miles. I'm not taking it down till we get to Melbourne.