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11/3/2006 2:30:00 PM
Tonga to NZ - Day 3 of 7
Our last passage for this cruising adventure

Day 3 of 7 - Changing weather

Well the ocean is still blue but the weather is starting to change and especially noticeable the temperature is dropping.

Well the ocean is still blue but the weather is starting to change and especially noticeable the temperature is dropping. From a good engineer like myself (yes I do have a degree in engineering) you would expect now exact degree changes in 2 different units down to the decimal point ... NO ... all I know is that I need to put a jacket on to go outside not to be cold and that is proof enough for me.

New Zealand, or I should say Opua where we are going at the northern tip, is at about the same latitude as Santa Cruz (North Africa for the Europeans) ... well here is another title for a book '35 North to 35 South'. Most of the last 6 months, we spent in latitudes below 20 degrees so the weather is much warmer, more humid and a bit more predictable, especially during the winter months which is the cruising season for us, also say no hurricanes.

For us on this passage that means, that we need to get for the first time since Mexico our foul weather gear out. Listen to me, we haven't even hit the 30 latitudes yet and I am already complaining ... what will I do once I get to Austria in November. Ah that's right, there they have 'Gluehwein' (hot whine with spices ... YAMMM).

Anyhow, things on Lawur are very rocky again. We had yesterday during the day a very nice and calm day with only 15 knots of wind but with the night came stronger winds again, sometimes gusting into the low 30s at times and with it came confused and large seas ... can you tell, how we are loving it ... NOT!!! Beside being uncomfortable for half of the night and pretty much all of today ... I actually fell across the cabin once when getting tossed around landing on Sebastian's head ... for the grandparents, he is fine. The strong winds also have a positive, we broke our all time record and finally broke the 180 barrier ... we sailed in the last 24 hours 181 miles ... HURRAY. That means we are putting another 31 miles into the bank and as of today the balance is 52 miles ahead of plan. That is a good feeling knowing we cannot arrive late, the earlier we get in the better it will be.

For food, we are back to sandwiches and nothing fancy with all the rocking and rolling none of us feel especially hungry anyhow. Benjamin as always is the most hardy of all of us if we don't count Frank and he is joking around all day ... thanks to our boat clown.

Hold on for another wild ride on Lawur.

Robert and Family

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