Since we changed our destination to Tauranga yesterday we are trying to pinch up as high as possible to be able to lay Tauranga at 163 degrees Magnetic. Opua was (still is) 172M. When the wind is from the East to ENE no problem but when it swings down a bit more to the South and its ESE or SE the best we can do is 170 or even 175. This is not a problem really because "any minute now" (say within the next 36hrs) we will leave the trade wind belts and start to feel the effects of the prevailing Westerlies that are found in the higher latitudes. According to weather forecasters who I have spoken with (via radio) I should expect some NW winds within 2 days.

Last night and into the early hours of the day the wind generally eased slowly from 15k at 9pm last night till 4am this morning when it was down to about 9k from the ENE. We were doing fairly well at 5.5k over ground (this is only possible in light air on a close reach, on any other point of sail the QJ would not be able to get her ass out of her own way).

At about 5am a rain shower came in and immediately, with it, a wind shift to the SE. We had to alter course to 180M for about a half hour and now the wind is slowly, it seems, starting to come back a bit more North and is now blowing about 11k from the East at about 100 degrees. We are close reaching at about 6.2k on a heading of about 165M.

By 10 am the wind had died to 8k and shifted way into the South, now being almost on the nose and too close to sail in any case. We rolled up the genoa and are motorsailing with main and staysail in about 8k breeze from the SE with calm seas. We are making between 6 and 7k over the ground on a course of 165M. Our desired course is 162 but if we motor sail that close to the wind we would have to lower the sails and loose what little extra boost (and stability) they are giving us.

It is now 5pm and we have been motorsailing since this morning. We are making a course of app. 170M and have about 9k of wind from the SE (127M). We are going over 6k and sometimes 6.7 for a few moments. Not bad at all considering how much motoring other boats have done on this passage just last week. Dez from Russel Radio (1900UT and 0300UT on 13.137USB) predicts another 24 hours of the same for us followed be Southwesterlies once we get South of 30S Lat.