We start this day much better than the day before. Seas have calmed down and the winds are from the SE at 15-20 Kts. Wind speed is good but still right on our nose. Instead of motoring directly into the wind and using a whole lot of fuel we elect to bear off to the SW and continue to motor. It really hurts to have to turn the motor on when we have good wind and seas. Oh well those are the cards dealt this trip so we will make the best of it.
We get a weather update in the morning and it appears there is a pretty strong system heading to the north end of New Zealand on Tuesday and another to follow on Thursday. We are not excited about going into heavy seas and gale force winds so we are going to opt out of the passage temporarily and divert to Norfolk Island. This Island is an Australian Territory and lies about half way between New Caledonia and New Zealand. Perfect stopping place for us to duck into and wait out these weather systems. Besides how many people in the world can say they have been to Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea? I will help you with this one, Not Many. My golf buddy and fellow sailor, in a boat just ahead, is to stopping as well and he thinks there is a golf course on the island. That would really be a bonus. We should make land fall Tuesday morning, tomorrow, around 10 AM. I will get back to you on what Norfolk Island is like.
As the day progresses the winds die even more and the ocean is like a lake. There are no clouds in sight and we anticipate a calm evening as well. As the sun went down it was so clear we were able to see the sun's "green flash" at sun set. Very rare to see even out here. Because it was so clear we really got treated to 2 green flashes. Just as the sun went down and we saw the first flash the boat hit a swell and the boat rose up so we were able to see another flash. How many can say they have seen 2 in one sun set?
Barbara cooked a great meal for supper and off to bed she went while I stood my first watch of the night. For a passage you couldn't ask for much more well maybe a little less motoring and a lot more sailing. This is Destiny clear and standing by on 1-6.
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