Friday 16 May - a bouncy ride

We have hit the Trade winds, consistent 20+kts, so we are flying along , increasing our average speed over ground for the passage from 7.5 to 9kts. However the waves are much bigger and coming from the side so it is a very bouncy ride. It is getting warmer and warmer, just a sheet on the bed tonight, to think we were cold under our down duvet a couple of nights ago.

We tried a bit of fishing but no luck, my plan was to make a fish curry, so landed up just having vegetables. I start getting supper ready around 4pm as we eat at 6pm and we're in bed by 7pm! Today's upset was that there was no gas to cook on. Phil thought he had smelled gas yesterday on the deck when we were man handling the big pink sail into the bag. We must have had a leak. We were using up the last of our big French gas tank, Rowan had to take the connection off so that we could get the right size for our conversion to our new NZ tanks. The fitting obviously was not put back on tight enough. Its too bumpy for Rowan to get out to the locker and sort out, plus the waves are crashing over that side of the boat. Luckily I could make the curry in my slow cooker and air fry some aubergine. We had it with couscous as I could cook that with boiling water in my little Japanese Kettle pot, which made the couscous beautifully. I also managed to make some Crunchies (South African oat biscuits) in the airfryer. We are not going to starve!

We had put a first reef in the sail to try and reduce the bounce which worked to a degree, but hardly slowed us down. For the night we put in a second reef which has taken the speed down a little further, but still averaging between 7 and 9kts. This has brought our average passage speed down to 8.9kts.

Our Friends on Alia Vita managed to get into Port Resolution in Vanuatu at about 11pm this evening, dropping anchor in the dark, at least there is good moonlight. This is the most Southern entry port in the string of Vanuatu islands. It is a very small island and we have to pay the custom officials to come over from the other side of the island to check us in. The big draw here is the live volcano, oh and a very protected bay! We should arrive there tomorrow night, in the dark too.

It's got to be a fast fish to catch this lure!

Choppy, choppy seas

Spectacular waves hitting us side on

It looks pretty flat but believe me it isn't!