Position: 18 degrees, 44 minutes south; 176 degrees, 41 minutes east

Bang, slam, boinoinoing! We’re “enjoying” 6-10 foot waves and 25 knots of wind. From time to time just to alternate with the normal slamming, we really hit one and the hull vibrates like a guitar string. It sets my teeth on edge a bit waiting to see if something breaks but Charisma seems to be enjoying it anyway.

We’re about 55 degrees to the wind and doing 6+ knots into these waves. We can’t sail any higher or we would just stall out. Double reef main and stays’l are the order of the day. The jib is furled waiting for lighter air-hopefully in a day or so.

The good news is we are making our course line. We want to go 190 degrees True and we’ll actually doing a couple degrees better than that, so we’re sailing a little above course. Good, because we’ll likely see more pronounced headwinds (but lighter) as we get down to New Zealand, so anything we can sail “above” our course now is money in the bank so to speak.

Charisma is very clean right now as we’ve taken some real “gulley washers” over the top of the foredeck, cabin top and even right over the dodger into the back of the cockpit. Ann and I are hunkered under what shelter there is to stay dry.

All in all not so bad though, especially since the winds are projected to lighten. Our bigger issue is if they lighten too much before the waves get smaller. Otherwise, we don’t have enough power to plow through them and we wallow. It’s always something. We just have to wait and see then adjust. That’s the game.

So, that’s it for now. Dinner’s over (Dried bean, vegetable and bacon I made yesterday in the pressure cooker and left on the stove to reheat) and it’s time to start the watches. Ann has the first one until sometime around 0200.