September 30

We ended up trying to leave on the 26th as it was dead calm before that. We headed out on Wednesday night but turned around after the wind appeared to be coming from the West which is the way we were headed. So we came back dropped anchor again and decided to try to leave the next day. I wanted to leave in the morning but Jordan was worried that if there was no wind we wouldn’t make Wallis before dark the next day. Well as it turned out we had way too much wind when we left Thursday afternoon. By the next morning we had gone from 20 knots to 35 knots. The waves were 10 to 12 feet. We were going downwind which makes me a bit green. Jonah was horribly seasick the entire time. The poor kid couldn’t even keep water down. He was so weak I had to carry him the toilet so he could pee. By the end of the day we had hit 42 knots – an all time high for the Queen Jane. The sea was a furious spewing white with waves crashing down on the Queen Jane. It looked like pictures I have seen on storms that illustrate a force 7 or 8. I suppose the waves could have been steeper. QJ took it well. I kept my lunch but I got really queasy and couldn’t shake it. Probably should have put on the patch but I thought it was going to be an easy sail.  

Wallis looks lovely. We had a bit of a hairy entrance thru the pass which was running out 3 knots with huge breakers on each side. We dropped anchor next to “Abel Tasman”, our friends we met in Samoa. We are tucked in the lee of the island and it is still howling outside. This weather system is supposed to last awhile so we are here for probably a week. I am really exhausted from the sail here and am not feeling very good about myself as a crew member. Jordan did all the heavy work and I only stood watch the first night. He was seriously exhausted by the second night. I guess I will go back to wearing the patch for every passage.