Things have settled down a little now, and we're enjoying some more consistent conditions. The apparent wind has been sitting around 18–23 knots over the port quarter with the occasional gust, which makes for a pretty comfortable ride and good sailing with the steady roar of the wake keeping us in tune with the boat speed.
Yesterday's run was a little less than I expected at 166 nautical miles in 24 hours. We also had a rather dramatic wind shift of around 45 degrees, which sent us heading further south for a while. Then the wind dropped away to almost nothing, so we furled the headsail and started one engine. About 30 minutes later, the wind came back as though nothing had happened, and we were back sailing again. Just one of those days when the weather can't quite make up its mind.
We're now past the halfway point and still looking at a clear run to Fiji. We definitely picked the right time to leave Tahiti! Yesterday, the GFS was showing a cyclone tracking almost directly over berth A21 in Marina Papeete. I'm rather pleased we're not sitting there watching that happen.
This morning, the cyclone has disappeared from the forecast, but both the GFS and ECMWF are showing signs of 'something' developing east of Samoa next week.
It's still a long way off, and there's no point getting too excited about something that may or may not develop, but it's certainly worth keeping an eye on. One thing I've learned from these passages is that the weather models can change their minds quite frequently.
For now, we're making good progress, the boat is comfortable, and Fiji is getting closer by the day. I am planning a straightforward run for the remainder of the passage.