Day 1- gorgeous sailing despite early passage seasickness

Time: 2300 Zulu Mon 8/13 (noon Samoa time Tues 8/14)
Position: 15-deg 10-min S 172-deg 41-min W
Wind: ESE 15 Seas: ESE 5-ft
Avg. Course: 207-deg T
Avg. Speed: 4.1-knots
Rig: 80% jib, triple reefed mains'l
24-hr distance noon to noon: 98.2-nm

Apolima Straight was gorgeous. We lucked out with the busy ferry schedule and watched the 1400 ferries pass ahead of us and sailed by in time for the 1600 ferrys to cross behind. Seas were calm, breeze was light, and clouds were stunning creating gorgeous views of the Apolima Island, possibly an old volcanic cinder cone or caldera, just sticking its peak above water. We put the mains'l up to its 2nd reef and enjoyed the island beauty. The shallowest depths we saw were 204-ft before the ferry crossing and we made it out the other side around 1700. This provided us over an hour of good daylight which we used well as out of the lee of Upolu Island the seas and winds picked up. A mix of a slightly above the beam heading, promontory effect and sunset, winds and seas picked up enough to motivate a sail change. Down came the 80% and up went the storm jib for a conservative night of sailing.

It had been too beautiful to nap through the afternoon, so Shawn grabbed a couple quick moments of sleep before awaking for night watch and to make dinner in the last rays of sun. Chris, taking Dramamine, has continued to feel decent this entire trip and that is good, because all of a sudden, Shawn shot up from the galley and took her turn retching over the side. Luckily the night was kind and under starry skies, Tao and Moni have continued without pause needing little help from the seasick crew. Horizon scans noted lights from Upolu into the wee hours of the morning and dawn came bringing a gorgeous day. After download/uploading and examining the weather, we decided to upgrade sail area. Down came the potato chip storms'l and back up went the 80% and Tao raced along under non-threatening fluffy white clouds, nearly making up for the slow nights lost mileage by our noon point. Shawn, now taking Dramamine as well, feels less sick but more drowsy and Chris continues to enjoy having more energy than usual. Forecast shows that the center of a high is covering Tonga, so sunny days and light winds ahead as we take advantage of the current beautiful conditions.