[password] rachel25
[position]36 08.100s 124 28.800w
[status] On passage to Valdivia, Chile from Auckland NZ.

Day 24 Yet another calm and sunny dawn. No one around but us. The birds have gone.
We have been motoring quite a lot over the last 2 days trying to get in front of a tropical depression which is coming down from the North. If we get in front of it and are enough to the east of its track we should miss the worst of the gales, rain and thunder storms which surround it. Happily we have now crossed its projected track and the engine is having a well earned rest. We should continue to get good passage making winds if we can maintain an average of 6.5 knots. Running the engine has also allowed us to make water and the tanks are again full. The water maker draws 25 amps so we only tend to use it when we are running the engine. We also turn the fridge to its coldest setting and make sure all the rechargeable devices and batteries are fully charged.
The wind came in from the North about lunchtime and we have been slipping along over a smooth sea under full sail. Lucas and I have managed two sights each today and worked out positions. We are managing to get within a few miles of our true position, results we feel quite pleased with and which would be accurate enough for an ocean passage, but not for navigating between reefs and islands.
[speed] 6.5 kts
[heading] 090 true
[weather] Wind NNE 15 knots. 0.5m waves. Sky 50% cloud. Baro 1014
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