[password] pilot25041
[position] 24 59.4s. 146 08.15w
[status] so another day in the South Pacific battling against a wind that doesn't want play ball ........ we stayed on our northerly tack all night and tacked back to the west at daybreak as we hadn't made much progress towards Tubuai over the previous 10hrs. Late morning we started to get 'headed' so we again tacked back to the north, but by this time our new destination was Papeete, as we've lost too much time to get to Tubuai and then to Tahiti, before we run out of time for crew change flights etc.
The weather is just the same, pleasantly warm, sunny, a few clouds, beautiful sunrises, moonlit nights, what more is there to say? Oh, we've been fishing again since first thing with 4 lines out, still nothing caught!

We're still hard on the wind at 35AWA, hoping the wind will back over the next few hours as we're currently 30degrees off the direct course to Tahiti and once we can sail a better angle our comfort on board will be significantly improved. Talking of improvement Andrew took one of Allan's sea sickness "Bombs" this morning and appears to be far better placed than he has been since we left Rapa!

Our "Moaning Mini" still continues her fine work in the starboard rear lazerette, making life "on watch" so much easier for our seasoned sailors, as she holds a constant selected course! Hopefully we should be in Papeete in 3-3 1/2 days time when she can have a rest again!
Position 13.00 nzst. DTG 486nm
[speed] 6.5kts
[heading] 355T
[weather] 16knts NW, 1.5m swell from the W, 80% cloud cover.

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