NZ to TONGA - Day 3 - Clear sunny skies

Hello!

A quick note tonight as I am about to go off watch. We had a lovely day on the water today - clear skies, minimal sea state, and sunshine. We caught a couple of fish, neither of which was very big, but we kept one as it died on the way in, and threw the other back to keep growing. Johnathan volunteered for the filleting job, and now two tidy fillets are sitting in the fridge awaiting their turn in the frying pan (after we finish the fresh food that we took from NZ ... they may find themselves in the freezer tomorrow!)

Benjamin is quite keen to be the 'helper-guy' - whether it is handing over the (sheathed) kill knife when we catch a fish or watching for uninhabited islands that Capt Cook missed, he is our man :) He is at the age where he takes most things literally: at one point, Max, Victoria, and I were securing the spinnaker pole for the night and Johnathan was filleting a fish, and we told him that he was on watch in the cockpit. He immediately stood on the combing (the outer edge of the cockpit) with 'one hand for the boat' on the dodger roof. When I suggested that he would be safer sitting on that ledge, he explained that he couldn't sit because he was 'standing' watch.

Today has seen a combination of wing-on-wing sailing and motoring, as the wind worked its way down in strength. We have been motoring most of the evening/night, and we expect at least another 36 hrs like this before the winds fill in again. It is warming up slowly, slowly: I even spent some of tonight's night watch sitting on the back deck watching the stars (in stark contrast to sitting well inside the rain enclosure two nights ago bundled up in multiple layers of fleece and blankets!

Love to all,
Elizabeth
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At 2018-06-06 1:31 PM (utc) SV Fluenta's position was 31°24.29'S 178°25.90'E

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