Lat: 34 16.95 S

Lon: 178 57.20 E

We’ll, the winds and seas haven’t been too bad, but the crew is still a little the worse for wear. Ash is the only one who hasn’t been seasick, but he bloodied up a couple of knuckles when a winch handle slipped off a winch. Lauren’s only puked once, and is doing resonably well. Shiroma is keeping water down, but that’s about it. I’m in the middle somewhere. Hoefully tomorrow will be better.

We’re also dealing with a few boat issues that are partly due to being in a hurry to leave and partly just the standard stuff — the charplotter is on the fritz (new problem), a hastily repaired engine ground wire has apparently come loose again, the engine starting batteries seem to be next to worthless, and the fresh water pump still isn’t sorted.

Other than that, things are great. We really can’t complain about the wind or seas, we’re just getting accustomed to it all again. We’re average right around 5 knots, which is our planning number. That gets us to Fiji in 10-11 days. We’re planning to make our first stop in Suva.

We did have one bright spot. The SSB radio installation seems to work. I finished up the antenna installation the morning we left, and a couple of hours after leaving Tauranga, I was able to tune into a “sked” — one of the party-call type of check in affairs. I was able to hear boats hundreds of miles away checking in with radio stations in New Zealand and when they were finished I tried calling for a radio check. NZ Far North Radio reported hearing me as 3 over 5 (I need to look that one up) and we had a short conversation. It’s nice to know that it’s working an we have an extra means of long-distance communication if needed.