[password] grace40

[position] 24 32.700s 179 36.913w

[weather] 1815hrs 19 May 2019. Wind SE 12-14kts. Swell SSE 2 mtr. Cloud cover 30% cumulus. Baro 1016 steady. COG 026T SOG 6 kts.

[status] This is last post until after we are anchored in North Minerva Reef tomorrow. Today was another superlative sailing day. Beam reaching in 12-14 kts wind, with boat speed consistently in 6-7 range, and even going into 8 kts. AG glided through the water like a curling stone over ice. It's going to be hard giving up that for sitting out a possible gale in Minerva. Latest weather reports are not encouraging. The tropical depression is still above Fiji and moving S slowly. Over next 72 hrs it could go SE and come close to Minerva. I'm sure I speak for everyone out here when I say I hope the weather people get this forecast wrong like they do so many others. I don't relish sitting in Minerva for several days in strong winds.

The more observant of you will notice a couple of things about our current position. First, we are above 25s latitude, so officially in tradewind territory. Second, we crossed the date line and are now in W longitude. Minerva is just over the line. Since we don't plan to be here long, we're not changing our calendar. We'll just pretend it's yesterday. Or is it tomorrow? Who knows, and who cares when you're sailing the salty seas.

With that, I'm going to catch some sleep until it's my turn on watch. Cheers John & Leilani

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