Current Position: 10 46.172’S 134. 50.107’E; Local Timezone: UTC+9.5 SOG: 4.0 kt COG: 305; TWS: 15 kt; TWD: 95; Distance to Waypoint (Darwin, 244): 256; Total Miles Sailed: 9256 nm; Engine Hours: 207; Estimate Fuel: 57+12+50;
Comments: It is 17:00 and some dark clouds are building upwind. I’m hoping they bring a breeze. By 18:00, just before dark, the wind was up to 9 kt, more than I had seen all day. Unfortunately, the TWD was now 125, driving me further N than I had expected . I no longer had the assistance of a current, it was 0.5 kt on the starboard beam, so I was only making 2 kt SOG. It was a spectacular sunset at 18:22 in the rain clouds. It has been awhile since I have seen a nice sunset. I don’t normally drink when I sail, but I am not really sailing, so I enjoyed a glass of wine as I watched the sunset change. There are worse places to be becalmed. Finally, at 19:00, just as the last of the daylight was extinguished, I started seeing double-digit winds and boat speeds of 3 kt. The current had moved to the starboard bow, simultaneously slowing the SOG and rotating the boat less N (about 320). I woke up at 21:30, 90m after going to sleep, because the boat was heeled the wrong way. Yes, heeled. I had 15 kt of wind and one of the windvane control lines had pulled free, because I had forgotten to put a knot on it. Once fixed, I made 3.4 kt against a current of 0.5 kt. I should have been able to do 5 kt at a TWA of 160, but the sail made flat by the whisker pole was now working against me. Nonetheless, I was not tempted to take it down in the dark and went back to sleep. I woke up with an alarm at 2:00. I had been sleeping hard. The boat was moving fast. It was headed due N at 5.5 kt. The windvane had become overwhelmed by a simultaneous chance in wind direction (now 90) and current direction (about 120). The trace suggested this had not been going on very long. Once corrected, the new course was 308 and speed was about 4 kt. It is 3:30, 12 h after my last report, and I have sailed a total of 30 nm (2.5 kt avg.). However, most of that has been in the last 7 h. The TWS is back down to 10, but there is a favorable current, so I am making almost 4 kt. I will continue on this course as long as I have that current, but I expect it to turn to favor a port tack soon. It is 4:20 and the boat has headed up again for the fourth time. I cannot figure out why. Perhaps when it is light something will become apparent. The wind is light and the current is flowing exactly in the same direction, so maybe this renders the watervane ineffective. It is 5:58, exactly 1h before sunrise, and I have gotten up to fix the windvane again. I am reminded that since the windvane was damaged in Hiva Oa, it has always had more trouble with starboard tacks than port tacks. Perhaps I am just noticing the problem now because I am rarely on a starboard tack and I have not had winds as light as these in some time. The GRIB was out of date, so I downloaded a new one. It looks like I am finally going to get some wind starting tonight. I took down the whisker pole and jibed at sunrise. This now aligns the current to my stern. According to PW, I sail on this port tack for about 22 nm before jibing again. Right now, I am averaging 3.6 kt, so around midday. However, that course is expected to put me against the current most of the night, to take advantage later of stronger winds and favorable currents. I am going to have my tea and breakfast (last of the bananas) and then break out the sewing machine and fix the asymmetric spinnaker. By 9:30, the current was on the starboard beam and no longer making a positive contribution to the SOG. As I suspected, PW recommended that I jibe 65 nm, in other words, 15 nm early. On the port tack, I was only making 2.5 kt against a 1 kt current. However, the Mercator model suggests the current should lighten up soon. I suspect I won’t make half the 65 nm before PW recommends I jibe again. My boat just does not run as well in light air as the model predicts it should, so I fall behind as the current shifts, necessitating an early course change. However, if the wind increases this evening as predicted from 9 w. 12 gusts to 13 w. 17 gusts, then I might made more distance than I expect, particularly if the current I am fighting is not as strong. The windvane continued to struggle on the port tack, rounding up several times, but I may have figured out what the problem is, one of the guides was twisted, causing more friction when the tiller moved to starboard than to port. It is 12:20 and the windvane has been working perfectly for 3h, ever since I adjusted the guide. It continues to amaze me how sensitive the windvane is to the slightest perturbation. I brought my fishing line in at 12.30 and the lure was gone. The line was broken at the monofilament, not at the wire leader as before. I was using the spinning rod and reel for the first time in a long time, I I think I had the drag set to tight. I replaced the lure with one of my “lucky” home-made pot metal South African lures, after scraping it up to make it shine. I am really trying to target a smaller fish as I do not have the capacity to store the meat from a large tuna. The SOG at 13:00 is close to 4 kt, due in part to the predicted increase in wind, 14 kt, and a decrease in the current I am fighting, 0.5 kt down from 1 kt, which was also predicted. Eventually, I expect the direction of the current to change, hitting my starboard beam. With a TWD of about 80, I am able to make a heading of about 290, which is closer to a COG of 285 after the effect if the current, which is slightly off the starboard bow. I have been studying discrepancies between the Total Miles Sailed, as recorded by the chart plotter, and what I believe I have sailed. I believe the chart plotter measures the distance using Boat Speed (as measured by the impeller) and does not include the effects of current (as SOG does). It is 13:00 and like yesterday some clouds have moved in that look like they could produce rain. There is nothing threatening though. At 13:30 the passed through a very large patch of red tide. I reeled in my line as no fish caught here would be safe to eat. The distance sailed towards Darwin in the last 24h was 295-256=39 nm. The total distance sailed was 9256-9154=102 nm (102/24=4.3 kt avg.).
Comments: It is 17:00 and some dark clouds are building upwind. I’m hoping they bring a breeze. By 18:00, just before dark, the wind was up to 9 kt, more than I had seen all day. Unfortunately, the TWD was now 125, driving me further N than I had expected . I no longer had the assistance of a current, it was 0.5 kt on the starboard beam, so I was only making 2 kt SOG. It was a spectacular sunset at 18:22 in the rain clouds. It has been awhile since I have seen a nice sunset. I don’t normally drink when I sail, but I am not really sailing, so I enjoyed a glass of wine as I watched the sunset change. There are worse places to be becalmed. Finally, at 19:00, just as the last of the daylight was extinguished, I started seeing double-digit winds and boat speeds of 3 kt. The current had moved to the starboard bow, simultaneously slowing the SOG and rotating the boat less N (about 320). I woke up at 21:30, 90m after going to sleep, because the boat was heeled the wrong way. Yes, heeled. I had 15 kt of wind and one of the windvane control lines had pulled free, because I had forgotten to put a knot on it. Once fixed, I made 3.4 kt against a current of 0.5 kt. I should have been able to do 5 kt at a TWA of 160, but the sail made flat by the whisker pole was now working against me. Nonetheless, I was not tempted to take it down in the dark and went back to sleep. I woke up with an alarm at 2:00. I had been sleeping hard. The boat was moving fast. It was headed due N at 5.5 kt. The windvane had become overwhelmed by a simultaneous chance in wind direction (now 90) and current direction (about 120). The trace suggested this had not been going on very long. Once corrected, the new course was 308 and speed was about 4 kt. It is 3:30, 12 h after my last report, and I have sailed a total of 30 nm (2.5 kt avg.). However, most of that has been in the last 7 h. The TWS is back down to 10, but there is a favorable current, so I am making almost 4 kt. I will continue on this course as long as I have that current, but I expect it to turn to favor a port tack soon. It is 4:20 and the boat has headed up again for the fourth time. I cannot figure out why. Perhaps when it is light something will become apparent. The wind is light and the current is flowing exactly in the same direction, so maybe this renders the watervane ineffective. It is 5:58, exactly 1h before sunrise, and I have gotten up to fix the windvane again. I am reminded that since the windvane was damaged in Hiva Oa, it has always had more trouble with starboard tacks than port tacks. Perhaps I am just noticing the problem now because I am rarely on a starboard tack and I have not had winds as light as these in some time. The GRIB was out of date, so I downloaded a new one. It looks like I am finally going to get some wind starting tonight. I took down the whisker pole and jibed at sunrise. This now aligns the current to my stern. According to PW, I sail on this port tack for about 22 nm before jibing again. Right now, I am averaging 3.6 kt, so around midday. However, that course is expected to put me against the current most of the night, to take advantage later of stronger winds and favorable currents. I am going to have my tea and breakfast (last of the bananas) and then break out the sewing machine and fix the asymmetric spinnaker. By 9:30, the current was on the starboard beam and no longer making a positive contribution to the SOG. As I suspected, PW recommended that I jibe 65 nm, in other words, 15 nm early. On the port tack, I was only making 2.5 kt against a 1 kt current. However, the Mercator model suggests the current should lighten up soon. I suspect I won’t make half the 65 nm before PW recommends I jibe again. My boat just does not run as well in light air as the model predicts it should, so I fall behind as the current shifts, necessitating an early course change. However, if the wind increases this evening as predicted from 9 w. 12 gusts to 13 w. 17 gusts, then I might made more distance than I expect, particularly if the current I am fighting is not as strong. The windvane continued to struggle on the port tack, rounding up several times, but I may have figured out what the problem is, one of the guides was twisted, causing more friction when the tiller moved to starboard than to port. It is 12:20 and the windvane has been working perfectly for 3h, ever since I adjusted the guide. It continues to amaze me how sensitive the windvane is to the slightest perturbation. I brought my fishing line in at 12.30 and the lure was gone. The line was broken at the monofilament, not at the wire leader as before. I was using the spinning rod and reel for the first time in a long time, I I think I had the drag set to tight. I replaced the lure with one of my “lucky” home-made pot metal South African lures, after scraping it up to make it shine. I am really trying to target a smaller fish as I do not have the capacity to store the meat from a large tuna. The SOG at 13:00 is close to 4 kt, due in part to the predicted increase in wind, 14 kt, and a decrease in the current I am fighting, 0.5 kt down from 1 kt, which was also predicted. Eventually, I expect the direction of the current to change, hitting my starboard beam. With a TWD of about 80, I am able to make a heading of about 290, which is closer to a COG of 285 after the effect if the current, which is slightly off the starboard bow. I have been studying discrepancies between the Total Miles Sailed, as recorded by the chart plotter, and what I believe I have sailed. I believe the chart plotter measures the distance using Boat Speed (as measured by the impeller) and does not include the effects of current (as SOG does). It is 13:00 and like yesterday some clouds have moved in that look like they could produce rain. There is nothing threatening though. At 13:30 the passed through a very large patch of red tide. I reeled in my line as no fish caught here would be safe to eat. The distance sailed towards Darwin in the last 24h was 295-256=39 nm. The total distance sailed was 9256-9154=102 nm (102/24=4.3 kt avg.).