In the Tasman sea

This is it ! After a lot of pain, we finally got out of the North Cape
area, which is definitely a bad one. Yesterday, we managed to fly the
gennaker for the last two hours of the day and today, we set it up at 9
this morning. I am very happy to have purchased a real spinnaker boom.
We set the gennaker almost like a spinnaker, with slightly different
settings, and it works fine, even with 20 knots of wind and Firmin has
no problem steering. The boat is well balanced, and of course, it makes
a world of difference in the speed. Our weather router tells us to be
prepared for almost no wind for two days starting the day after tomorrow
so we better concentrate on getting as many miles as we can under the belt.
As far as crew is concerned, to be out of the North Cape area made a
huge difference, and except for Debbie which is still fighting to get
some sea legs in (but she had enough energy last night to prepare
cookies). Philippe has no problem whatsoever and being a skipper himself
with lots of experience, he is a major contribution to me. Anne has
almost totally recovered, but probably needs now to learn the ropes a
little better.
I hope that we will be able to keep the Gennaker all day and even to
fly it tomorrow. I will change the rythme of the watches so that we can
set it up at daybreak, i.e. 6 in the morning instead of 9 this morning.
We still have some 920 miles to go and we cand stand still.
This morning, I also put out the fishing line, but just for the sake of
it. We need a keen fisherman on the boat and don't have one yet. But one
never knows, There might be a fish out there stupid enough to bite on
the lure that I put in. Anyway, if we don't want to benefit the health
authorities of Australia, we still have to eat all the meat in the
freezer, the eggs, the dairy products and fresh fruits and vegetable.
Extra fish will do fine, but just as extra . . .