Day 15 Update: Dinghy Disaster Averted

Summary: We got the spinnaker dialed in yesterday and had do make only two jibes to maintain our course towards Hiva Oa. The seas and wind were similar to yesterday so we didn’t have to make many adjustments.
Position: 09 25.12 S 128 54.90 W at 12:00 UTC-7
COG: 255 degrees m
Distance: 178 nm (24 hr), 2,565 nm total
Average Speed : 7.4 kts (24 hr)
Distance to go to Hiva Oa: 615 nm
We spend yesterday setting up lines for spinnaker operations again and making it easy to switch tacks more quickly. The crew is getting good at snuffing the spinnaker, hauling around the front of the jib to the other side, pulling up the pole, swinging it to the other side, lowering the pole, and redeploying the spinnaker. The whole operation takes 20-30 minutes, but we are cruising and don’t want to have anyone hurt or break anything. After each step we carefully check that everything is set correctly and proceed to the next step.
Last night as Satin was settling into bed and Camille started her watch at 9 pm, we were annoyed and mildly concerned about some of the pulley noises from the pole fore guy (the line that keeps the pole from moving too far back). We decided to keep the spinnaker up through the night as we were expecting light winds. Dave applied some sail lube to the pulley, which helped. But he also decided to double check the rest of the line runs to insure no issues overnight.
It turned out on the return run to the cockpit, the fore guy line was rubbing on the bottom of the dinghy (which we secure upside-down on our bow for passages). It had rubbed through part of the aft starboard rubber handle, but fortunately hadn’t caused any other damage. The handle essentially saved the rest of the dinghy tube from getting damaged or torn. Camille and Dave re-secured the guy to the forward clean to take the load off the return pully system and the dinghy averting another disaster.
It’s felt hotter onboard with the following winds making apparent wind around 10 kts and not blowing through the boat due to forward facing hatches. We’re coping by keeping more water on ice in the freezer and spending more time in the cockpit behind the sun shades to get whatever breeze we can catch. We’re still hoping for a Saturday landfall in Hiva Oa if conditions stay the same, which is what the forecasts are predicting.
Wildlife Sightings: a bird or two, no flying fish this morning for a change, no fish caught yet