Hello from 18.55 South 171 49 West

Good morning. We left Niue almost 24 hours ago, with a hump back whale breaching and escorting us out of the anchorage. It was the first one I'd seen during our two weeks there. Not more than a hour later we saw another one playing in the ocean. Double bonus! We are having a very pleasant motor-sail and are buddy-boating with Scott on Beachhouse. He is single-handing because his wife Cindy is in New Zealand for two weeks.

Light winds, small seas and almost clear skies. Just before sunset, after a little squall, we were treated to the most amazing rainbow I've ever seen. It blazed for almost an hour with QuickStar as the "pot of gold" at the end of one of the arcs. We could almost reach out and touch it! During the night watches, the sky was jet-black with thousands of stars twinkling and one shooting almost every 10 minutes.

Fortunately, is looks like the last 122 miles will be more of the same. I love these calm passages, although it would be nicer to be sailing without the engine - but I'm not complaining.

At some point during the day, we will be crossing the international date line. Then, not only will we be seeing the same southern constellations that Kylie is seeing, but we'll be in the same time zone. (Doesn't make me miss her any less though!).

I'll update the blog tomorrow morning (Wednesday for us - Tuesday back home). We will plan to arrive in Tonga just after sunrise. Cheers...Peter & Diana