Current Position: 10 57.291’S 138 25.371’E; Local Timezone: UTC+20 SOG: 4.2 kt COG: 358; TWS: 13 kt; TWD: 128; Distance to Waypoint (Darwin, 255): 455; Total Miles Sailed: 9059 nm; Engine Hours: 209; Estimate Fuel: 60+9+50;
Comments: it is sunset, 18:30, and the winds have dropped to single digits with not much current to help. The boat has slowed to less than 3 kt SOG. Unfortunately, ai can expect to see quite a bit of this during the remainder of the passage. I will break out the whisker pole in the morning. It is 19:00. I have been struggling the last 30m to get the windvane to work in the light winds. The wind shifted to 85, so I jibed to a port tack, then it shifted to 120, so I had to jib back. It seems to have settled on 105. The windvane is not working well, so I had to focus on trimming the sails to get the course I wanted, but a shift in the wind speed or direction throws things off. I’m only doing 2.5 kt. There is no significant increase in wind expected until next Friday, so I will need to live with it. I may try wing on wing tomorrow. I averaged less than 3 kt overnight, but as predicted, the wind picked up to 14 kt and veered to 125 about 4:30, and I started to make 4-4.5 against a 0.5 kt current. The Wessel Islands, about 125 nm away, are a series of thin islands that run N/S. There are four ways around them. The cape is at 10 58’S, the Cumberland Strait at 11 38’S, the Gugari Rip (Hole in the Wall) at 11 33’S, and the Brown Strait at 11 42’ S. I am currently at 11 16’ S. The Gugari Rip is deep, but in places only 100’ wide. My chances of hitting it at slack tide are zero. The Brown Strait is very wide, it slants SE to NW, and would require tacks in the channel. The Cumberland Strait looks most promising, but currents up to 17 kt are observed. There is a strong current the runs from the S on the E side of the islands. It looks like the current through the passage would be favorable about the time I should reach Cumberland. At present, my course would take me around the cape, which is fine because that would give me a good angle on the wind on the W side of the islands, but it is hard to hold this course unless the winds are blowing at least 125, so my back up is Cumberland. It is 6:00 and I am averaging 3.8 kt at 275. Sunrise should be in about an hour. I am thinking about either going wing on wing or breaking out the asymmetrical spinnaker. Wing on wing would probably mean a commitment for the cape. At 6:30 I downloaded a new GRIB. The wind is predicted to be light the rest of the passage. I’m breaking out the asymmetrical spinnaker. But, I will need to splice a Dyneema spacer for the top-down furler first. The one I was using was a bit too short. Before I do that I’m having my tea and enjoying the sunrise. It is not as cloudy this morning as the past two mornings. I expect it to burn off to yield another cloudless day. By the time the sun had broken through the clouds, I had spliced a pendant out of Dyneema for the asymm. I waited for two showers to pass before trying to launch the asymm at 7:30. Launching the asymm was a disaster. First the sheet and the sail seemed to be twisted in opposite directions, so it took an hour for me to get them untangled and for the sail to fly right. Then, as soon as it launched the sail separated from the furler, The furler came unclamped from the swivel. There is a pin that locks the two pieces. I don’t know if it wasn’t completely set or if it somehow failed, but the sail was flying free, only attached at the head and clew. I sheeted it as far as I could by lowering the halyard and winching in the sheet. It took 90m to douse the sail by shadowing it by the main and handover hand dragging in the foot to get to the tack. The rack was swinging the swivel, which was quite dangerous. In fact, it poked a hole in the sail. Once I got a line on the tack, I was able to winch it in and begin lashing the sail with anything I could find within arms reach. By the time I had cleared the deck of the lashed sail, stuffed it down below, and unfurled the jib, 3h had passed and I was exhausted. Since the sail was wet, I left it unbagged below to dry. I will disconnect it from the torsion cable and fold it when I get a chance. I will repair it in Darwin and respool it when there isn’t any wind. What a mess. Funny thing is the boat was doing 5.5 kt with the jib and one reef in the main, so it probably wasn’t necessary to launch the asymm. I have decided to go around the cape. The wind angle will be better later. I jibed at 11:30. I figure I need to go N 20-25 nm. Around 11S. The distance sailed towards Darwin in the last 24h was 519-4564 nm, which is better than I expected. The total distance sailed was 9059-8990=69 nm (69/24=2.9 kt avg.). This may be the worst day sailing yet, at least with respect to the distance covered. Of course, part of the problem is I wasn’t sailing 3/24h. Sunset will be about 6:30, 2.5h from now. I am going to sail N 1h more, then jibe and sail E. As I approach the Wessel Islands tomorrow, I will need to overcome a strong S current. It is noteworthy that for the first time PW is unable to compute a course using any of its models due to the strong currents.
Comments: it is sunset, 18:30, and the winds have dropped to single digits with not much current to help. The boat has slowed to less than 3 kt SOG. Unfortunately, ai can expect to see quite a bit of this during the remainder of the passage. I will break out the whisker pole in the morning. It is 19:00. I have been struggling the last 30m to get the windvane to work in the light winds. The wind shifted to 85, so I jibed to a port tack, then it shifted to 120, so I had to jib back. It seems to have settled on 105. The windvane is not working well, so I had to focus on trimming the sails to get the course I wanted, but a shift in the wind speed or direction throws things off. I’m only doing 2.5 kt. There is no significant increase in wind expected until next Friday, so I will need to live with it. I may try wing on wing tomorrow. I averaged less than 3 kt overnight, but as predicted, the wind picked up to 14 kt and veered to 125 about 4:30, and I started to make 4-4.5 against a 0.5 kt current. The Wessel Islands, about 125 nm away, are a series of thin islands that run N/S. There are four ways around them. The cape is at 10 58’S, the Cumberland Strait at 11 38’S, the Gugari Rip (Hole in the Wall) at 11 33’S, and the Brown Strait at 11 42’ S. I am currently at 11 16’ S. The Gugari Rip is deep, but in places only 100’ wide. My chances of hitting it at slack tide are zero. The Brown Strait is very wide, it slants SE to NW, and would require tacks in the channel. The Cumberland Strait looks most promising, but currents up to 17 kt are observed. There is a strong current the runs from the S on the E side of the islands. It looks like the current through the passage would be favorable about the time I should reach Cumberland. At present, my course would take me around the cape, which is fine because that would give me a good angle on the wind on the W side of the islands, but it is hard to hold this course unless the winds are blowing at least 125, so my back up is Cumberland. It is 6:00 and I am averaging 3.8 kt at 275. Sunrise should be in about an hour. I am thinking about either going wing on wing or breaking out the asymmetrical spinnaker. Wing on wing would probably mean a commitment for the cape. At 6:30 I downloaded a new GRIB. The wind is predicted to be light the rest of the passage. I’m breaking out the asymmetrical spinnaker. But, I will need to splice a Dyneema spacer for the top-down furler first. The one I was using was a bit too short. Before I do that I’m having my tea and enjoying the sunrise. It is not as cloudy this morning as the past two mornings. I expect it to burn off to yield another cloudless day. By the time the sun had broken through the clouds, I had spliced a pendant out of Dyneema for the asymm. I waited for two showers to pass before trying to launch the asymm at 7:30. Launching the asymm was a disaster. First the sheet and the sail seemed to be twisted in opposite directions, so it took an hour for me to get them untangled and for the sail to fly right. Then, as soon as it launched the sail separated from the furler, The furler came unclamped from the swivel. There is a pin that locks the two pieces. I don’t know if it wasn’t completely set or if it somehow failed, but the sail was flying free, only attached at the head and clew. I sheeted it as far as I could by lowering the halyard and winching in the sheet. It took 90m to douse the sail by shadowing it by the main and handover hand dragging in the foot to get to the tack. The rack was swinging the swivel, which was quite dangerous. In fact, it poked a hole in the sail. Once I got a line on the tack, I was able to winch it in and begin lashing the sail with anything I could find within arms reach. By the time I had cleared the deck of the lashed sail, stuffed it down below, and unfurled the jib, 3h had passed and I was exhausted. Since the sail was wet, I left it unbagged below to dry. I will disconnect it from the torsion cable and fold it when I get a chance. I will repair it in Darwin and respool it when there isn’t any wind. What a mess. Funny thing is the boat was doing 5.5 kt with the jib and one reef in the main, so it probably wasn’t necessary to launch the asymm. I have decided to go around the cape. The wind angle will be better later. I jibed at 11:30. I figure I need to go N 20-25 nm. Around 11S. The distance sailed towards Darwin in the last 24h was 519-4564 nm, which is better than I expected. The total distance sailed was 9059-8990=69 nm (69/24=2.9 kt avg.). This may be the worst day sailing yet, at least with respect to the distance covered. Of course, part of the problem is I wasn’t sailing 3/24h. Sunset will be about 6:30, 2.5h from now. I am going to sail N 1h more, then jibe and sail E. As I approach the Wessel Islands tomorrow, I will need to overcome a strong S current. It is noteworthy that for the first time PW is unable to compute a course using any of its models due to the strong currents.