18 May 15 - Passage to Tonga (Minerva) - Day 2 - Catching fish and getting our sea legs

Hello!

We had a lovely day on passage today. Max and the kids caught a fish just after sunrise, and when it was filleted, we had seven bags for the freezer and two for the fridge. I was relieved to find that many nooks and crannies in the freezer, because I already had it pretty full of NZ beef, lamb, and chicken...

Benjamin is getting his sea legs, and has been brave enough to stand up and try to move around. His new harness is easier to adjust, so he wears it constantly in the cockpit, but we are able to take it off down below.

We are still decked out in all our foulie layers (jackets, pants, fleeces, leggings, wooly socks and boots). Even Benjamin is wearing his MEC "pumpkin suit" (which makes him orange and round) when he is upstairs. We have just gybed and set a course of 330 deg M, which has a good northerly component, so things should hopefully warm up considerably over the next 24 hours. Although it is still cool, it is not nearly as cold as it was when we left NZ.

Our winds have been steady at 15-20 kts, and we had some gusts into the high 20's overnight tonight. While everyone else was sleeping at the handover of our watches, Max and I worked together to reef the main and then gybe it across (while the autopilot decided to take a break for awhile). Given that it was nighttime and rather rolly, we furled in the genoa completely before the gybe, which meant that the lines did not get fouled on the inner forestay, cleats, etc that lie in wait for them on the foredeck. The whole operation worked well (and was rather fun, in fact), and it made me realize that I *like* sailing when I don't also have three children clambouring for attention. In a rolly sea after two hours of wrangling both baby and boat earlier in my watch, this was a surprising revelation!

Said baby is now calling me, having slept on the port settee during our evolutions, so I will sign off!

Love to all,

Elizabeth
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At 2015/05/18 4:25 PM (utc) SV Fluenta was 33°18.00'S 176°39.00'E
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At 2015/05/18 10:06 PM (utc) SV Fluenta was 32°43.71'S 176°32.39'E

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