windy, but calm

Position: 13.98 S, 158.6 W

We're still experiencing lots of thunderstorms and squalls. This means the wind is all over the place. It can be gusting up to 45 knots right ahead of a storm, and die down to nothing shortly thereafter. Overall, the wind is pretty calm.

We are not sleeping very well right now, because when these storms kick in (day or night), there is a lot to do. We're having to monitor the self-steering system, which does really well but can be tested in severe squalls. And we want to make sure the boat doesn't suddenly gybe without notice, and that sort of thing.

At other times, the wind is almost calm, and we have therefore been relying a lot more on the engine to make forward progress, so we have been doing quite a bit of motor-sailing over the last few days. Without using the engine from time to time, we can't sail in any kind of rational direction when the wind is almost calm. This is why we've decided to stop briefly at American Samoa to replenish our fuel - although Fiji is our real destination for this leg.