Day 16, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 12SEP19, Day 16, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continued to make direct progress and good speed until it all slowed down. We are still pushing and racing sunset, but we may be somewhat out of options. The winds and seas have come back down which makes it harder to squeeze out the needed speed. But, on the bright side, it also means it will likely be calmer at Easter Island which is what we need to be able to stay and go ashore.

Current Position: 26 13S 108 23W
24 hour progress: 151nm, 6.3kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 2226nm with approximately 80nm to go. The skies continue to be a mix of sun and clouds. Winds continue to vary and are averaging around 15-20kts. We are currently sailing a beam to broad reach with 1 reef in the main and the full genoa. We may shake out the last reef today to get the most out of Zephyros, but it isn't likely to be enough, and will make the ride less comfortable, particularly in the gusts.

The crew is well and looking forward to landfall. Sunrise gave us a rainbow that we are driving towards the end of - so Easter Island is at the end of the rainbow? We were about 150nm from the anchorage at sunset last night and put up good mileage for the beginning of the night and even made the needed speed to end out the day. However the the wind seems to be generally dying or the lulls are getting bigger or pessimism is creeping over optimism. We will do what we can with the day, hope for the best and take what we get in the end. Hoping for a decently calm anchorage and looking forward to a post arrival drink!