Current Position: 11 41.616’S 140 55.604’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; HDG: 181; COG: 188; SOG: 5.1 kt; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Raroia): 274; Total Miles Sailed: 3597 nm;
Comments: Note I am in a new time zone.The gusts increased in frequency and speed as sunset approached, driving the boat at 6.5 kt. The skies were partly cloudy and nothing looked threatening, so I left the main with a single reef and the Yankee fully deployed. I had an alarm set to retrieve my fishing line at dusk. When the alarm went off, I thought to myself, it’s been awhile since I caught a fish. Moments later, the struck indicator went off. I could tell it was not a small fish (it was taking my line with full drag), so I heaved to and tired the fish before landing it. It was a good-sized tuna, certainly a week’s worth the food. While I was cleaning the fish, I received a VHF call from S/V Trinity, a 46’ multihull doing 10 kt about 19 nm away. They had noticed that I had altered course and speed (because I was heaved to) and wanted to make sure I was okay. I explained I had caught a fish, which they congratulated me on before continuing on their way. When I got back underway, the wind had picked up … I am guessing 15-18 kt. The boat was doing 7-7.5 kt with the single-reefed main and the full Yankee. I had trouble getting the wind vane to keep me on course. The problem was periodic wind gusts that would cause the boat to round up to 180 (from the desired heading of 210). When the gusts stopped, the wind vane would over correct, setting a heading of 240, presumably because I had weather helm because the main was reefed and the jib was fully deployed. In the end, the TillerPilot was used. It had the same problem, but corrected faster, so the swing was more like 15 degrees rather than 30. Nonetheless, the TillerPilot’s alarm went off every time there was a gust because its arm had been fully extended and the course had not been corrected to 210 (it was more like 200). The alarm went off every few minutes and sometimes the TillerPilot could not correct itself, so I would have to get up. To try to address the issue, I tried to better balance the sails by furling in half the Yankee. This seemed to help. However, while trying to set up the TillerPilot, it stopped working. I would engage it in auto mode and it would immediately kick out to standby mode. I tried to reboot it, but the problem persisted. Finally, I check the deck-mounded plug and sure enough it was corroded. I did a quick clean and it started working again. When I have time, j will clean it better and pack it with dielectric grease. It was 2:00 before I got to bed. I woke at 6:00, nearly sunrise, with the alarm on the TillerPilot going off. The alarm is on the unit itself and not the main siren, so it is not as loud. The course was 195 (instead of an ideal 210). That seemed to be where the trim of the sails wanted to point the boat, so I reset the course to 200 to turn the alarm off. My goal today will be to try to evaluate the Monitor wind vane so I can report to the company and solicit a fix. It is partly cloudy. None of the clouds look particularly threatening, but there is the potential for a squall. My 9:00 check showed I made (570-455) 115 nm on, which is not bad considering all the difficulties I have had. The current forecast is for storms on Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th (when I am supposed to arrive). Also, easterly winds are going to become northerly, making it difficult to get an angle on Fakarava unless I loose some latitude. Right now, the TillerPilot is only happy on a course of 230 or 180 (less than 239 and it rounds up to 180). I need to get as much rest as possible before Saturday, when I start navigating the atolls and will need to be awake most of the time. My plan is not to enter the atolls is foul weather … to either back off on my speed or plan to heave too and let the weather pass. About 10:00 is started to feel squally. It got grey, started to sprinkle, and the wind picked up. Especially as I expect to slow things down past the weekend, I put a second reef in the main. The boat handled better and I was still making 5 kt with only a sliver of Yankee. The boat seemed stable on a heading of 200-210 (waypoint 209), so I went below to take a nap. I laid down 45m, checked the weather and my route. Storms are predicted Saturday and Sunday when I would be navigating the atolls without reliable autopilot. I have made the executive decision to bail on Fakarava and make my way to Raroia, which is more than 100 nm closer and does not require me to navigate atolls. It is 1:00 local and Raroia is 290 nm away. If I can average 5.5 nm/h (probably not), I can be there before dark on Friday, before the storms are scheduled to arrive. If I don’t make it before dark, I can heave to and come I at first light Saturday. PredictWind has me arriving Saturday, but I have a very conservative model at night (only 3.5 kt). I am currently doing 5.5 kt with a double-reefed main and 80% of the Yankee on a heading of 188 to Raroia. The TillerPilot has stopped communicating with the chart plotter altogether. I tried cleaning the plug contacts, which worked before, but no luck. Fortunately, the TillerPilot can work independently, just no Nav or Wind mode. I fixed myself a healthy portion of the tuna … not going to run out anytime soon.
Comments: Note I am in a new time zone.The gusts increased in frequency and speed as sunset approached, driving the boat at 6.5 kt. The skies were partly cloudy and nothing looked threatening, so I left the main with a single reef and the Yankee fully deployed. I had an alarm set to retrieve my fishing line at dusk. When the alarm went off, I thought to myself, it’s been awhile since I caught a fish. Moments later, the struck indicator went off. I could tell it was not a small fish (it was taking my line with full drag), so I heaved to and tired the fish before landing it. It was a good-sized tuna, certainly a week’s worth the food. While I was cleaning the fish, I received a VHF call from S/V Trinity, a 46’ multihull doing 10 kt about 19 nm away. They had noticed that I had altered course and speed (because I was heaved to) and wanted to make sure I was okay. I explained I had caught a fish, which they congratulated me on before continuing on their way. When I got back underway, the wind had picked up … I am guessing 15-18 kt. The boat was doing 7-7.5 kt with the single-reefed main and the full Yankee. I had trouble getting the wind vane to keep me on course. The problem was periodic wind gusts that would cause the boat to round up to 180 (from the desired heading of 210). When the gusts stopped, the wind vane would over correct, setting a heading of 240, presumably because I had weather helm because the main was reefed and the jib was fully deployed. In the end, the TillerPilot was used. It had the same problem, but corrected faster, so the swing was more like 15 degrees rather than 30. Nonetheless, the TillerPilot’s alarm went off every time there was a gust because its arm had been fully extended and the course had not been corrected to 210 (it was more like 200). The alarm went off every few minutes and sometimes the TillerPilot could not correct itself, so I would have to get up. To try to address the issue, I tried to better balance the sails by furling in half the Yankee. This seemed to help. However, while trying to set up the TillerPilot, it stopped working. I would engage it in auto mode and it would immediately kick out to standby mode. I tried to reboot it, but the problem persisted. Finally, I check the deck-mounded plug and sure enough it was corroded. I did a quick clean and it started working again. When I have time, j will clean it better and pack it with dielectric grease. It was 2:00 before I got to bed. I woke at 6:00, nearly sunrise, with the alarm on the TillerPilot going off. The alarm is on the unit itself and not the main siren, so it is not as loud. The course was 195 (instead of an ideal 210). That seemed to be where the trim of the sails wanted to point the boat, so I reset the course to 200 to turn the alarm off. My goal today will be to try to evaluate the Monitor wind vane so I can report to the company and solicit a fix. It is partly cloudy. None of the clouds look particularly threatening, but there is the potential for a squall. My 9:00 check showed I made (570-455) 115 nm on, which is not bad considering all the difficulties I have had. The current forecast is for storms on Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th (when I am supposed to arrive). Also, easterly winds are going to become northerly, making it difficult to get an angle on Fakarava unless I loose some latitude. Right now, the TillerPilot is only happy on a course of 230 or 180 (less than 239 and it rounds up to 180). I need to get as much rest as possible before Saturday, when I start navigating the atolls and will need to be awake most of the time. My plan is not to enter the atolls is foul weather … to either back off on my speed or plan to heave too and let the weather pass. About 10:00 is started to feel squally. It got grey, started to sprinkle, and the wind picked up. Especially as I expect to slow things down past the weekend, I put a second reef in the main. The boat handled better and I was still making 5 kt with only a sliver of Yankee. The boat seemed stable on a heading of 200-210 (waypoint 209), so I went below to take a nap. I laid down 45m, checked the weather and my route. Storms are predicted Saturday and Sunday when I would be navigating the atolls without reliable autopilot. I have made the executive decision to bail on Fakarava and make my way to Raroia, which is more than 100 nm closer and does not require me to navigate atolls. It is 1:00 local and Raroia is 290 nm away. If I can average 5.5 nm/h (probably not), I can be there before dark on Friday, before the storms are scheduled to arrive. If I don’t make it before dark, I can heave to and come I at first light Saturday. PredictWind has me arriving Saturday, but I have a very conservative model at night (only 3.5 kt). I am currently doing 5.5 kt with a double-reefed main and 80% of the Yankee on a heading of 188 to Raroia. The TillerPilot has stopped communicating with the chart plotter altogether. I tried cleaning the plug contacts, which worked before, but no luck. Fortunately, the TillerPilot can work independently, just no Nav or Wind mode. I fixed myself a healthy portion of the tuna … not going to run out anytime soon.