30s, South Pacific 16 April 2011 position at 6:00 p.m. Tahiti Time 39S48 151W03

Poof, this morning the whalebirds were all gone – not a prion in sight. Maybe yesterday was our farewell show, and they were escorting us to the exit of the roaring 40s. They were probably thinking, “Good riddance, ye whale of little krill.” Once over that line, they turned tail in search of a real whale.

The wind has cycled around to the N/NE, so no longer the nice beam reach, but for now 15-20 knots and reasonable seas, not too harsh. The tropical low chasing us looks like it will pass southwest of us (thanks for all the knocking), but we still expect higher winds sometime tonight or tomorrow for a day or so. If I go silent with these messages for a few days, it’s just us hunkering down, not feeling up to sitting at the computer. Rapa is about 800 miles away at 025 degrees (as the crow flies). Another week or more away.

Decidedly warmer up here, I traded my fleece lined jeans for just fleece (still with the wool long-johns). And inside I can shed the fleece hoodie I think this tropical storm and the resulting northerlies getting sucked toward it, are giving us a decidedly different perceived temperature quality (or was that just because the oven was on today?)

xoxomo