Though the forecast had promised us a more civilised sea state, it clearly didn’t get the memo. The ocean delivered considerably more bumps and jumps than we had ordered.

Oh well. We pressed on regardless, with the Code 0 flying and making excellent progress. In fact, we were making such good progress that we decided to bring our arrival forward to 7 June rather than slow down for the final night and arrive on the 8th.

With a bit of luck and an average speed of 6.5 knots, we should make it through the pass in the early afternoon with plenty of daylight to spare.

So off went the messages to Customs and Biosecurity, updating our ETA as required. Very official. Very organised.

And just as I hit “send” and was about to congratulate ourselves on how brilliantly our Code 0 repair from the early days of the Galápagos-to-Gambier passage had held up, Mark said my name.

Now, somehow, it is rarely good news when Mark says my name.

Sure enough, some of the repair tape had lifted and shifted—a telltale sign that the sail was stretching again in exactly the same spot.

Down came the Code 0 for what felt like Repair Round Two. To be fair, the original repair had actually been remarkably successful. We got many, many miles out of it—so many that we’d even decided not to touch it while in Tahiti.

But all good things must come to an end.

Out came the Genoa instead, and while it did a respectable job, it wasn’t quite delivering the speed we needed. So we enlisted the assistance of the trusty donkey. Thankfully, the engine only had to chip in a couple of times and only for short bursts to keep our average speed up.

Since then, we’ve been flying along at anywhere between 7.5 and 9 knots, and right now our revised arrival plan is looking pretty good.

The earlier arrival has another major advantage: we might actually get a spot in the harbour!

With this weather window, quite a few boats are racing toward Arutanga Wharf in Aitutaki, but space is extremely limited. It’s very much a first-come, first-served affair. Along the way, we’ve already overtaken two yachts heading for the same destination.

According to the “Aitutaki Welcoming Group”—otherwise known as fellow cruisers who help each other and will hopefully assist us with mooring in this notoriously challenging harbour—another six boats are expected before the big swell arrives on Monday.

So fingers crossed that everyone, ourselves included, gets in safely before the ocean decides to redecorate the harbour entrance.

Meanwhile, I’m dodging squalls and marvelling at how much light a tiny sliver of moon can produce. At night it turns the entire world into a black-and-white photograph, with only the occasional rain cloud trying to sneak into the frame.