Benoa Outbound Day 3

Hi everyone,
We're having a very pleasant sail this afternoon under full sail and a sunny sky. We are currently at 13 43.2S 115 49.0E, sailing at 5knots on a course of 170 in about 10 knots of wind.

Yesterday afternoon, overnight and this morning we had easterly winds of 20-25 knots and spent most of the time under single-reefed main and staysail. We were moving along at a comfortable 6 knots, occasionally getting up to mid 7's. We were taking plenty of spray aboard and an occasional "greenie". We each spent most of our watches below, just poking our heads up once every 10 minutes to check the world outside. During slightly quieter patches we'd lay on our backs in the cockpit watching the stars - very spectacular and nice and cool compared to down below. Twas nice to doze there and wake up to a cold slap in the face (from spray) and see the milky way above. We had our lifejackets on and tethers attached - just in case.

The wind gradually eased late this morning and by the afternoon we were gradually increasing sail in stages. It is nice to have a break from the abrupt motion of beam reaching in a lumpy seaway. I just hope the wind doesn't ease further! The forecasts say it should remain around 8-15, occasionally up to 20 at times. We'll see.

Nice sailing

We're seeing large schools of small flying fish from time to time. Whenever we sail near one they all burst from the water and fly away. We're also seeing large flocks of sooty shearwaters (we think) and have seen one tropic bird (we think).

We should reach the half way mark sometime in the next 24 hours. That will be good!