Gaualofa

The countdown if officially on, and we're off in two nights-waahhhooooooooo!!!

They last couple of days have flown by as we continue to prepare the boat and crew for the upcoming voyage. We've had fascinating discussions on navigation, and the route we'll be taking from this land mass to some little green dot out in the pacific. It will be inspiring to work with (and learn from!) the navigators going with the crew from the cook islands and the Tahitian navigator travelling with the NZ crew.

We'll primarily be relying on the stars and the sea to tell us where are va'a lies, and the direction we must take. It will be a great excersize (and for some of us a great stretch) to tell the time by our bodies clock and the position of the stars (including the sun), and to measure our speed by the time it takes a bubble to travel from one point on the boat to the next.

Must jet now... there is so much more to say, but the time is getting late, and there is much to do. Check out the link below for a little more info

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3560420/Traditional-vaka-to-make-Pacific-journey/
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/04/the-pacific%E2%80%99s-challenge/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10636979

Manuia Le po