Current Position: 8 00.078’ S 137 04.499’W; Local Timezone: UTC-9; HDG: 214; COG: 225; SOG: 2.8 kt; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): 159 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 3233 nm;
Comments: Because of the spray and rough seas yesterday, I had to spend almost the whole day below. Although the storms are a pain to navigate through and the cloud cover limits the amount of solar energy I can collect, one advantage ii it is not as hot below. Still very hot and humid … but bearable. At dusk I sat in the cockpit though and are a pan of Ramen noodles and took note that it looked pretty clear to the E. At 20:00, there was a strong wind driving the boat 6 kt in a course of 200. I could see some stars, but it was clearly overcast. According to the PW route, I was as supposed to head more S to avoid some dead air to my W, but that appears to be unnecessary and my present course puts me a couple of hours ahead. There is no way I can reach Hiva Oa by Friday night, so at some point I am going to have to slow down, either on purpose or because of the weather. I can always heave to Friday night if necessary. I woke at 21:30. The boat was doing 6.5 kt in strong wind, but was on course. The moon was up and the skies looked relatively clear to the E. At 22:45, the HOG was right (214) but the high winds were pushing the COG to 225. The wind was blowing too hard to change course without putting a second reef in the main. I will make the correction during the day. I got up at 4:45, a half hour before dawn. The boat had traveled almost 80 nm overnight at a remarkable average speed of 6 kn without a single incident or need to adjust the wind vane. My route planning had me arriving to the E side of the island. I have changed the destination to the anchorage itself. PW says I will arrive about midnight Friday night. One reason I am going faster than predicted is I have built in a 25% slowdown at night, assuming I’d reef for safety. However, I have been sailing reefed all the time and still making good time. If I take out the padding, I arrive at the harbor at sunset on Friday. Sunrise was at 5:45. It is partly cloudy. There is nothing threatening to the E or S. Wave height is significantly lower than the past few days. I have strong wind and doing 5.5-6 kt with half the Yankee and one reef in the main. The apparent wind has shifted and is more SE, driving me more southward, which need to happen anyway, so I am going to let it play out. The reefing line I replaced chaffed through again in the same spot, where it passes through the grommet in the sail. It is strange because I have sailed several years without a problem and it has happened twice now in a week. I will need to examine the grommet for burrs. Also, , my wind disappeared about 15:00. There was a prediction that it would decrease to perhaps 11, but it feels more like 8. I used the lull to run the engine for about half an hour to completely charge the batteries. The fridge was warm. I threw out the remaining fresh food (there was not much). The current model has me arriving at Hiva Oa at 2:00 on Saturday. However, the current delay was not predicted. In any case, I do not intend to arrive at the anchorage in the dark, so I expect to be there sometime Saturday morning.
Comments: Because of the spray and rough seas yesterday, I had to spend almost the whole day below. Although the storms are a pain to navigate through and the cloud cover limits the amount of solar energy I can collect, one advantage ii it is not as hot below. Still very hot and humid … but bearable. At dusk I sat in the cockpit though and are a pan of Ramen noodles and took note that it looked pretty clear to the E. At 20:00, there was a strong wind driving the boat 6 kt in a course of 200. I could see some stars, but it was clearly overcast. According to the PW route, I was as supposed to head more S to avoid some dead air to my W, but that appears to be unnecessary and my present course puts me a couple of hours ahead. There is no way I can reach Hiva Oa by Friday night, so at some point I am going to have to slow down, either on purpose or because of the weather. I can always heave to Friday night if necessary. I woke at 21:30. The boat was doing 6.5 kt in strong wind, but was on course. The moon was up and the skies looked relatively clear to the E. At 22:45, the HOG was right (214) but the high winds were pushing the COG to 225. The wind was blowing too hard to change course without putting a second reef in the main. I will make the correction during the day. I got up at 4:45, a half hour before dawn. The boat had traveled almost 80 nm overnight at a remarkable average speed of 6 kn without a single incident or need to adjust the wind vane. My route planning had me arriving to the E side of the island. I have changed the destination to the anchorage itself. PW says I will arrive about midnight Friday night. One reason I am going faster than predicted is I have built in a 25% slowdown at night, assuming I’d reef for safety. However, I have been sailing reefed all the time and still making good time. If I take out the padding, I arrive at the harbor at sunset on Friday. Sunrise was at 5:45. It is partly cloudy. There is nothing threatening to the E or S. Wave height is significantly lower than the past few days. I have strong wind and doing 5.5-6 kt with half the Yankee and one reef in the main. The apparent wind has shifted and is more SE, driving me more southward, which need to happen anyway, so I am going to let it play out. The reefing line I replaced chaffed through again in the same spot, where it passes through the grommet in the sail. It is strange because I have sailed several years without a problem and it has happened twice now in a week. I will need to examine the grommet for burrs. Also, , my wind disappeared about 15:00. There was a prediction that it would decrease to perhaps 11, but it feels more like 8. I used the lull to run the engine for about half an hour to completely charge the batteries. The fridge was warm. I threw out the remaining fresh food (there was not much). The current model has me arriving at Hiva Oa at 2:00 on Saturday. However, the current delay was not predicted. In any case, I do not intend to arrive at the anchorage in the dark, so I expect to be there sometime Saturday morning.