Madrona north of Western Australia -

Hi,

It still very rough and wild out here. Huge rolls. It got so wild last night that some of our batteries broke loose and we lost all electrical power for about fifteen minutes until I could figure out what had happened. The power went down right when we were reducing sail in 30+ knot winds, and we both got this horrible sinking feeling. Sure was dark out here in the ocean with heavy clouds, rain, and the knowledge that you've got a wee problem to sort out. Anyway... re secured the batteries in question, and were back in business in literally fifteen minutes. Made us realize how truly dependant on power we are.

Wind is fickle today. 30 knots one hour, 12 knots the next. Seas uniformly big. Plugging away at something like 4 knots (our slowest day so far).

For the last two days we get a daily flyby by low flying Australian boarder patrol aircraft. Literally at mast top level. Wakes you up! That's their way of saying, "turn on your VHF radio." They are very nice, asking for ship's details and route, etc... We enjoy their visits. We also had a big bird ( a Booby) stow away on deck all night to get out of the sloppy weather. Tamsyn and Griffyn were delighted.

Tomorrow Griffyn turns eight years old! We have yet to decide if presents will be opened on passage or not. (He's getting Battleship and an Erector Set).

That's it from her. I need to pull down some weather info - see if there is an end in sight to this bad weather.

Everyone says hi.

Owen

9 49.975 S
132 23.801 E
270 degrees true
4.0 knots (or there abouts)

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com