TOMORROW

After fits and starts, stress over "to leave or not to leave" and looking at weather four times daily...tomorrow (Saturday, May 27) looks like the departure date. We aren't alone, there will be a flotilla leaving over the weekend heading to the warmer latitudes. From Marsden Cove where we are, there are at least a dozen boats waiting for the right passage weather. In other parts of NZ, more are chomping at the bit to take off. We had two other dates we thought looked good – but this one is the best so far so we'll take it. The last two ended up being quite boisterous runs for the boats that did leave....big headwinds and monstrous seas. So we are glad we waited...and are hopeful this will be a more pleasant run. We did have to apply for an extension for our visitors' visas...for what will end up being be two days! This extended wait also meant provisioning, cooking...re-provisioning, re-cooking and baking.

We have enjoyed the time with all the other waiting boats – we've had two sausage sizzles (one tonight), two rounds of Mexican Train dominoes games (one with nine boats) and pizza night. Michael took a tour of the nearby oil refinery with a group. He also finally spotted the leopard seal (see last entry) and it was chomping on a dinghy! His description was it was huge with enormous teeth.

So we leave – please send all your best thoughts for a safe and easy passage. We will keep up with position reports on the YIT site as long as all systems work on board. So feel free to follow our progress. There will probably not be many entries during the passage unless it is flat calm.

Finally...
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At 5/15/2017 8:41 PM (utc) S/V Astarte was located at 35°50.22'S 174°28.12'E

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