A new episode

Although basically similar, days are beginning to be different. Last
night we ran into a 25 knots wind with 12 feet seas which forced us to
take the 3rd reef to make it possible for the Monitor to keep steering.
We are rolling very heavily now continuously, and cooking, changing
clothes and even sleeping becomes a little more challenging.
The sun is more and more present and the solar panels love it. We will
keep running the genset in the morning so as to use the toaster for
breakfast, but we won't need it for the batteries.
As I was taking the third reef, I noticed that one slider has had its
webbing undone. I don't see myself sewing it back in these conditions,
but on the other hand, as long as it is only one (it is a small
intermediary one), we should be OK.
Also, I was a little bit ambitious and I tried to rig the boom for the
genoa. There was too much compression on it and it almost snapped in two
parts. Fortunately I had time to take it down before anything bad
happened. I will have to figure out another way. Right now, we took the
sheet all the way back to the stern of the boat and we lower the clew
with a block and tackle next to the shrouds. It does a very good job and
we keep our speed between 5.5 and 6.5
We still expect to arrive in Fatu Hiva on August 18th early afternoon.
At noon, almost to the minute, another mahi-mahi struck and
Jean-Francois was able to bring it on board without us slowing down. It
was only around 5 pounds, but it will make a very nice dinner, and then
some.
The sea temperature is beginning to ride, now at 79.3 and we should be
getting away from the influence of the Humbold current. But I still
don't understand where this 25 knots wind comes from. Neither the grib
file on Max Sea nor the Papy Jovial Weather Service had seen that and
were telling us to be ready for a 20 knots wind which is still more
than 400 miles away ahead of us. Don't always believe the weatherman !