Current Position: 11 18.658’S 118 32.035’E; Local Timezone: UTC+8 SOG: 6.9 kt; COG: 290; TWS: 18 kt; TWD: 183; Distance to Waypoint (Christmas Island, 272): 758 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 10273 nm; Engine Hours: 241; Estimate Fuel: 51+11+50;
Comments: Gusts in the low 20s is expected beginning about midnight, so I put a second reef in the main before it got dark. It was a bit rough on my back and it slowed the boat down a bit (5.3 to 5.0), but I will be glad I did it tonight if the wind picks up, especially as one of the slugs has become unleashed to the sail. With the second reef, the missing slug is still halfway up the sail. I would need to stop the boat and drop the main completely to effect a repair. However, now that it is double-reefed, there is a lot less pressure on the sail. Also, the wind has backed to 160 and will back further to 150, putting me in a broad reach, meaning the jib is doing most of the work. It has been my experience that the double-reefed main works better by shadowing the jib less. At 19:30 a tanker appeared on the AIS 28 nm away. It is going to pass my stern in about 90m. On queue, at 23:30 the stronger, 19 kt winds arrived. I checked the AIS and two vessels had “magically” appeared, one 9 nm to my port and the other 10 nm to my starboard. As I passed them their signals disappeared. They were turning their AIS on and off. I went to the cockpit and I could see the glow of their lights. More disturbingly, there was the glow of a third vessel directly ahead. I turned on the RADAR and they were 9 nm ahead. I adjusted my course to avoid them. My AIS was offering false security this evening. Like the fishing trawler I had seen at 7:00 this morning, the boats are not using their AIS. To make things more difficult, they do not have strong RADAR signatures. If I had not seen the glow ahead, I might not have noticed the intermittent RADAR signal. It is midnight and I can see the faint glow of at least a dozen fishing trawlers on the horizon. I downloaded PW AIS data, which sometimes shows vessels even if their AIS is on periodically, but none of the fishing trawlers show up. I passed the trawler ahead of me 1 nm to my port about 1:30. There were glows off my starboard bow, but I knew they must be at least 10 nm away. Since the trawlers had been stationary, I knew I had to be at more than 1h from the next one. I adjusted my course further S, away from the glowing horizon, and set an alarm for 1h. I got up after an alarm at 3:45. I counted five faint glows on the starboard, one on the port, and one off the starboard bow. Since there were none directly in front of me, I set an alarm for 1h. I got up at 4:45 and the horizon was clear. I woke up at 6:00., just before dawn. The skies had dark clouds, the seas were somewhat angry, and the cockpit was wet. I downloaded a new GRIB. I am coming up on a major passage for commercial traffic into Indonesia. There is a chain of four dozen cargo ships that I will have to cross over tonight. Today will be the last day the wind comes from the S. It will back to the SE tonight. Also? The wind speeds will decrease overnight to 13-18. I am hoping for a smoother ride tonight, especially as I will be dealing with the cargo ships. Winds in the 20s will be back midday tomorrow, but from 120 rather than 180, so I will be in broad reach with following seas rather than the close hall/beam reach ai am in now with swell on the port bow. At 8:00 a fishing trawler showed up on AIS 2 nm away off my starboard bow. In the present sea conditions, the trawlers are almost impossible to spot visually and sea clutter on the RADAR makes it useless. I changed my course to about 300 for a smoother ride. I need to move about 1 degree N eventually and it will be harder later when the wind backs. The new course made it possible to enjoy my breakfast in the cockpit. The boat was sailing through a school of flying fish and a hundred seabirds of a half dozen species had gathered to feed on them. I have not seen flying fish since the passage from Vanuatu. I suspect this is due to the fact the Timor Sea does not develop swells large enough for the fish to take flight. These are precisely the conditions that I can usually catch a tuna, but I don’t have the will to fish in a pitching boat. Also, I have not been able to run the fridge enough because of the cloudy weather. I laid down for an hour to catch up with my sleep, slept very deeply, and when I awoke at 10:00 the clouds were largely gone and the sun was shining. The boat was averaging 6.5 kt in winds that were gusting to almost 20. It is now clear that I won’t reach the shipping lane until tomorrow morning. The distance sailed towards Christmas Island in the last 24h was 878-758=120 nm. The total distance sailed was 10273-10146=127 nm (127/24=5.25 kt avg.), almost identical as yesterday.
Comments: Gusts in the low 20s is expected beginning about midnight, so I put a second reef in the main before it got dark. It was a bit rough on my back and it slowed the boat down a bit (5.3 to 5.0), but I will be glad I did it tonight if the wind picks up, especially as one of the slugs has become unleashed to the sail. With the second reef, the missing slug is still halfway up the sail. I would need to stop the boat and drop the main completely to effect a repair. However, now that it is double-reefed, there is a lot less pressure on the sail. Also, the wind has backed to 160 and will back further to 150, putting me in a broad reach, meaning the jib is doing most of the work. It has been my experience that the double-reefed main works better by shadowing the jib less. At 19:30 a tanker appeared on the AIS 28 nm away. It is going to pass my stern in about 90m. On queue, at 23:30 the stronger, 19 kt winds arrived. I checked the AIS and two vessels had “magically” appeared, one 9 nm to my port and the other 10 nm to my starboard. As I passed them their signals disappeared. They were turning their AIS on and off. I went to the cockpit and I could see the glow of their lights. More disturbingly, there was the glow of a third vessel directly ahead. I turned on the RADAR and they were 9 nm ahead. I adjusted my course to avoid them. My AIS was offering false security this evening. Like the fishing trawler I had seen at 7:00 this morning, the boats are not using their AIS. To make things more difficult, they do not have strong RADAR signatures. If I had not seen the glow ahead, I might not have noticed the intermittent RADAR signal. It is midnight and I can see the faint glow of at least a dozen fishing trawlers on the horizon. I downloaded PW AIS data, which sometimes shows vessels even if their AIS is on periodically, but none of the fishing trawlers show up. I passed the trawler ahead of me 1 nm to my port about 1:30. There were glows off my starboard bow, but I knew they must be at least 10 nm away. Since the trawlers had been stationary, I knew I had to be at more than 1h from the next one. I adjusted my course further S, away from the glowing horizon, and set an alarm for 1h. I got up after an alarm at 3:45. I counted five faint glows on the starboard, one on the port, and one off the starboard bow. Since there were none directly in front of me, I set an alarm for 1h. I got up at 4:45 and the horizon was clear. I woke up at 6:00., just before dawn. The skies had dark clouds, the seas were somewhat angry, and the cockpit was wet. I downloaded a new GRIB. I am coming up on a major passage for commercial traffic into Indonesia. There is a chain of four dozen cargo ships that I will have to cross over tonight. Today will be the last day the wind comes from the S. It will back to the SE tonight. Also? The wind speeds will decrease overnight to 13-18. I am hoping for a smoother ride tonight, especially as I will be dealing with the cargo ships. Winds in the 20s will be back midday tomorrow, but from 120 rather than 180, so I will be in broad reach with following seas rather than the close hall/beam reach ai am in now with swell on the port bow. At 8:00 a fishing trawler showed up on AIS 2 nm away off my starboard bow. In the present sea conditions, the trawlers are almost impossible to spot visually and sea clutter on the RADAR makes it useless. I changed my course to about 300 for a smoother ride. I need to move about 1 degree N eventually and it will be harder later when the wind backs. The new course made it possible to enjoy my breakfast in the cockpit. The boat was sailing through a school of flying fish and a hundred seabirds of a half dozen species had gathered to feed on them. I have not seen flying fish since the passage from Vanuatu. I suspect this is due to the fact the Timor Sea does not develop swells large enough for the fish to take flight. These are precisely the conditions that I can usually catch a tuna, but I don’t have the will to fish in a pitching boat. Also, I have not been able to run the fridge enough because of the cloudy weather. I laid down for an hour to catch up with my sleep, slept very deeply, and when I awoke at 10:00 the clouds were largely gone and the sun was shining. The boat was averaging 6.5 kt in winds that were gusting to almost 20. It is now clear that I won’t reach the shipping lane until tomorrow morning. The distance sailed towards Christmas Island in the last 24h was 878-758=120 nm. The total distance sailed was 10273-10146=127 nm (127/24=5.25 kt avg.), almost identical as yesterday.