13-Aug-2006 Noon Position

French Polynesia to Niue
South Pacific Ocean

• 13-Aug-2006
• 18°40.0000"S/166°20.8000"W
• 125nm in last 24hrs
• 844nm from Bora Bora
• 200nm to Niue
• 10-15 knots E
• swells 5ft SE

Ahoy from Team Sandpiper,

Made a few more miles this last 24 hours. The winds are a bit stronger and moving us along at an average of 5 knots. Not sure why, but no matter what time you leave your last destination, you are guaranteed to arrive at your next right after sunset.

We are going to have to slow down a little tomorrow night because we are due to arrive in Niue at 2am on Tuesday. So at noon tomorrow, we are going to decide what to do to slow down. Arriving in a strange harbor at night is not a whole lot of fun, unless you know exactly where you are going.

Today was a great day for Team Sandpiper. We had a big blue Mahi Mahi swimming around the boat today scaring all the flying fish out of the water. One even flew straight into the cockpit! We named him "Blue" (Your My Boy Blue!!). He played with our lures. But I think he knew they what was up. He just bit one and spit it back out to tease us.

Later in the day. three of his Mahi Mahi friends showed up. But I don't think he told them what's up, and they bit both our lures at the same time!! Results; one Mahi Mahi is being cooked up by 1st Mate Amy, and the other bit our lure in half.

We drag 2 heavy lines behind the boat to catch fish. They have heavy shock cords on them to absorb the shock when the fish bite. That way it doesn't rip the hooks out of their mouths. Fishing poles really don't work that well because when we are sailing, we can not stop the boat's forward movement without dropping the sails. So the drag lines make it easy. You just have drag in your "catch of the day".

More in 24,

Tom and Amy