Today was more of the same, shitty. We had 20-25k from the SW then SSW all day. We motorsailed into the wind as it was coming from our desired direction. Most of the time we were making 3.5 - 4k over ground. The seas were huge, in the 12-15ft range and slamming into them caused much salt spray to fly. Every leak we forgot about we have been reminded of. Jonah has been sick since yesterday afternoon and has not eaten except some crackers and water. Kate is the same.

Finally this evening around sunset the wind began to drop significantly and by 8pm it was 12-16k, still from the SSW forcing us more and more East all the time. At 11:30pm this evening the wind shifted to the SSE then into the SE. This was not predicted so I am skeptical it will last, but while it does we are taking advantage. We have tacked onto the port tack and are making 7k over ground under sail alone on a heading of about 190M.

Our original goal has always been Tauranga, about 100 miles South of Auckland. We had first planned to enter NZ at Opua, about 74 miles North of Auckland, and then work our way down to Tauranga in a series of day sails. A few days ago with the wind coming from the West we had no choice but to assume we could not make Opua and so decided to head directly for Tauranga, even though it is 150 miles more and means an extra day at sea (and two extra nights perhaps).

Well, as of now with the wind from the SE we are making direct for Opua and have only 133 miles to go. This translates into about 20 hours if we can keep our speed up. However, as I said above, there is no reason to expect the SE wind to last and there is a good chance we will end up heading for Tauranga tomorrow again.