Current Position: 18 59.135’S 169 51.253’E; Local Timezone: UTC+21; SOG: 7.1 kt COG: 302; TWS: 24 kt; TWD: 95; Distance to Waypoint (Vanuatu, Efata, Port Vila, 297: 116; Total Miles Sailed: 6805 nm;
Comments: Starting with this post, I am switching to UTC+21 because all of Wednesday the 25th will be sailed along the coastlines of Vanuatu. When I posted my log yesterday, I also downloaded a new GRIB and plotted a new course. My hard work yesterday paid off, namely avoiding loosing too much latitude. The new predicted arrival time is 23:56 on THURSDAY!, shaving 14h off the time. I went to the cockpit at 14:30 to prepare it for the jibe in the middle of the night, and specifically to move the jib furling line from the port wench to the cleat. While doing that I steered the boat to shadow the jib in the main and while it was depowered I furled more of the Yankee in, leaving a little more than a third exposed. I noticed how much better the boat behaved. With less weather helm, I was able to change the course closer to a run, and in fact due E. After trimming the foresail, I was still making 7.3 kt on average, very close to hull speed. The added bonus was the seas were more following, so the boat was rolling less (I could have a hot meal). The new course, if it holds, means I will be sailing longer before jibing tonight, but, I will have less distance to travel tomorrow with the waves on my beam. Also, less distance to travel overall because I won’t be loosing as much latitude. I set 1h alarm intervals. I woke up 56m into the first one (20:30) because “things weren’t right.” The boat was headed due S, probably hit wrong by a wave or something. I always check the trace recording to see how long something like this had been going on. It was 3m, including the time to correct it. It is now 20:55 and a figure I need to travel another 35 nm before I jibe. I have been averaging 7 kt, so that’s almost 5h, or about 2:00. At 21:30, the boat was headed due S again. In the dark, I had not seen what the problem was. The outer sheath of the port control line of the windvane had been chaffed through and the control line was sliding through the cut portion in the cam on the tiller.i pulled the sheath up so I could grip the core itself and now the windvane is working like it should. These were the control lines I replaced in Hiva Oa. The quality of the double-braid I purchased was probably not up to standards. This is a major issue because if that core breaks, I do not have a replacement line. It’s got to last another 48h or so. I imagine I can find double-braid in Port Vila. It only really needs to last a few more hours. After that I will jibe and be on a starboard tack, so the port control line will not be as stressed. I figured out a way to fix it temporarily, I don’t have 1/4” double-braid that is long enough. However, I have shorter pieces. I will just cut back the present line at the point that it is still good and tie on a shorter piece that I have around. It is 5:30. Sunrise is in 45m and I am about 10 nm off the E coast of Futuna Island (Vanuatu). It is starting to get light despite the fact a storm is passing through and it is raining. Two days ago my course had me intersecting with this tiny island that is only about 2 miles across. I find it amazing that after all the storms I went through that I ended up so close to it. I will jibe now, but first I will heave to and temporarily repair the windvane control line on the port side. Before heaving to, I removed the preventer and sheeted the main. I had to measure carefully where the knot was going to be so it did not interfere with the control line passing through the control blocks. Once repaired, I jibed, set course, and installed the preventer on the port side. The winds were less, so I completely unfurled the Yankee. I need to take advantage of the last of the “good” wind. I spotted Futuna about 6:00. It was covered in clouds. The island is remarkably tall and cone-shaped. It is 7:35. I enjoyed about an hour of sunshine before the storms returned. Everything went as planned. The windvane is repaired and I am averaging 6.5 kt in 18-23 kt wind. I am about 10 degrees off the waypoint, so will likely eventually need to make a couple more jibes. I have 152 nm to go as the bird flies and the new PW model has me arriving tomorrow evening. I have looked at the numbers and it seems like a possibility. We’ll see how far I make it in the next 24h. It feel strange to watch Futuna disappear behind me. It is lush and green. What is ahead looks like a nasty storm. Half the eggs got smashed last night creating a huge mess. Remarkably, they were the first eggs I have lost since the voyage began. I hard boiled what remained and am entangled couple in the cockpit … getting some fresh air before the storms returned hits. At 8:00, just before is arrives, I shadow the Yankee and furl in about 25%. The main still has two reefs. The rain was heavy, and despite the black clouds, surprisingly little wind. In fact, the wind died down and the boat went from 6.5 to 4 kt. There was wind somewhere … I could hear is howling, just not where I was. Although I finished my breakfast in the cockpit, I had to enjoy my tea on the galley floor while the storm blew through. After 10m, the rain stopped and the sun came out. I went to the cockpit and could see the majority of the storm had passed in front of me. I unfurled the jib, but only made 5 kt as the storm was sucking the air out of my sails. Upwind actually looks pretty decent. PW says I will have wind until midnight, hopefully long enough to get past Erromango. I was tempted to shake out the second reef but decided to see what the morning had to offer. Soon I was back up to 6 kt. By midmorning, the sun was shining and the boat was moving along at 5.5 to 6.5 kt in 18 to 27 kt wind from almost due E. With careful trimming if the sails, which were naturally unbalanced by a full Yankee and double reefed main, it was possible to balance the windvane to steer a course directly towards the waypoint, in sharp contrast to the PW course that comprised of dozens of jibes. Unfortunately, the boat still rolled, but at least after a week on the floor I was back in my berth. At 10:30 I passed Aniwa Island (and the much larger Tanna behind it), but at 25m away, there was nothing to see. Now, the only obstacle is Erromango. I am scheduled to pass the NE corner of it sometime this evening. This afternoon, the wind is supposed to decrease 3-4 kt, at which time I will take out the second reef. There are not supposed to be any gusts overnight that exceed 25. I sent an e-mail to Port Vila Customs informing them of my arrival Friday morning. Even if I happed to arrive tomorrow, it will be after they close at 4:30. I received a reply right away acknowledging my planned arrival. The distance travelled on in the last 24h has been 235-116=119 nm. The total distance sailed was 6805-6654=151 nm (average 6.3 kt).
Comments: Starting with this post, I am switching to UTC+21 because all of Wednesday the 25th will be sailed along the coastlines of Vanuatu. When I posted my log yesterday, I also downloaded a new GRIB and plotted a new course. My hard work yesterday paid off, namely avoiding loosing too much latitude. The new predicted arrival time is 23:56 on THURSDAY!, shaving 14h off the time. I went to the cockpit at 14:30 to prepare it for the jibe in the middle of the night, and specifically to move the jib furling line from the port wench to the cleat. While doing that I steered the boat to shadow the jib in the main and while it was depowered I furled more of the Yankee in, leaving a little more than a third exposed. I noticed how much better the boat behaved. With less weather helm, I was able to change the course closer to a run, and in fact due E. After trimming the foresail, I was still making 7.3 kt on average, very close to hull speed. The added bonus was the seas were more following, so the boat was rolling less (I could have a hot meal). The new course, if it holds, means I will be sailing longer before jibing tonight, but, I will have less distance to travel tomorrow with the waves on my beam. Also, less distance to travel overall because I won’t be loosing as much latitude. I set 1h alarm intervals. I woke up 56m into the first one (20:30) because “things weren’t right.” The boat was headed due S, probably hit wrong by a wave or something. I always check the trace recording to see how long something like this had been going on. It was 3m, including the time to correct it. It is now 20:55 and a figure I need to travel another 35 nm before I jibe. I have been averaging 7 kt, so that’s almost 5h, or about 2:00. At 21:30, the boat was headed due S again. In the dark, I had not seen what the problem was. The outer sheath of the port control line of the windvane had been chaffed through and the control line was sliding through the cut portion in the cam on the tiller.i pulled the sheath up so I could grip the core itself and now the windvane is working like it should. These were the control lines I replaced in Hiva Oa. The quality of the double-braid I purchased was probably not up to standards. This is a major issue because if that core breaks, I do not have a replacement line. It’s got to last another 48h or so. I imagine I can find double-braid in Port Vila. It only really needs to last a few more hours. After that I will jibe and be on a starboard tack, so the port control line will not be as stressed. I figured out a way to fix it temporarily, I don’t have 1/4” double-braid that is long enough. However, I have shorter pieces. I will just cut back the present line at the point that it is still good and tie on a shorter piece that I have around. It is 5:30. Sunrise is in 45m and I am about 10 nm off the E coast of Futuna Island (Vanuatu). It is starting to get light despite the fact a storm is passing through and it is raining. Two days ago my course had me intersecting with this tiny island that is only about 2 miles across. I find it amazing that after all the storms I went through that I ended up so close to it. I will jibe now, but first I will heave to and temporarily repair the windvane control line on the port side. Before heaving to, I removed the preventer and sheeted the main. I had to measure carefully where the knot was going to be so it did not interfere with the control line passing through the control blocks. Once repaired, I jibed, set course, and installed the preventer on the port side. The winds were less, so I completely unfurled the Yankee. I need to take advantage of the last of the “good” wind. I spotted Futuna about 6:00. It was covered in clouds. The island is remarkably tall and cone-shaped. It is 7:35. I enjoyed about an hour of sunshine before the storms returned. Everything went as planned. The windvane is repaired and I am averaging 6.5 kt in 18-23 kt wind. I am about 10 degrees off the waypoint, so will likely eventually need to make a couple more jibes. I have 152 nm to go as the bird flies and the new PW model has me arriving tomorrow evening. I have looked at the numbers and it seems like a possibility. We’ll see how far I make it in the next 24h. It feel strange to watch Futuna disappear behind me. It is lush and green. What is ahead looks like a nasty storm. Half the eggs got smashed last night creating a huge mess. Remarkably, they were the first eggs I have lost since the voyage began. I hard boiled what remained and am entangled couple in the cockpit … getting some fresh air before the storms returned hits. At 8:00, just before is arrives, I shadow the Yankee and furl in about 25%. The main still has two reefs. The rain was heavy, and despite the black clouds, surprisingly little wind. In fact, the wind died down and the boat went from 6.5 to 4 kt. There was wind somewhere … I could hear is howling, just not where I was. Although I finished my breakfast in the cockpit, I had to enjoy my tea on the galley floor while the storm blew through. After 10m, the rain stopped and the sun came out. I went to the cockpit and could see the majority of the storm had passed in front of me. I unfurled the jib, but only made 5 kt as the storm was sucking the air out of my sails. Upwind actually looks pretty decent. PW says I will have wind until midnight, hopefully long enough to get past Erromango. I was tempted to shake out the second reef but decided to see what the morning had to offer. Soon I was back up to 6 kt. By midmorning, the sun was shining and the boat was moving along at 5.5 to 6.5 kt in 18 to 27 kt wind from almost due E. With careful trimming if the sails, which were naturally unbalanced by a full Yankee and double reefed main, it was possible to balance the windvane to steer a course directly towards the waypoint, in sharp contrast to the PW course that comprised of dozens of jibes. Unfortunately, the boat still rolled, but at least after a week on the floor I was back in my berth. At 10:30 I passed Aniwa Island (and the much larger Tanna behind it), but at 25m away, there was nothing to see. Now, the only obstacle is Erromango. I am scheduled to pass the NE corner of it sometime this evening. This afternoon, the wind is supposed to decrease 3-4 kt, at which time I will take out the second reef. There are not supposed to be any gusts overnight that exceed 25. I sent an e-mail to Port Vila Customs informing them of my arrival Friday morning. Even if I happed to arrive tomorrow, it will be after they close at 4:30. I received a reply right away acknowledging my planned arrival. The distance travelled on in the last 24h has been 235-116=119 nm. The total distance sailed was 6805-6654=151 nm (average 6.3 kt).