Gone are the carefree spinnaker runs. We’re reaching again, this time for landfall. And we’ve been dodging squalls for over 24 hours. Fortunately, these squalls aren’t the textbook terrors, but rather reasonable as squalls appear. Huge billowing cumulonimbus clouds, creating gusty winds as warm air rises up, condenses and becomes heavy with water vapor. Turning gray, and sometimes an ominous charcoal, these towering clouds hold onto their liquid until the weight of it causes wind to gust downwards and rain to fall in sheets.
ST (Squall Tracker, i.e., Devon) has been in action on the radar, and all of us have been part of the game of reef main, furl jib, unfurl jib, shake out reef in main, repeat. That’s why there wasn’t a blog yesterday. We were too busy working, including tacking to avoid the nastiest ones. It might sound rather dreadful, and it is true we are tired of squalls and the work they require, but we still managed to have a bit of a squall party yesterday. Devon got out a box of assorted cookies from Costco and we turned into cookie monsters between tacks. At first, we politely asked to try different kinds, pretending we were just sampling, but as the dodging of squalls continued, we kept on eating until there was not a cookie left. It was a big box.

Tonight we’ll be carefully working our way down the coast of Hiva Oa so that we are poised to enter the anchorage off of Atuona at morning light. The end of the crossing is in sight! We’ll enjoy a chocolate truffle bar tomorrow, thanks to Devon, to help us celebrate in style. Kim
Latitude 09 degrees 19 minutes South
Longitude 138 degrees 25 minutes West