Kanton to Abemama - Day 3

We're having a wonderful sail. 15 knots of wind, pushing us along at 5.5
knots towards our next coral atoll, Abemama. There is a huge swell that is
coming from the south east, so we get a good roll once in a while, but
otherwise, the ride is very comfortable, and neither of us is feeling ill.
In fact, we both cracked open new books on day one. Super unusual for me to
be reading on the first day!

We're spending our days napping and reading. I'm already on book #2
(Wicked). Porpoises have just stopped by to check us out, but we must not
have been too interesting, as they didn't stick around.

Last night was another fabulous night watch. John woke me at 1:30 am for my
turn in the cockpit and I spent the next 6 hours gazing at the stars,
watching the horizon for boats (none seen), and giggling out loud while I
listened to Stuart McLean on my iPod. Oh yeah...and snacked on Pringles. It
is times like this that I think everyone should do a trip like this.

The night before was not one of those times. First, the whisker pole broke.
Then a block snapped off the traveller. Then a lifeline. And each one seemed
to occur right in the middle of a rain squall. Requiring us to both be on
deck, soaking wet, until we were fixed and underway again.

We look forward to the next few days. On this passage we'll be passing over
the equator back into the Northern Hemisphere. We'll also be passing into
the Eastern Hemisphere, over that important 180 degrees, where our longitude
will start to get smaller as we go west, instead of bigger, as it has until
now. This is usually the international date line, but we've been a day ahead
of home for the past few weeks, and the entire country of Kiribati has moved
the date line to ensure the whole country is on the same date as Australia.

Our position at Aug 26, 1:30 pm local time: 02°02 S, 175°45 W

Aug 26
Labels: passage, Kiribati, gear