April 20

This morning we continue to experience wind shifts from ENE to SE and are getting a bit East of the rhumb line to suit me. Imagine that, my concern going in was to not get too much Westing and have to go close hauled the last leg. The skies are partly cloudy and the wind is 12-14k from the East now, we are making about 7.5k over ground on a heading of 216M. We have 200nm to go to Hiva Oa (plus another 25 to get into the harbor).

The day was uneventful. We dodged a series of rain squalls, got soaked by others. Winds shifted annoyingly from NE to SE and back to NE (the NE wind doesn't help us much). At 8pm local time (05:00UT) we are 115nm NE of Hiva Oa! We are feeling confident we can make Atuona by nightfall tomorrow! The skies are still 100% cloudy with occasional rain storms still hitting us. The seas are lumpy but not too large - 4ft from the East.

The eveningwas nothing but eventful. A series of squalls slammed into us beginning at around 9pm and lasting till about 2am. Several squalls packed winds in excess of 40k and had the captain in the cockpit hand steering down wind in full foul weather gear! What a way to end a passage. By 2am winds had moderated to 12-16k and we were making 7-8.5k over ground the whole night leaving us in excellent position to make landfall today! We are now less then 70 miles away!