At sea!!

Hi to all,
It is now 1000 on the 18th. July and we are at 31 degrees 43 minutes south and 171 degrees 51 minutes east. Bit over 200 miles NW of the Bay of Islands. Wind is SE about 12-15 kts and forecast to go through east to NE tonight or tomorrow. The direction will suit us as we are east of the rumb line at the moment and our self steerer (Mrs. Fleming) will bring us round with the wind. Most of yesterday and last night we had so little wind that it wasn't much use and we've been motoring to try to get north as much as possible before the LP system coming across the north Tasman gets to us on Wed according to the forecasts (GRIB files).
Starting to get into the routine now and feeling better than at the start. That was quite a bumpy ride with strong SW but this much more gentle!! However, the LP system may hit us with 25 knots from the northerly quarter which we're not looking forward to. Not so much the strength but the direction. So, unless the current wind picks up and with it our speed, we may use the motor again to maintain progress ahead of the low.
Unfortunately we are not a 747 and our speed at best is only about a hundredth of that so our ability to avoid situations is limited. Still, that's what cruising's all about but we do think the term "cruiser" is quite a misnomer; there is often not too much cruisy about this way of life!!
Murray and Jo - would appreciate it if you could pass this on to Noel
With lots of love from us both,
Jim and Jean (Gina)

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