aegir-ran

Current Position: 18 48.256’S 170 47.086’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 5.4 kt COG: 260; TWS: 18 kt; TWD: 67; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 262): 181; Total Miles Sailed: 5538 nm;
Comments: It is 16:00 and I am at 169W. The 20 kt wind that has allowed me to sail essential E using just my foresail is going to disappear by dawn and be replaced with 12-15 kt wind with gusts of 20. At the point I will have to raise the main and jibe to a broad reach towards Tonga. My plan is to continue E until I reach 170W, then jibe. It should take me 10-12h to do that, making it 2-4:00 in the morning. This should place me about 240 nm from Tonga in the morning and after sailing 4-5 kt/h during the day, about 180 nm from north side of the Tonga island Vava’u by the end of the day tomorrow, Thursday (Friday Tonga time). The wind will go to single digits by tomorrow night, so there is no chance I will make safe harbor by Friday (Saturday Tonga time). My plan is to cover that 180 nm over the Tonga weekend and position myself to come into the harbor first thing Monday morning (Sunday my current time). During the next two days, the wind will shift from the E to the NNE, allowing me to curve around on a bean reach for Vava’u, using all three sails in the light wind if necessary. The wind is going to shift to the SE and become strong on Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning (Sunday-Monday Tonga time) making it more difficult to heave to. So, if the opportunity presents itself, I will try to make safe harbor Saturday before dark (Sunday Tonga time) and stay on the boat until the quarantine procedure is complete. It is 17:30 and I just downloaded PW data. For the first time the AIS data includes the harbor at Vava’u. There are at least 16 vessels at anchor there and a dozen more are anchor in the island group. White Malkin is there and Little Wren SoloSail is on the N side of the island, presumably heaving to until daylight. Sunset should be at 18:45 (UTC-10, about one hour from now) and I will be at the waypoint PW recommends for jibing in about 40m. The advantage of jibing now is I can raise the mainsail in the light and trim the sails before it gets dark. The advantage of waiting is sailing with the foresail along is generally trouble-free, although I continue to loose latitude (and will loose more as the wind shifts to the E). I believe I will lift the main before dark just because I’ll probably have at least 45m of light to sort things out if there is a problem. I will start by furling in half of the Yankee and I will start with two reefs in the main because I still expect 25 kt gusts tonight and sustained winds of 20. Further, I will be exposing more of the sails in the broad reach. I needed every minute of light to hoist the main and tune the wind vane. I had trouble in the 25 kt hoisting the main because the top baton kept getting hung up on the lazy jack. I eventually dropped the lazy jack and sail pack to get the mai up, then put everything back together again. I finished just as it got dark and a squall hit. The boat is doing almost 6 kt in 25 kt wind with about half the Yankee and two reefs in the main. The wind direction is 85 and I am in an extreme board reach, almost a run. I am about 45 nm from Niue. I believe I will average about 5.5 kt, so should be there in about 8h, which would be 3:00. There is perhaps a 50:50 chance I am going to have to jibe before I get there, and I don’t want to take any chances in the dark. Note that even after all the gymnastics to get the main up, I am exactly on the course recommended by PW, which predicts I will reach Niue at 9:00, much later than I likely will. I will set alarms and stay awake the couple of hours that will be necessary to clear Niue. Just as I was typing this, a squall hit with 30 kt winds, causing the boat to round up a bit towards the island. I am going to have to be cautious. I note this starboard tack is much more comfortable than the port tack was, I think because of the direction of the swell. It was hitting me broadside before and it seems to be following seas now. The TWD is shifting as I approach Niue. At 00:15 it is 76 and I am 16 nm away. This may allow me to pass the island without jibing, but it will be very close. The problem is, while the wind vane is doing a very good job, as mentioned before, I am getting periodic gusts of 25-30 kt that are causing the boat to round up. I am now staying awake to hand steer through those gusts. I am down below, but the sounds of the wind/water and the heeling signal when I need to take control. Niue is about 8 nm wide and normally when you approach the windward side of an island, particularly one with some elevation, the surface wind direction will change as the wind is parted around the island. I am looking for that. It is 1:00 in the UTC-10 timezone and my phone just switched to midnight (UTC-11). Interestingly, the time on PW has also switched to UTC-11. It is 1:30 and it has become clear that it will not be necessary to jibe. It would appear that my closest approach will be about 5 nm and it looks like I will pass the island 4h ahead of the schedule that was downloaded at 17:00 yesterday. The town of Alofi is on the leeward (opposite) side of the island, so it is not surprising that I do not see any lights. There are roads on this side of the island, but I do not believe there are any concentrations of population. At 3:00, I passed the closest point to Niue, about 5 nm. Once past, I downloaded a new GRIB, extended AIS data, and a weather routing plan. I have managed to shave an entire day off of the passage. The plan shows an arrival to the N side of the island about 22:00 on Saturday Tonga time. I will plan on navigating the complicated channel to anchorage on Sunday morning. It is 4:30 (UTC-10), I am clear of Niue, wind is blowing at 20 kt, I am traveling at 5 kt, and there is no AIS traffic, so I am going to sleep. I have 60h to make the 230 nm to the N side of Vava’u, the 15 nm or so around to the channel on the E side, and navigate the convoluted channel to the anchorage. There is no rush, but when I wake up I am going to deploy more sail to take advantage of the 12-15 kt wind I will have the next 48h. I woke at 7:30 UTC-10. This will be the last check-in at UTC-10. Beginning 2:00 UTC, after I do this check-in, I will switch to UTC+23 (as if I had crossed the dateline). In other words, it is Thursday 7:30 UTC-10, but Friday 6:30 UTC+23. I am about 15 nm E and downwind of Niue. I woke up and the boat was going 3.5 kt in 12 kt of wind. To get out of the shadow, I unfurled most of the Yankee and adjust the course to a more acute wind angle (145). The TWD was 70. This put me on a course of 285 and gave me a boat speed of 4.9 kt. Sunrise was at 7:48. The wind is supposed to back from 80 to 68 by mid morning, at which time I will adjust the course closer to the waypoint (which is currently 266). The sky this morning is largely without clouds, except on the horizons, and the waves are substantially less high, perhaps affected by Niue. At 8:30 I shook out the second reef. I was making about 5 kt in 16 kt wind. I rigged a preventer and put out a fishing line.in celebration of passing and Niue and reaching waters that were not as angry, I cooked a large breakfast of eggs, potatoes, onions and prosciutto. At 9:30 I seemed to be out of the island’s shadow and was making 5.2 kt on a course of 285. As predicted, the wind start to back to 68 about 10:30. The nice thing (sometimes) about the wind vane is it steers relative to the wind. I did not need to make any adjustments. The boat automatically steered closer to the waypoint. By 11:00, I was out of the “wave shadow” of Niue and the big swell was back. I was really glad I had fixed the meal and cleaned up before the rocking returned. The wind became variable in speed and direction, making it difficult to trim sails and run a steady course. The boat bounced between a course of about 275 at 5 kt and 300 at 6 kt. I just went with the flow and figured it would sort itself out soon enough. About noon, I got a strike on the fishing line. I was a 7’ billfish. Having lost my gaff and not having any interest in bringing a billfish aboard by the gills, I ran a noose of rope down the fishing line and it naturally stopped at the tail. After cinching the loop, I dragged the fish aboard tail-first. The course recommended by PW has been very accurate today. Including changed in wind direction and strength. Since Niue, I have basically been curving around to the E as the wind direction changes. However, the forecast has changed every time I new GRIF has been issued with respect to were the dead air is going to be and when, so basically I cannot plan for that. Instead I am keeping the GRIFs up-to-date and downloading frequent weather plans. The distance sailed on to Tonga in the last 24 h was 290-181=139 nm (a remarkably good day).

Current Position: 19 31.992’S 168 56.150’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 5.8 kt COG: 244; TWS: 22 kt; TWD: 95; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 268): 290; Total Miles Sailed: 5427 nm;
Comments: As predicted, it blew 20-25 kt all night from about 115. On average, the course was almost exactly towards the waypoint at 5-6 kt boat speed. I did not set alarms, but instead relied upon what was a very bumpy ride to wake me when things felt out of control, which was every half hour or so. The boat was not helping much as I was almost in a run, but it rocked violently at times. I had padded both sides of the berth and wedged myself in to keep from being tossed back and forth. When I was awaken, I checked the Cortex app for current heading and the PW Offshore app for current position relative to the planned course. I went to the cockpit several times, primarily to check the control lines of the wind vane (which I sometimes had to tighten)and confirm what my iPhone was telling me (which I sometimes did not believe because of how rough the ride was). Sometimes I would find the boat being driven further S than planned and I would wait a minute or two to see the wind vane correct the course. Occasionally I would help it. For example, at 22:40 there was a gust of nearly 30 kt, and I steered by hand for a couple of minutes. The gust lasted longer than usual, about 15m. The boat was surfing at 8.5 kt. My current course is essentially straight at Niue, but the wind will back from 115 to 85 in the next 24h, sending me around the island. Around 1:00, I first started noticing deviation from 115 and some gusts closer to 90. I am at 19 20S and need to be 18 55.S to clear Niue. It is going to become increasing difficult to sail E, much less move further N. I will need to make a decision whether to jibe or whether to pass Niue S. It will be easier I jibe later, when the wind direction is closer to 85. Further, I can maintain boat speed in a broad reach. In any case, the decision probably does not need to be made until later this afternoon. One thing is certain, I saved at least a quarter day by switching to just the headsail and sailing closer to a run these past 24h (by not loosing as much latitude), and probably more (because that means having wind for a longer period of time). It is 2:00 and I just downloaded the latest GRIF with weather planning. My intuition was correct. The proposed route has me going S of Niue to take advantage of the longer period of wind. There was a fairly heavy rainfall at 2:20, but no additional wind. Although I woke periodically, the wind vane required no interventions until I finally got up at 6:45. During that time the boat moved about 30 nm nearly due E (6 kt/h). My best guess is I will be part Niue in 24h and will jibe for Tonga. There are a huge number of boats between the two islands, mostly commercial fishing boats, many in long lines of a half dozen. It is almost 7:00. The weather looks like a repeat of yesterday … frequent low-energy squalls separated by periods of sunshine and punctuated by an angry sea that is causing the boat to continuously pitch and roll. If there is any respite today, I will prepare the cabin for the jibe at the end of the day (ia.e., stow and secure everything on the starboard side). I am sailing the rough yet another rainbow this morning. It never gets old. While I was enjoying my morning tea in the cockpit, a large, rogue wave came over the port quarter. I’m awake now. It is 8:30 and the wind is still coming from 110, so I continue to make progress almost due E, but the forecast is still for the wind to shift to 90. That will be one of the determining factors on when to jibe. I laid down for a nap at 11:09 and when I woke up just before noon the wind had backed to almost 90. I adjusted the wind vane and downloaded a new GRIB, which was 18h old. The new weather plan recommended I jibe earlier than before, about 16:00, in 4h. Doing so would not allow me to quite clear Niue “, and instead several smaller jibes would be required. The plan would have me clear just S of Niue about dawn. I studied the plan and as usual PW overestimated my speed during the day and underestimated it at night. I noticed the paracord used to raise the flags on the starboard had chaffed through the outer sheath. I took down the French Polynesian flag and will replace the cord once I am in seas that are not as angry. It is 14:45, the batteries are at 99%, there is sunshine, so it looks like I will have excess energy today. I turned on the watermaker (and turned off the fridge), not expecting to produce a significant amount of water, but to purge the system so I don’t get growth. I made about 1.5 gallon of water in 45m, then turned off the watermake abs turned the fridge on. A few minutes later, at 3:30, the batteries were fully charged. I noticed the DC-DC charger once again has a low input voltage (9.4V), which I know is wrong because the AGM bank is at 13.0 V (fully charged). I don’t know if the connection is bad or the charge is defective. Although I don’t intend to work in it today, I put a meter across the terminals and established the connection is good. When I get to Tonga, after I use the Internet to determine whether it can be fixed, I will substitute DC-DC #1 (the one that connects the AGM bank to the house Li bank) with DC-DC #3 (the one that moves energy from the Li bank under the V-berth to the house bank, which I never use). The distance sailed on to Tonga in the last 24 h was 418-290=128 nm. The total distance sailed was 5427-5276=141 nm (14/24=5.8 kt average, within 1 nm of yesterday). Note I am officially in the UTC-11 timezone now, but I won’t change my clocks until after I have crossed the dateline.

Current Position: 19 17.290’S 166 38.104’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 5.9 kt COG: 264; TWS: 22 kt; TWD: 1137 Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 262): 419; Total Miles Sailed: 5277 nm;
Comments: It is 17:50, about 30m before sunset. The wind is blowing steady 18-30 kt and the boat is making 5.5-6 kt towards N1, which is 310 nm. The wind speed is expected to stay in the 15-20 kt range until early tomorrow morning (4:00), when the speed will increase to 20 with 25 kt gusts. I already have to reefs in the main, but most of the Yankee is deployed, which is too much for 25 kt gusts. I want to take advantage of this wind to make as progress as possible before Friday morning when the wind will start dropping off significantly. I should make B1 early Thursday morning, where I will jibe for Tonga. Tonga could be two and a half days from there, but I will only have one day of good wind, placing me perhaps 150 nm away by Friday midday (which will be Saturday midday in Tonga). I figure it is going to take the better part of two days to make that 150 nm. For tonight, I will compromise and bring in 25%. I am still making 5.6 kt in 18 and 6 in 20 kt of wind, but the boat won’t be overwhelmed in 25 kt gusts. Sunset was at 18:25. I believe I crossed into UTC-11 overnight 165W), but I will be here such a short period of time, I will ignore it. I will change my time zone when I reach Tonga. I was awaken at 22:30 because the boat was off course. It had rounded up and was heading almost due S. I am not sure why as the wind vane seemed set up properly. Perhaps the control lines were too loose and it got overwhelmed by a wave or a gust of wind. I adjusted it to head further E (essentially directly at N1, a point just S of Niue) in the 20 kt wind, almost a run and stayed up awhile to see if it would accidentally heave to. At 23:30 I downloaded a new GRIB. In a new development, the wind is expected to back becoming due E as I approach Niue. Five of the six routes are the same, having me head to a waypoint 85 nm SE of Niue before changing my course for Vava’u. By the time I make up the 85 nm, the wind has started waning. I’m not worried about loosing the wind because in the worse case I’m becalmed for part of a day. Favorable wind is expected the next day. Little Wren SoloSail has reappeared on the AIS map at the same distance as always (285 nm), just N of Niue. The range of the AIS map is 300 nm, which is why she comes and goes. One thing is certain, I need to pass Niue to the S (not N), so I am continuing on my course. I was awaken at 1:00 by a squall. That must have passed in front of me. It was raining and the wind had dropped to single digits and was coming from the NE, causing the boat to swing around to the S. I knew this was just temporary, so I waited for the wind to build and veer, then put the boat back on course. The whole episode only lasted 15m. This is probably what happened at 22:30 (but without the rain). It too awhile for the wind to build back up to 20 kt, but by 1:35 the boat was doing better than 6 kt on course. I was now alerted to the fact the weather is unstable and began setting 1h alarms. As predicted, at 4:30, I started getting gusts of 25 kt. The boat handled them well, making up to 7.5 kt (hull speed). I adjusted the wind vane in an attempt not to loose and more latitude than necessary. Also, a more easterly course is more comfortable. At 5:40 I got hit by a big wave that spun the boat around facing almost due N. The preventer stopped a jibe and the wind vane recovered surprisingly quickly. It happened again at 6:00, just before dawn. This time the boat turned around almost 180. It felt like another storm. It was 40m before sunrise and no sign of light. I travelled 319-240‎ = 79nm on and 5221-5136=85 nm total (85/14=6.1 kt average) since the check-in. It’s 10m after sunrise and it is practically pitch black outside. It is 7:10. Sunrise at Niue was 6:45, so I’m guessing sunrise was at least 30m ago where I am. There is a ribbon of yellow to the E, but dark everywhere else. I am 230 nm from N1, which is essentially the southern coast of Niue. However, I am about 170 nm from where I should be jibing towards Tonga. Between now and then, the winds will back to almost due E. I will need to change my course ever more southerly between now and midday tomorrow. The reason for passing Niue to the S was to avoid a shadow, but regrettably, that is exactly what is going to happen as the wind backs E. There is still time to change course and pass the island to the N, and one of the six models recommends that, it sets me up for a bad angle afterwards. Furthermore, I still have to dip to practically the same latitude before jibing for the sixth model anyways. I will maintain my effort today to stay as far N as possible. The sun broke through at 8:00 and I was rewarded by a complete rainbow that I literally sailed through. The wind is blowing at 95 degrees. I dropped and lashed the main and completely unfurled the Yankee. I am doing 6 kt in 22 kt wind directly downwind, essentially directly towards N1. No problem staying on course now and I have the added bonus of following seas. If this keeps up, I will avoid having to go 50 nm S and then back to Niue. As importantly, it would allow me to pass Niue with still a morning of good wind to make my way to Tonga, assuming I can average 5 kt between here and Niue.at 8:45, a small squall pass across the port bow, driving the boat northward, and reminding me of one of the disadvantages of flying just a headsail. However, I am going with the flow. Making north s bit actually puts me in a better position later. At 9:05, pears were on sale … so I ate all three of them. As predicted, the waves are building with the high winds … about 12’. It’s going to be a rough two days until I get past Niue. I swung the boom over to the port side and lashed it. Not only did that give me another half kt of speed (windage of the sailpacknin its “wing-on-wing” configuration), but it exposed more of the solar panels, giving me another 10 Ah midday. I tried to turn on the engine to charge the batteries, but the “input voltage is too low.” When the engine is running, the input voltage, which is the voltage of the starter AGM bank, reads 8.4V according to the DC-DC charger. However, I have a voltage monitor on the bank, and I know its voltage is normal, 12.8V. I strongly believe there is a short that only manifests itself when the charger is on (when the engine is on. At 12:10, a good-sized squall past my starboard quarter. While it missed me, one developing on the port side will not. Before the storm hit, I took the wiring apart for the charger, wrapped some electrical tape around the base of the connectors, and replaced one connector. ITge storm hit just as I was finishing up at 13:30 with lite rain and a slight increase in wind. I started the engine and my repair seemed to work, which is good because it appears I will produce very little solar energy today. After studying the charger, I believe the connector I replaced last time as making intermittent contact.l, and it wasn’t a short after all. The wire clamps on the Victron units are very temperamental. Especially in tight places, it is not always clear if they are properly secured. I ran the engine about 30m, and the batteries were topped off. Around 15:00 the boat was surrounded by 4-5 small squalls that made the air unstable. The boat accidentally jibed several times, but when the wind stabilized the wind vane was able to recover. Basically, I am testing whether using the foresail alone with the wind vane is stabile enough to leave overnight while I sleep, and that appears to be the case. I have decided to sail N of Niue. The distance sailed on to Tonga in the last 24 h was 555-418=137 nm. The total distance sailed was 5276-5136=140 nm (140/24=5.8 kt average). In other words, I sailed directly towards Tonga all day. The distance to the N side of Niue is approximately 183 nm. If this pace continues, I will reach Niue by Thursday morning, leaving 235 to Tonga. I expect to arrive in about five days, Sunday local time or Monday Tonga (after crossing the dateline).

Current Position: 19 02.728’S 164 11.787’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 5.7 kt COG: 240; TWS: 18 kt; TWD: 113; Distance to Waypoint (N1, 254): 319; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 258): 555; Total Miles Sailed: 5136 nm;
Comments: For sailing, yesterday started out very challenging in the early morning hours, but shortly after daybreak, sailing conditions became near perfect. The sailboat Stet that snuck up on me yesterday turned of its AIS before dark last night. It probably needs to conserve energy like I do. Since we two are the only boats writhing hundreds of miles out here, the AIS does not serve much purpose for vessel avoidance, although it is useful for tracking. Sunset was at 18:19. The tanker Alcyone passed 30 nm N of me at 1:00. I downloaded a new set of extended AIS data from PW and confirmed Stet was now 22 nm from me and falling behind. Further, the vessel Jumbo Top, which had been on a course towards me, had passed N by 15 nm. No other vessels were within two days of me. The sailboat Little Wren SoloSail, which was part of the 15 boats in the Global Mini Challenge race appeared on the AIS map for the first time in several days and was 285 nm from me, the same distance as when I left Tahiti, although they were going to pass Niue to the N and I to the S. I downloaded a new GRIB. The weather prediction did not change markedly, although the recommended course, which was consistent in all six models, suggested it was not necessary to go as far S before jibing past Niue, so I adjusted my course accordingly. The jibe is still expected Wednesday late afternoon. After that the wind is expected to slow down, making the last 300 a slower haul. If the forecast holds, there is a good chance I am becalmed Saturday (Sunday Tonga time), but if I am, wind should arrive Sunday (Monday Tonga time), which is fine, because I don’t want to arrive on Sunday. I was awake 1-2, then adjusted my course due E to a broad reach, reducing the speed to 5 kt, lessening the heal, and reorienting the seas to be following, making for a mellow ride. With nothing in my way, I did not set an alarm and went back to sleep. I woke at 3:30 and checked the Cortex to make sure I was on course, went back to sleep and woke at 6:20, almost 3h later. That is the longest I have slept while not at anchor since leaving San Carlos. It is partly cloudy (mostly clear except on the horizons). At 7:00, made about 676-595‎ = 81nm since the check-in yesterday (81/15‎ = 5.4kt average towards the waypoint. I am trying a new strategy with the fridge. I turn jt off at night after the batteries are fully charged and when the power consumption starts going negative (about 15:30), I turn it in for 30 m at 19:00. I turn it on for 30m at 7:00, and I turn it in when the solar starts positive when everything is running but the fridge (about 9:00). Today, the batteries started out at 89% at 7:30, after running the fridge for 30m (which is unusually high … it is usually about 82%). The wind is a little lighter this morning. I unfurled the last 20% of the Yankee at 8:00 (still a double reef in the main for the gusts). The TWD had backed to 105, and the Yankee flagged on the waypoint (257). I created a new waypoint a few nm S of Niue (N1 that is 358 nm away and 253 and I am steering towards that doing almost 6 kt in 17 kt wind coming from 145. I should reach N1 about the time the wind shifts direction and slows down. This will leave me about 230 nm to the N side of Neiafu (the main island of the northern group of Tonga). It is 9:00, the sun is shining, the batteries are still at 89% and down 65 Ah, I am producing an excess of energy, and I just turned on the fridge. With the fridge on, right now, it is about break-even. It is 10:00, exactly one week after leaving Tahiti. The batteries are still at 89%, but -63 Ah, so I am producing excess energy with the fridge on. At 11:00, the batteries were at 90% (-58 Ah). At 12:00, 92% (-49 Ah). At 13:00, 94% (-36 Ah). By midday, the seas were unusually calm and the winds relatively light, so I took advantage to cook split pea soup (bag of dried split peas, 3 carrots, 1 onion, 5 oz can of Hormel smoked ham, water to cover one inch, and cook in pressure cooker 20m from time flame was turned on). At 14:00, 96% (-25 Ah) and I turned off the fridge while the batteries finished charging. Note a lot of cloud cover came in about 14:00 and charging slowed down. By midafternoon, the wind also picked up a bit, as expected, and the speed increased a kt to 5.5. At 15:00, 98% (-16 Ah). At 16:00, 99% (-10 Ah). Note, the batteries just became charged at 16:00. The voltage is starting to shoot up to 14.5 V. The residual -10 Ah is due to siphoning of current from the shunt by a small inverter I use to charge my tablet computer. When I have time, I need to rewire that so it comes out of the correct side of the shunt. The distance sailed on in the past 24h was 676-555‎ = 121nm. The total distance sailed was 5136-50097 nm (124/24 = 5.2 kt average).

Current Position: 18 39.801’S 162 01.852W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 6.1 kt COG: 240; TWS: 18 kt; TWD: 134; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 256): 676; Total Miles Sailed: 5009 nm;
Comments: Regrettably, it got cloudy yesterday afternoon and I had to run the engine to charge the batteries, primarily because I ran the fridge for 24h straight. I’m trying to run the fridge again overnight, but I am turning up the thermostat so its duty cycle is less, I want to find the setting that allows me to run it all the time and still have enough solar to fully charge the batteries. Unfortunately, the DC-DC charger that connects the engine’s alternator to the house battery bank is showing a “fault” and only works intermittently. I am not sure exactly what that means, but I have a spare I can swap out, but I’d like to wait until J am at anchor to do that. There is nothing worse than squeezing in the engine room while the boat is underway. One of the reasons I am recording such detail in these entries is to demonstrate just how many things go wrong on an extended passage. If someone is thinking about doing this, they should ask themselves if they and their boat are ready to deal with these issues. There’s no Home Depot at 18S 160W and Amazon doesn’t make deliveries here. The question I am asked most often is “what do you do with all your feee time out there?” Ha! I thought I might go a day without storms, but at sunset there is a squall to my port, a squall to my starboard and there’s a third bending me that just started dumping rain on me. This was short-lived, but at 18:20, just before it got dark, I was surprised by a very large and fast-moving storm. I quickly furled some more of the jib and put a second reef in the main. The wind shifted quickly from 135 to 90 as the storm approached, the back to 120 as it started to rain. The wind vane was of course affected by the change in wind direction, but I let the boat go with the flow knowing the changes were temporary. The storm was large, but not particularly energetic, but it was pretty clear that I was going to face similar storms at least CNN part of the night, so I was happy that I had shortened sail. By 18:30, the boat was moving along at 6 kt with very little sail close to the desired course. As the last of the light disappeared, I could see more storms lined up. I suspected they were all low-energy (the CAPE is supposed to be 200-300), but I was satisfied with the sail plan and retired to the cabin. I was awaken just before the 22:00 alarm. The winds had shifted to 145, 6h earlier than expected. The boat had to be put on a beam reach to point towards the waypoint and was doing 6 kt with minimal sail. In addition to rebalancing the wind vane, I had to sheet the main and would have more if not for a preventer and the fact I had no desire to move it in the dark because the boat was rolling. There did not appear to be a storm or gust that as causing this. I set an alarm for an hour to see if the change persists. Of course it did not. My best indicator that wind shifts were temporary was the drizzle/rain felt when I entered the cockpit to make an adjustment. It was a long night of second-guessing the behavior of the wind while trying to keep the boat from accidentally jibing or jumping to an unrecoverable position while rounding up. From my horizontal position in the pilot’s berth, I knew exactly what was happening at the helm from the sensations of heeling and sounds of the sails. The challenge was to resist the urge to make a correction that I knew would only be temporary and would precipitate the need to act again before I’d even settled back into the berth. It’s 00:22, the first day of my third and last full month in the South Pacific. At 4:00 I woke to deal with the course again and I noticed a 43’ sailboat had unexpectedly popped up on AIS 7 nm behind me. The sailboat was heading towards me with variable speed 3.5-6 kt. However, my speed and course has been all over the place tonight, and it I was not clear how it had gotten so close without being detected by now … did I overtake it or it me. I suspect it has been here and didn’t have its AIS on. The name of the boat finally appeared … Stet. It has maintained essentially the same position behind me the past hour. It is 6:00. Normally, I would have my tea in the cockpit and watch the sunrise. It is blowing 25 kt and spray is coming over the rails as the boat travels 7 kt, so this isn’t a good morning for that. I have made 793-730‎ = 63nm on and travelled 4952-4884‎ = 68(68/14 = 4.9 kt) since my check-in yesterday. It is 6:30 and still quite dark. I turned the Radar on briefly to confirm there were no squalls in the area. I could see Stet, still about 7 nm behind me. The weather forecasts have the wind turning southerly towards the end of the passage, with the recommendation that I pass S of Niue. All the forecasts recommend that I make some distance S now. I have adjusted my course to 240 (waypoint at 254). I am in a close reach, the first time I have sailed upwind in a very long time. The routes have me jibing midweek. It looks like Stet may be heading for the Samoa, so our paths should cross in about an hour. It was a good call to shorten the sails last night. It made it a lot easier to handle the boat in the ever-changing conditions. The models right now have the wind disappearing around Tonga on Saturday afternoon (Sunday local), but picking up again Sunday (Monday local). I don’t want to arrive Sunday because the immigration/customs office is closed. If it looks like I am arriving too early, I can take advantage of the calm to heave to and ready the boat for inspection. I am going to pass about 3 nm ahead of Stet. It is light now. There is a very dark and angry-looking front behind me. It’s going to be another day of shortened sail and no solar. This concerns me because of the issue with the DC-DC charger and the fact as did not run the fridge all night. It is 7:30. It is starting to sprinkle, but actually, upwind and down course the skies look relatively clear, so if I can outrun what is behind me, it might not be as dire as I through at dawn. In fact, the sun just cleared the top of the storm behind me. Also, I just crossed over the path of Stet, which is 4 nm behind me. At 9:30 I downloaded a new GRIB. While the route has not changed, and all six models have me headed more southbound until Wednesday, it is noteworthy that the very severe weather predicted last week to occur at the end of this week is no longer predicted. It will still blow hard and die down Saturday, but the dangerous front to the S is no longer there. On one hand I t is really hard to predict more than a week out. On the other, the route recommended really has not changed in two weeks. It is 11:00, the sun is shining, and I’m doing 6 kt in 16 kt wind in a beam reach just off the waypoint … a fine day so far. I had a look at the DC-DC charger and specifically whether there was a short like I observed before, but cannot see anything. I will note there was some drops of condensation on top of the unit, and it is possible that moisture was causing the problem. When I run the engine to charge in the future, I will also run the blower to see if that helps. In a positive note, the wind vane is doing a very good job today. By 13:00, there were practically no clouds in the sky, the first time in almost a week. By 3:00, the waves had picked up, resulting in significant rolling. Nonetheless, the boat was making good time averaging over 6 kt. The sailboat Stet ran parallel to me all day, albeit somewhat slower. I thought from its original course that it was headed to Samoa, but now it seems more likely that it is headed for Niue or Tonga. Perhaps they changed their minds after seeing the forecast that there was going to be dead air between here and Samoa for several days. The distance sailed on in the past 24h was 793-676‎ = 117nm. The total distance sailed was 5009-4884 = 126 nm (124/24 = 5.2 kt average). Note I have sailed over 5000 nm since leaving San Carlos.

Current Position: 18 24.085’S 160 00.810’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 5.5 kt COG: 262; TWS: 16 kt; TWD: 135; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 254): 793; Total Miles Sailed: 4884 nm;
Comments: At the end of the day the storms keep coming, one after another. They are not really squalls, just rain storms, but the changes in wind direction and speed make it difficult to trim the sails to make steady progress. The seas are also becoming more angry, as expected, and the rolling and pitching are not only uncomfortable, it affects the efficiency of sailing. The prediction is it is going to get much worse as the week progresses. I ran the engine at the end of the day yesterday and topped off the house battery bank in about 20m. The sea became more angry at night. Waves were hitting the port stern quarter and spinning the boat southward. The wind vane would recover, but it would take time. The result was a more southerly course than I intended, straight for the Aitutaki atoll, some 80 nm away at 21:30. I tweaked the wind vane, but it was hard to find a sweet spot in the 25 kt wind. I set 1h sleep intervals fully expecting the boat to accidentally jibe if the wind decreased. However, the wind kept up most of the night and the boat ran true. I made almost exactly the same distance towards the waypoint last night as I did the night before (905-838=67 nm). The difference is I did it with half the sail area. This was achieved because of the higher wind velocity. In general, until the very end, the wind speed is expected to increase as the week progresses. On that note, the GRIB is 20h old. I downloaded a new weather map and plotted a course. There were no major changes from yesterday. It is 6:20 and I am waiting for it to be light enough to learn if today is going to be a repeat of yesterday with squalls. It is partly cloudy, but unlike yesterday the clouds are small and non-threatening. The sea is not as angry. I am averaging 5 kt with half the Yankee and two reefs, so I believe I will leave the sail configuration the way it is for now. I am making good progress towards the waypoint. I thought about fishing … my fresh stores are dwindling, but the truth is it was hard enough to make tea this morning and the idea of handling a pan of hot oil to cook is not appealing. At 7:30, the wind fell off a bit 12-15 kt from 120, so I unfurled most of the Yankee. This increased the speed from 4.8 to 5.4. I am leaving the two reefs in the main for now. Since there is more foresail, the boat wants to run when there is a gust. It could be a decent day for solar, which is good because I left the fridge on all night. Sine it only draws energy when the compressor is on, I am experimenting to see if leaving it on at night might actually result in drawing less energy during the day (because the compressor does not have to work as hard to cool the fridge back down). I have studied the weather forecast. It looks like I can expect the present wind conditions until early Monday morning, when the wind will increase from 15 to 20 (meaning gusts will increase from 20 to 25). I believe it is safe to shake out the second reef until tomorrow evening, when I should go back to half a Yankee and a double reef). After unfurling the last 10% of the Yankee, removing the reef, trimming the sails, and balancing the wind vane, I gained perhaps half a kt to 5.5 in 14 kt wind. The batteries bottomed out at 77% before the solar helped them break even about 9:00. By 9:30, there was a significant excess of amperage. However, I am sailing almost due E and am now at a significantly low latitude that the sun is N, and sails shade the panels by midday. So I really only have 2h of direct sunlight to charge.i doubt the batteries will be charged by the end of the day, but I am going to continue the experiment, leave the fridge on, and try to minimize other uses of energy. It does not help that it is getting more cloudy as the day progresses. A cargo ship appeared on the AIS about 30 nm away, but it is anchored at Aitutaki, were it has been the past few days. It looks like storm clouds are building behind me, but upwind and down course look almost completely clear of clouds. The sun is almost over the cloud cover to the E, so maybe I will get some decent solar energy after all. I passed Aitutaki at 13:00, 25 nm to my S. No more land until Niue, 575 nm away. By 14:00, it was heavily overcast. While nothing specific looked threatening, there was definitely a chance of storms. Very little solar energy was being produced. Winds were blowing steady at 15 and gusting to 20. My plan is to leave the sails as they are for the rest of the daylight hours, but reduce sail overnight. There are now a whole string of boats behind me, basically on the same course from Tahiti. I count 12 at the same latitude stretched back 300 nm, the range of AIS on PW. It started to sprinkle and the wind picked up to 20 at 15:30. While it does not look threatening, after this report I am going to reduce the foresail by 50%. I have made 905-793‎ = 112 nm on and 4884-4766= 123 nm total in the last 24 h. Note as predicted, the wind is veering more southerly.