It’s still blowing 30+ knots, with squalls rolling through bringing gusts into the high 30s, and we’ve seen 45 knots a few times.
The problem with squalls is that it’s difficult to tell exactly what they are going to do, so we have to be on hand to reduce sail if one gets closer and looks ugly. It’s better to be cautious than to find out the hard way that we should have reefed earlier.
At night, I’m dropping the main and creeping forwards with some headsail and the leeward engine running at 1,600 rpm. It’s not particularly fast, but it keeps us moving without having too much sail up when the squalls come through.
We have about 250 nm to Opua, but we can’t aim directly where we want to go because there is a bit of east in the breeze. There is also enough south in it to make it very cold. The spray is making everything damp and salty, and intermittent rain is adding to the atmosphere.
Its pretty bouncy and I’ve had to cable-tie a cushion onto the screen in the saloon to stop it banging around. There are some 4 meter waves rolling through, and every now and again a particularly large one breaks over the boat, with water pouring down the windows and across the deck.
It’s not exactly inspiring me to sit down and write a blog. But at 4am there isnt much else to do except look at the time and wait to crawl under the blankets.
The forecast is supposed to ease off during the day, and we’re hoping that will give us a better run for the final stretch into Opua. With around 250 nm to go, we’re getting close, but the weather is making sure we don’t get there without putting in a bit more effort.
For now we are keeping the boat moving safely and waiting for conditions to improve.