Sea Routines
Position: 36 19.00 S, 172 54.00 E
SOG (kts): 5.4
We’re back in the swing of it today, rolling across blue fields of sparkling swell & gentle seas. The Tasman Sea is an electric aquamarine color with tinges of purple now that we are in water thousands of feet deep again. Taz is scooting around the boat and doing his best to teach himself to stand on his sea legs. We’ve all gotten a good sleep now that Privateer is steering herself again, with plenty of time to clean up below-decks, relax, read books with Taz, and listen to music. Made a new batch of fresh drinking water with our watermaker & topped up the tanks. We are only 100 NM from the top of the North island now. I had to sift through a lot of weather reports to put ourselves in this particular place at this particular time. The winds are constantly changing in these latitudes, and it’s all about timing! So far it has been an excellent passage in fair weather, while other parts of NZ are experiencing heavy gales and rainstorms. We’ll probably have another session of hand-steering tomorrow afternoon when the winds are forecast to go light. But afterwards they are forecast to pipe up to just 15 knots out of the NE as we make our way down the East coast, probably on a close-haul for 100 NM or so. Taz is squealing with delight watching the tiller move back & forth by the Monitor wind vane–a constant source of entertainment! Taz sailing over the Tasman Sea… We are reading through our cruising guides and dreaming of the seas & lands we will sail to next.
