Current Position: 19 03.240’S 177 03.255’W; Local Timezone: UTC+23; SOG: 6.4 kt COG: 245; TWS: 23 kt; TWD: 116; Distance to Waypoint (Vanuatu, Efata, Port Vila): 837; Total Miles Sailed: 5955 nm;
Comments: At 16:20, right after I checked in yesterday, I spotted on the AIS the vessel “Sea Harmony” 13 nm behind me doing almost 9 kts. Its course kept changing, weaving back and forth, suggesting it was a sailboat using a windvane. As I suspected, it is a 52’ sailboat. I got up an hour later. The boat was doing 6.4 kt in 22 kt wind. There was a squall off the port side, upwind, and it did not look like I was going to outrun it. The wind was cold. It was a good call to reduce sail. It was shaping up to be a rough night. Sea Harmony was still 11 nm behind me. I went back to the berth, but did not fall asleep because it became calm after 10m. The wind had dropped from 22 to 10 kt and the boat was doing 4 kt. It was raining lightly. The leading edge of the squall was sucking the air out of my sails. I knew in a bit the wind would build, but I was confident I was presenting the right amount of sail. A few minutes later I could hear the wind coming. 24 kt drove the boat 6.5 kt. Sunset was at 18:10. I looked around and spotted more squalls in my path, but I was not concerned. They do not appear to be particularly energetic. Sea Harmony is still 8 nm behind me. It appears she will pass 2-3 nm to my starboard. Probably headed for Fiji whereas I am going a little further S in an effort to avoid the atolls. I have been very tired today. Believe I have been running a sleep deficit. I went to bed at 18:30 and set a 1h alarm. I went to the cockpit at 21:00. Sea Harmony was about to pass 1 nm to the starboard. Interestingly, I could only see a red light on the boat. I could not tell if it was on the mast. The cockpit was wet from rain. The boat was doing 6 kt in 22 kt wind. The windvane seemed to be doing its job. The tracking showed on average the boat had traveled directly towards the waypoint for the past three hours. Since there were no threats, I set the timer for 2h. I did a cockpit check at 23:15 and made an adjustment on the windvane. Checking the position, I was about 1 1/2 h ahead of schedule by longitude and on the layline towards the waypoint. PW would have had me 27 nm N of that line, distance I would have had to make up, so I was probably my like 3-4 h ahead of schedule. The main reason is because the PW model expects me to reduce sail and speed at night, but I am doing almost twice the speed that is predicted. I set the alarm for 2h. I was half-awake at 1:10 when I heard the boat hit something. I will make a point of diving to do an inspection of the hull. I want to do a thorough cleaning anyway before reaching Australia as their biosecurity has a reputation of being very strict. By 3:30, I started to see 28 kt gusts that drove the boat over 7 kts. At 6:00, the boat was doing 6.5 kt in 25 kt wind and was perfectly on course. I downloaded a new GRIB at 6:30 … not much changed. At dawn, 7:00, I had a look around. The cockpit was very wet from waves breaching the cowling. The seas were angry and confused by the changing wind direction. The skies looked squally, like it did at dusk. My stomach had been upset ever since I left yesterday. I think it was the heavy meal I had the night before I left. In any case I felt better now. After drinking some water and eating a dinner roll (didn’t feel like much more),I went back to my berth to slept some more. Before I could fall asleep, I remembered to check the shower sump where the water drains from the chain locker. Sure enough, after less than 24h, it was full of water from waves breaking over the bow. I have to turn on that bilge pump manually because the automatic switch does not usually work. I added a reminder to my list and went to sleep. At 8:00, I was woken up by 30 kt gusts that were driving the boat 7.5 kts. Everything seemed to handle the wind well. The windvane was doing surprisingly well considering the wave action was corkscrewing the boat. I was visited by a few 35 kt gusts that caused the boat to round up and be jerked back by the waves. The boat still did not feel overpowered, but it was becoming very uncomfortable and probably unsafe in the port side berth, so I laid out a couple of foam pads and moved to the cabin sole, where I was much more comfortable. Also, the wind was constantly blowing spray across the cockpit and into the cabin, so I put the slats in the companionway. I would have liked to have installed a running backstay, but the idea of going forward to attach it was not appealing. In the future, I will install it when winds like this are forecasted. I laid down on the cabin floor and it was in fact so comfortable I fell deep asleep for two more hours. It was almost 11:00 when I woke up. I must have slept close to 18h out of the last 24h. As predicted, albeit a little early, the wind had shifted to 120, so the windvane needed to be adjusted. I didn’t try to trim the sails as the boat was still doing over 6 kt. It was bright and sunny, and the weather looked good upwind and down course. The broad reach was much more comfortable than the beam reach with respect to wave action. I had made a remarkable 135 nm on in the last 24h, an average of over 5.6 kt. It looks like I am headed for the Southern Lau group of Fijian atolls. They are roughly 100 nm away. Unfortunately, I will encounter them in the dark, maybe 3:00. Some of the atolls are just a mile apart. There is a 35 nm gap just S of Ogea and after that relatively clear passage. I am going to create a waypoint (O1) and use it to help guide me through tonight. The wind is going to back almost due E tonight, sourcing me S. I will try to make as much progress E as I can until it does. The swell kept wanting to force an accidental jibe, so at noon I eased out the half-Yankee a bit to favor the broad reach. I laid down a bit after noon and slept soundly for another two hours. I am beginning to think I have not been well (stomach pain, dull headache, some chill), so I must just be sleeping it off. I woke to see some weather upwind. Don’t know if it will pass by the time I get there. Not all that hungry, but all I have had today was a hard boiled egg this morning and a few nuts, so I am making some rice to go with one of the prepared meals I got at the Tropicana Cafe. It is labeled “Lati’s Yaskisoba”. I sat in the cockpit to eat, even though it was wet. The 10’ waves have started breaking, sending spray in the air. I watched a large squall pass to my stern. It appeared and disappeared in the time it took to eat … driven by the high winds. I had to force the food down as I had no appetite. I retreated to the nest I build on the sole of the salon. I have made remarkable 973-836=137 on towards the waypoint in the past 24h. I sailed a total of 5955-5811=144 nm (average speed 6 kt). I will pass the Anti-meridian in the next day or two (the longitude on the opposite side of the Prime Meridian) and with enter the Eastern Hemisphere.
Comments: At 16:20, right after I checked in yesterday, I spotted on the AIS the vessel “Sea Harmony” 13 nm behind me doing almost 9 kts. Its course kept changing, weaving back and forth, suggesting it was a sailboat using a windvane. As I suspected, it is a 52’ sailboat. I got up an hour later. The boat was doing 6.4 kt in 22 kt wind. There was a squall off the port side, upwind, and it did not look like I was going to outrun it. The wind was cold. It was a good call to reduce sail. It was shaping up to be a rough night. Sea Harmony was still 11 nm behind me. I went back to the berth, but did not fall asleep because it became calm after 10m. The wind had dropped from 22 to 10 kt and the boat was doing 4 kt. It was raining lightly. The leading edge of the squall was sucking the air out of my sails. I knew in a bit the wind would build, but I was confident I was presenting the right amount of sail. A few minutes later I could hear the wind coming. 24 kt drove the boat 6.5 kt. Sunset was at 18:10. I looked around and spotted more squalls in my path, but I was not concerned. They do not appear to be particularly energetic. Sea Harmony is still 8 nm behind me. It appears she will pass 2-3 nm to my starboard. Probably headed for Fiji whereas I am going a little further S in an effort to avoid the atolls. I have been very tired today. Believe I have been running a sleep deficit. I went to bed at 18:30 and set a 1h alarm. I went to the cockpit at 21:00. Sea Harmony was about to pass 1 nm to the starboard. Interestingly, I could only see a red light on the boat. I could not tell if it was on the mast. The cockpit was wet from rain. The boat was doing 6 kt in 22 kt wind. The windvane seemed to be doing its job. The tracking showed on average the boat had traveled directly towards the waypoint for the past three hours. Since there were no threats, I set the timer for 2h. I did a cockpit check at 23:15 and made an adjustment on the windvane. Checking the position, I was about 1 1/2 h ahead of schedule by longitude and on the layline towards the waypoint. PW would have had me 27 nm N of that line, distance I would have had to make up, so I was probably my like 3-4 h ahead of schedule. The main reason is because the PW model expects me to reduce sail and speed at night, but I am doing almost twice the speed that is predicted. I set the alarm for 2h. I was half-awake at 1:10 when I heard the boat hit something. I will make a point of diving to do an inspection of the hull. I want to do a thorough cleaning anyway before reaching Australia as their biosecurity has a reputation of being very strict. By 3:30, I started to see 28 kt gusts that drove the boat over 7 kts. At 6:00, the boat was doing 6.5 kt in 25 kt wind and was perfectly on course. I downloaded a new GRIB at 6:30 … not much changed. At dawn, 7:00, I had a look around. The cockpit was very wet from waves breaching the cowling. The seas were angry and confused by the changing wind direction. The skies looked squally, like it did at dusk. My stomach had been upset ever since I left yesterday. I think it was the heavy meal I had the night before I left. In any case I felt better now. After drinking some water and eating a dinner roll (didn’t feel like much more),I went back to my berth to slept some more. Before I could fall asleep, I remembered to check the shower sump where the water drains from the chain locker. Sure enough, after less than 24h, it was full of water from waves breaking over the bow. I have to turn on that bilge pump manually because the automatic switch does not usually work. I added a reminder to my list and went to sleep. At 8:00, I was woken up by 30 kt gusts that were driving the boat 7.5 kts. Everything seemed to handle the wind well. The windvane was doing surprisingly well considering the wave action was corkscrewing the boat. I was visited by a few 35 kt gusts that caused the boat to round up and be jerked back by the waves. The boat still did not feel overpowered, but it was becoming very uncomfortable and probably unsafe in the port side berth, so I laid out a couple of foam pads and moved to the cabin sole, where I was much more comfortable. Also, the wind was constantly blowing spray across the cockpit and into the cabin, so I put the slats in the companionway. I would have liked to have installed a running backstay, but the idea of going forward to attach it was not appealing. In the future, I will install it when winds like this are forecasted. I laid down on the cabin floor and it was in fact so comfortable I fell deep asleep for two more hours. It was almost 11:00 when I woke up. I must have slept close to 18h out of the last 24h. As predicted, albeit a little early, the wind had shifted to 120, so the windvane needed to be adjusted. I didn’t try to trim the sails as the boat was still doing over 6 kt. It was bright and sunny, and the weather looked good upwind and down course. The broad reach was much more comfortable than the beam reach with respect to wave action. I had made a remarkable 135 nm on in the last 24h, an average of over 5.6 kt. It looks like I am headed for the Southern Lau group of Fijian atolls. They are roughly 100 nm away. Unfortunately, I will encounter them in the dark, maybe 3:00. Some of the atolls are just a mile apart. There is a 35 nm gap just S of Ogea and after that relatively clear passage. I am going to create a waypoint (O1) and use it to help guide me through tonight. The wind is going to back almost due E tonight, sourcing me S. I will try to make as much progress E as I can until it does. The swell kept wanting to force an accidental jibe, so at noon I eased out the half-Yankee a bit to favor the broad reach. I laid down a bit after noon and slept soundly for another two hours. I am beginning to think I have not been well (stomach pain, dull headache, some chill), so I must just be sleeping it off. I woke to see some weather upwind. Don’t know if it will pass by the time I get there. Not all that hungry, but all I have had today was a hard boiled egg this morning and a few nuts, so I am making some rice to go with one of the prepared meals I got at the Tropicana Cafe. It is labeled “Lati’s Yaskisoba”. I sat in the cockpit to eat, even though it was wet. The 10’ waves have started breaking, sending spray in the air. I watched a large squall pass to my stern. It appeared and disappeared in the time it took to eat … driven by the high winds. I had to force the food down as I had no appetite. I retreated to the nest I build on the sole of the salon. I have made remarkable 973-836=137 on towards the waypoint in the past 24h. I sailed a total of 5955-5811=144 nm (average speed 6 kt). I will pass the Anti-meridian in the next day or two (the longitude on the opposite side of the Prime Meridian) and with enter the Eastern Hemisphere.