Current Position: 11 10.968’S 102 10.831’E; Local Timezone: UTC+7; SOG: 4.8 kt; COG: 235; TWS: 10 kt; TWD: 78; Distance to Waypoint (Cocos, 260): 316; Total Miles Sailed: 11257 nm; Engine Hours: 245; Estimate Fuel: 60+14+50;
Comments: It is 19:00 and it has been blowing 8-12 kt from 105 all day. The asymm has allowed me to make 4.5-5 kt at a deep far reach. The same wind is expected until tomorrow night, so I am leaving the asymm up overnight. During this period the wind is supposed to back to 80. This is going to drive me further S than I’d like, but without the asymm I’d be making 2.5-3 kt. Tomorrow night the wind is supposed to build to 13-15 with 20 kt gusts starting early Sunday morning. I will take the asymm down before dark tomorrow and jibe when the wind gets to 80 degrees. I am still on schedule to arrive at the Cocos around dawn on Tuesday. The wind was 8-10 overnight and I averaged about 4.5 kt, staying just N of the rhumb line (helped by a 1.1 kt current to the port beam). It is 5:00 and the TWD suddenly changed to 60. It is not light enough to tell if this is due to some local weather disturbance. I just downloaded a new GRIB and it says it should be 95. If this continues, I will have to furl in the asymm (which is only set up for flying from the starboard) and jibe. As it got light, I saw some water on the hard dodger windows and showers off the starboard bow. Wind has dropped to 7 kt downwind of the storm. I am guessing I am downwind of the squall and the wind shifted is temporary. It is 6:00 and I have done about 100 nm since deploying the asymm 24h ago (avg. 4.2 kt towards the waypoint). I have 350 nm to go. It is 6:20 and the wind is from 80 now. It is 6:30 and the wind is back to 90, but only 7 kt. The swells on the beam were causing the asymm to slat, so I changed the course to 230 to try to give it more air. It is 7:00 and the storm is long gone, but the wind is still 7 from 80 and the swell is deflating the asymm to produce a boat speed of 2 kt. I changed the course to 220 to try to stabilize the kite. While before the tear in the sail did not appear to be all the way through the fabric (more like a scratch), it is wide open now, although it does not appear to be longer (perhaps 8”). I don’t have much choice but to continue in this course of 230 at 2.5 kt because if I take the asymm down or try to sail deeper I will be becalmed. Fingers crossed when it heats up I get some more wind. I have an infestation of ants or something in the wooden block beneath the starboard winch. I have noticed small wood “pellets” and now I wound a couple of larvae. I do not believe I have anything onboard to treat the wood (all I have is stuff for roaches, which I do not believe will work). I will have to pick up something in the Mauritius to deal with the problem. It is 8:00 and I still only have 8 kt wind, but it is from 95 and the kite is more stable while I make about 3 kt. There are more clouds windward now that look like they could produce rain, but they don’t look threatening. The CAPE is about 1500 and will decrease overnight. This is clearly the weather that is going to bring the winds tomorrow (15 with 20 gusts tomorrow and 20 with 25 gusts Monday). The winds should allow me to cruise into the Cocos on Tuesday morning. I will take the asymm down at dusk and, depending on the TWA, tack N. I have not seen any other vessels since Paradise Falls passed me the night before last, but I can see from the AIS that I am going to begin seeing commercial traffic starting tonight. At 8:39 I started to see some double-digit winds with TWA 100 and boat speeds over 4. It is relatively dark, but there is nothing in particular that looks threatening. I have had a fishing line out this morning but have noticed since Christmas Island that there is nothing much sea life … no flying fish, few birds, etc. this may be why there are no fishing boats and why I have not gotten any bites. It is 9:15 and I see another rain storm off the port beam. The rain looks heavy, but is coming straight down, so it does not look high energy. I will keep an eye on it in case I need to furl the asymm. It looks like the storm is going to pass in front of me. The wind is starting to back. The windvane is automatically turning the boat to facilitate passing behind the storm. It’s been the Corak Sea since I had to deal with squalls. I was paying attention to the one in front of me when a second, smaller one blotted out the sun behind me. The wind speed is picking up as the squall passes in front of me, but it does not exceed 15 kt. I am paying close attention to the whine speed in case I need to douse the asymm. The boat is doing over 6 kt for the first time during this passage. It is 10:00 and the skies look relatively clear upwind. I laid down for a 90m nap and when I woke up the sky was clear, the wind was blowing 9-12 from 85, there was a 1.3 current on the port beam giving a COG of about 245 (waypoint 260) and speeds of 4.5-5. The distance sailed towards Cocos in the last 24h was 412-316=96 nm. The total distance sailed was 11257-11175=82 nm (82/24=3.4 kt avg.). The discrepancy is due to the current.
Comments: It is 19:00 and it has been blowing 8-12 kt from 105 all day. The asymm has allowed me to make 4.5-5 kt at a deep far reach. The same wind is expected until tomorrow night, so I am leaving the asymm up overnight. During this period the wind is supposed to back to 80. This is going to drive me further S than I’d like, but without the asymm I’d be making 2.5-3 kt. Tomorrow night the wind is supposed to build to 13-15 with 20 kt gusts starting early Sunday morning. I will take the asymm down before dark tomorrow and jibe when the wind gets to 80 degrees. I am still on schedule to arrive at the Cocos around dawn on Tuesday. The wind was 8-10 overnight and I averaged about 4.5 kt, staying just N of the rhumb line (helped by a 1.1 kt current to the port beam). It is 5:00 and the TWD suddenly changed to 60. It is not light enough to tell if this is due to some local weather disturbance. I just downloaded a new GRIB and it says it should be 95. If this continues, I will have to furl in the asymm (which is only set up for flying from the starboard) and jibe. As it got light, I saw some water on the hard dodger windows and showers off the starboard bow. Wind has dropped to 7 kt downwind of the storm. I am guessing I am downwind of the squall and the wind shifted is temporary. It is 6:00 and I have done about 100 nm since deploying the asymm 24h ago (avg. 4.2 kt towards the waypoint). I have 350 nm to go. It is 6:20 and the wind is from 80 now. It is 6:30 and the wind is back to 90, but only 7 kt. The swells on the beam were causing the asymm to slat, so I changed the course to 230 to try to give it more air. It is 7:00 and the storm is long gone, but the wind is still 7 from 80 and the swell is deflating the asymm to produce a boat speed of 2 kt. I changed the course to 220 to try to stabilize the kite. While before the tear in the sail did not appear to be all the way through the fabric (more like a scratch), it is wide open now, although it does not appear to be longer (perhaps 8”). I don’t have much choice but to continue in this course of 230 at 2.5 kt because if I take the asymm down or try to sail deeper I will be becalmed. Fingers crossed when it heats up I get some more wind. I have an infestation of ants or something in the wooden block beneath the starboard winch. I have noticed small wood “pellets” and now I wound a couple of larvae. I do not believe I have anything onboard to treat the wood (all I have is stuff for roaches, which I do not believe will work). I will have to pick up something in the Mauritius to deal with the problem. It is 8:00 and I still only have 8 kt wind, but it is from 95 and the kite is more stable while I make about 3 kt. There are more clouds windward now that look like they could produce rain, but they don’t look threatening. The CAPE is about 1500 and will decrease overnight. This is clearly the weather that is going to bring the winds tomorrow (15 with 20 gusts tomorrow and 20 with 25 gusts Monday). The winds should allow me to cruise into the Cocos on Tuesday morning. I will take the asymm down at dusk and, depending on the TWA, tack N. I have not seen any other vessels since Paradise Falls passed me the night before last, but I can see from the AIS that I am going to begin seeing commercial traffic starting tonight. At 8:39 I started to see some double-digit winds with TWA 100 and boat speeds over 4. It is relatively dark, but there is nothing in particular that looks threatening. I have had a fishing line out this morning but have noticed since Christmas Island that there is nothing much sea life … no flying fish, few birds, etc. this may be why there are no fishing boats and why I have not gotten any bites. It is 9:15 and I see another rain storm off the port beam. The rain looks heavy, but is coming straight down, so it does not look high energy. I will keep an eye on it in case I need to furl the asymm. It looks like the storm is going to pass in front of me. The wind is starting to back. The windvane is automatically turning the boat to facilitate passing behind the storm. It’s been the Corak Sea since I had to deal with squalls. I was paying attention to the one in front of me when a second, smaller one blotted out the sun behind me. The wind speed is picking up as the squall passes in front of me, but it does not exceed 15 kt. I am paying close attention to the whine speed in case I need to douse the asymm. The boat is doing over 6 kt for the first time during this passage. It is 10:00 and the skies look relatively clear upwind. I laid down for a 90m nap and when I woke up the sky was clear, the wind was blowing 9-12 from 85, there was a 1.3 current on the port beam giving a COG of about 245 (waypoint 260) and speeds of 4.5-5. The distance sailed towards Cocos in the last 24h was 412-316=96 nm. The total distance sailed was 11257-11175=82 nm (82/24=3.4 kt avg.). The discrepancy is due to the current.