Gentlemen don't go to weather

Current Location: Underway from Majuro, Marshall Islands
Current Position: 07 18.20 S 179 54.66 E
Next Destination: Savusavu, Fiji
Miles Traveled: 1121
Miles to Go: 590

"Gentlemen don't go to weather" is an old sailor's saying, not sure where it
comes from, but either it's not true or there are no gentlemen aboard
Billabong, as we have been "going to weather" for 10 days now … 1121 n.
miles of running close to the wind. When it's calm it's not so bad, but
when the wind picks up or a squall hits how I long to be heading downwind.
Some mornings I wake as though beaten with a baseball bat; sore, stiff and
aching. I do believe Billabong might think she's some type of sea animal as
she leaps into the air belly flopping from crest to crest. Not only can it
be uncomfortable, but it seems this passage has required more of our
attention than others. Typically we can set the autopilot and more or less
forget about it, but in this case we have to constantly monitor our wind
angle, always trying to keep the angle tight, without pinching. Honestly,
it is a pain in the booty and I'm just about ready to be done! Chris
continues to keep the carrot out in front of me, assuring me that once we
are far enough east we can start to bear off. The question is, when is far
enough???

It's slowly paying off though, as last night we finally crossed over the 180
degree line. We are now just about due north of our entrance point
into Savusavu, however we must continue making some easting in case the
winds clock around, and so yes, we are still going to weather. But it is
one of those calm mornings and so life, even close-hauled, doesn't feel so
bad.

On the bright side, we seem to not have hit as many squalls, knock on wood,
as the boats ahead of us. In addition, I seem to have finally found a
sea-sickness remedy that works for me, and for our first passage ever I
finally feel like a normal human being at least 75% of the time!

On the fishing front; we caught two small skip-jacks the other day. We
don't know what these guys must have been thinking … they must be near
starving, as the lure(s) they hit was nearly the same size as them!!! We
threw them both back -- a little too small and we are being fish-snobs;
holding out for a mahi-mahi, wahoo, tuna or something related.