Back to reality

The Pacific Ocean looking like a postcard, that was just for one day. We
are back to cloud cover, squalls, big swell and rolling. It started last
night just at cocktails time (Ricard, Kir, with Pate de foie on toasts)
and continued until after dinner (tuna steacks with rice pilaf). Then
the wind disappeared until 4 in the morning, with the sails flapping
noisily, the boat rolling and creeping along at snail pace (2 knots).
This morning showers and wind came back and we put up the new whisker
pole (4 feet shorter), reefed down to 3 reefs to help Mr Monitor, and
since then we are moving at more than 6 knots, although in the wrong
direction as the wind veered to the NE earlier than I expected.
However, we covered 142 miles over the ground for the day, closing on
Rarotonga by 131 miles with now 341 miles to go. We still expect to
arrive Monday morning, October 5th.