Day 11 sea heading for Niue on board FGT Thu 19 August 2010 Noon NZ local time
Position Lat 275-50S Long 173-30W 466 Cape Petrel miles to Niue. (837nm from Whangarei NZ)
Trip log 20773 at Noon today Days run 90nm
Wind variable zero to 20 knots West. Boat speed av 1 to 4 knots. Av boat direction 036 T Barometer 1018 - slightly up - we are between systems
Sails - full main and jib #1
cloud cover varies 40 -80% Air temp 22C water temp 21C
Nice bright 5/8 moon.
Greetings from the mildly frustrated FGT Crew on the South Pacific Ocean,
Sorry for whining folks as we head from one paradise to another but no wind = not much progress to Niue and so we burn diesel to eke our way North. That's enough of that - now the Sm failed to report a significant emotional event on board Tuesday - one of the crew cleverly ordered pizza from that famous pizza place ' Karlos's Kitchen' - "60 minutes delivery or free" and as we had a coupon it was the right price. But what pizzas - chock full of olives, tomatoes, cheese, salami, on an organic base, lasted approx 5 minutes washed down with chateau pinot grigio. Ahh - life on the ocean wave. Hey - ask about our corned beef, mash, and cabbage for last nights dinner - yessir.
Ok back to work guys- no wind mostly with 5 minutes of 20+ knots then calms until just before noon today - so - you guessed it - hard on the wind again earning our dues - the ocean never lets up. Had some snazzy phosphorescence bow waves last night - cool. Plus the asian squid boat on our portside with lights like Times Sq - some garbaled vhf noise and then he simply ignored us - big bugger though maybe 200 feet long.
Gave the front room a salt water rinse just now and - get this - nobody cursed - we are just your refined crew.
Birding is a bit slack despite Karen's efforts as we are fairly far from land - check www.thekermadecs.org for lots of info on the birdspotting activities.
Happy Hour is now an official daily chore - an observant crew discovered the ideal cocktail on the bottle of Havana Club rum -we had the right stuff to make it and you all should try a couple raising your glasses to the FGT crew to be with us in spirits us as we slog North. 4pm any day is good.
Cheers
Your elegant and refined crew.
