[password] grace40

[position] 20 43.050s 179 42.506w

[status] 1900 hrs 31 May 2019. Today was a mixed bag of sailing and now motoring. Had superlative sailing conditions up to 1500. The wind was slowly melting away and it finally was not enough to maintain speed above 4 kts. We have a 4 kt rule: if boat speed drops below that, the motor comes on. I know there are purists who will sail no matter how slow. But I subscribe to the idea that weather comes in patterns: good is followed by bad is followed by good, etc. While it might seem good to bob around sailing 2-3 kts, but sooner or later, you will get run over by the bad. So when it gets slow going, I put the peddle to the meddle and get going to wherever I'm going before the bad arrives. The downside is not being hypnotised by the sound of water streaming by, and the woosh of air propelling the boat along. Instead it's the deadening drone of the engine. Oh well, at least I'll get in before the storm arrives.

Our goal is to arrive in Savusavu between 1600 & 1700 Sunday. Even though that is after hours for official check-in, and would be subject to overtime charges, the check-in officials will not come to the boat at that time. They're not going to interrupt their Sunday evening family time just to fill out papers with some yachtie. So we'll sit on the dock at the Copra Shed until Monday morning when the officials show up. And since that will be during normal check-in time, no overtime charge. Now that the motor is on, it is much easier regulating our speed so we arrive at the correct time. If we arrive too early, the officials could come to the boat, even though it's a Sunday. Arrive too late, and it's dark. So we have to arrive juuuuuust right.

It's definitely warmer. I'm now sailing shirtless and in shorts only. I love the tropics. And with that, I'll send this and get back to my watch. Cheers John

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