Month: July 2025

Posted on

Check-in July 13, 2025; 4:00 UTC

Current Position: 11 48.577’S 153 23.304’E; Local Timezone: UTC+21; SOG: 6.5 kt COG: 266; TWS: 25 kt; TWD: 135; Distance to Waypoint (R1, Raine Passage, 262): 545; Total Miles Sailed: 8087 nm; Engine Hours: 174 Estimate Fuel: 59+10+50
Comments: It is 17:00 and I am about 125 nm from Tagula Island. The forecast suggests I should reach the SE corner of the island about noon tomorrow. Further, I expect to pass within 12 nm of the island, so I will likely turn StarLink on, at least for a few minutes. I want to research any rules there might be about anchoring in the GBR. Interestingly, I will be about 6h ahead of where I would be if I had taken the route to the N that was recommended by PW. In the end, I expect to save about half a day sailing my route. The significance of that is I hope to reach the anchorage at the Great Detached Reef Thursday afternoon, rather than after the following midnight as predicted for the PW course. The reason is simple. My route is 65 less nm and have been able to keep up the same average boat speed. Sunset was about 18:05. The skies were relatively clear, at least more so than they had been since first thing in the morning. Winds were 23-28 from 133 and the boat was moving along smartly 6.5-7 kt towards Tagula. Starting tomorrow evening between 159-153E, there are major N/S shipping lanes with dozens of cargo ships and tankers. I’ll need a good night’s sleep because tomorrow during the day I will be busy with the islands and tomorrow night is likely to be busy with commercial shipping. The boat performed well today after the second reef was put in the main, so I don’t expect any weather tonight that will be a problem. A little after midnight, 62 nm from Tagula, I decided I was headed too far N and adjusted the windvane. A cargo ship appeared on AIS AT 3:30 but will safely pass my stern. I woke at 4:45 and the wind had shifted from 130 to 135, apparently influenced by Rossel Island. I adjusted the windvane again. I am 35 nm from Tagula and am expected to arrive about 10:30. Sunrise is expected about 7:00 (UTC+21). I will note that Tagula is UTC+20, same as the NE coast of Australia, but I won’t change the time in my log until tomorrow, when the entire report will be in that time zone. It is 7:00, dawn, and the sky is mostly clear. I have travelled 100 nm since the last check-in, averaging 6.2 nm/h towards R1, which is now 596 nm away. There is still a decent chance I can arrive at R1 before dusk on Thursday, but I do expect the wind to wane starting tonight. After clearing Tagula, I am going to try to drift N as that is where the renting wind will be. The will also give me a better angle on the wind for the remainder of the passage to R1. I was going to enjoy my tea in the cockpit, but got a rude awakening when a wave breached the port. The sea is still big. It is 8:15 and I am about 20 nm from the eastern end of Tagula. The wind has started to wrap around it and the boat is being directed to the S side of the island. I wasn’t paying attention but Rossel Island is clearly visible off the starboard. It is surprisingly tall. At 9:00 I can barely make out Tagula. It is covered in clouds. As I approached Tagula, I saw breaking waves. Navionics did not show the island’s barrier reef until I was almost upon it. I quickly took control of the helm, less than half a mile from the reef, and directed the boat away from the reef. In the daylight it was easy enough to see the barrier reef, but it is very unsettling that I was unaware it was there. Furthermore, within minutes of realizing there was a barrier reef, a squall hit, reducing visibility and with the higher winds making it more difficult to head up and tack south. Two more squalls hit soon thereafter. I followed the reef around to the S side of the island, observing the breaking surf and following the approximate 300’ contour. Examining the chart W of the island, I felt uncomfortable trying to make any distance N, so I set the windvane for due E, essentially R1. It looks to me that I have about 50 nm before the N/S shipping lanes. I should reach it early evening, perhaps 20:00. The lane is approximately 70 nm wide, so I will be dealing with commercial shipping all night. The distance sailed towards R1 in the last 24h was 696-545=151 nm. The total distance sailed was 8087-7929=158 nm (158/24=6.6 kt avg.). Note, beginning tomorrow the report will be in the UTC+20 time zone and will be made at UTC 5:00 (24h from now).
Posted on

Check-in July 12, 2025; 4:00 UTC

Current Position: 11 53.408’S 155 58.758’E; Local Timezone: UTC+21; SOG: 6.0 kt COG: 285; TWS: 25 kt; TWD: 137; Distance to Waypoint (R1, Raine Passage, 262): 696; Total Miles Sailed: 7829 nm; Engine Hours: 173 Estimate Fuel: 59+11+50
Comments: I tried to download an updated long-range AIS map and instead of giving me everything within a 300 nm range, it only gave me the cargo ship that just passed me. I tried again later and got the same thing. The wind has picked up and veer. I have noted the cooler, more southerly winds bring the squalls and rain showers. It has been sunny all day with winds 18-20 from 110. Now I am seeing gusts in the mid-20s from 125 and the sky has filled with dark clouds. Easterlies = dry/light winds. Southeasterlies = wet/strong winds. It is 16:00 and it has started to rain. I decided to bring my fishing line in for the night. I could see why I didn’t get any bites. My favorite lure is missing its skirt. It either fell off or something ate it. I must have caught a half dozen big fish with that lure. Will have to try a different one tomorrow. I am keeping the shirtless lure because my Marquesan friend taught me how to make skirts out of fish skin. He even gave me some to try. I have been fighting a 1.1 kt current from the SW, so there is a discrepancy between my boat speed and the SOG. At 18:00 I was finally able to download the long-range AIS data. The only significant development is a string of trawlers 30 nm W and 5 nm S of me. They seem to be headed S. The problem is my boat tends to drift S when it heads up in gusts. I should reach the longitude of the trawlers in 5h and at that time will have to determine if action is needed. At 21:20 I sailed past a “navigational buoy” 10 nm to my S. It was part of the trawler fishing system. I spent some time in the cockpit at 1:00. The full moon had risen early, about sunset. It was eerily orange then casting a strange color on the water. But now it was bright white and it almost seemed like daylight. As predicted, the wind had veered to 125 and was blowing consistently stronger, but unlike when it was coming from 110, the course towards R1 was easily managed, and in fact the boat had made progress N. It is 5:30 and I got the best nights sleep in days. I did not have to adjust the windvane or sails even once last night. I was able to set 2h intervals. I have averaged 6.2 kt over the past 14h, directly towards R1. I am on track for another 140-150 nm day. It is 6:20, almost dawn, and the wind is blowing consistently from 130-135, as predicted. I can afford to adjust the windvane to a broad reach, decreasing the flagging of the jib in the waves and increasing the boat’s speed (6.4 kt avg.), and still make some distance N. The southern tip of Tagula Island is at 11 40’S and 185 nm away. I should reach it by dusk tomorrow. The latitude of Tagula is almost exactly that of Raine Island. I am currently at 12 01’S. My main reason for trying to stay as far N as possible after Tagula is because that is where the wind will be. I am going to see some 28 kt gusts today. I am showing about 75% of the Yankee and have one reef in the main. It may be necessary to put a second reef in. The morning looks nice. There are very few clouds and the full moon is still high in the sky. While it started out sunny, by 8:00 the storm clouds had moved in. I will be hit by a squall soon. It started to rain at 8:15. I see three distinct squalls around me. At 9:00 I was hit by an intense squall with 30 kt winds from 100. I had to hand-steer for about 20m. During the squall I also landed a small yellowfin tuna. When the winds dropped to the low 20s, I put a second reef in the main and the boat regained control. I was hit by another 30 kt squall at 11:30, but the boat handled it much better under reduced sail. I put the waypoints into the chart plotter for the anchorages I am considering on the way to Thursday Island. They are spaced approximately 20 nm apart so I can move slowly through the reef during daylight hours if I find that necessary.
Great Detached Reef: 11 44.569S 144 03.379E Pearson (Topaz) Reef: 11 33.586S 143 42.857E Collette Reef: 11 13.480S 143 21.328E (Shives) Reef: 11 03.200S 143 04.081E Wyborn Reef: 10 47.980S 142 43.980E York Island: 19 40.800S 142 31.630E
The distance sailed towards R1 in the last 24h was 842-696=146 nm. The total distance sailed was 7929-7777=152 nm (152/24=6.3 kt avg.).
Posted on

Cooking in Big Seas

About halfway from Vanuatu to Australia, I ran out of fresh food. Oh, I have some onions and half a pumpkin, but the bread, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, bananas, most of the dairy, and all the meals I prepared in advance are gone, not because I didn’t plan ahead, but because these things just don’t last more than a week at sea for me. I’ve tried all kinds of things to make bread last longer, but come day four I can taste the mold. My choices when I run out of fresh food is to eat out of my non-perishable stock, but most of these things (besides some canned soups) require cooking, and cooking while single-handed sailing can be a challenge, particularly in weather. When I run out of fresh protein, I usually fish. Generally, after a couple of hours, I have fresh fish. This morning it took less than an hour to catch a yellowfin tuna. Finding food, whether from my stores or the ocean, is not the problem. Cooking it can be. My go-to is a pressure cooker. I made wonderful squash last night in under six minutes. The great thing about the pressure cooker is there’s zero chance of spilling anything. Even on a gimbaled stove, liquid splashes out of a regular pan. But for something that needs to be fried, my other go-to are skillet meals. Here is an example. The sashimi rice was soaked for 15 minutes with pieces of a juiced tangerine rind and dried tarragon, then partially cooked in the non-stick skillet with a lid, the rice was scooped into a cup, some butter and the rest of the tangerine was added to the pan with the fish. When halfway done, a little dark soy sauce was poured onto the fish, the partially cooked rice was returned, and the skillet was covered until the fish and rice were finished cooking. The reason I am holding the pan tight in this photo is all of this was done during a squall with the boat rolling 8 degrees. I usually eat in the cockpit because when the food spills (or it’s blown off the plate), the sea water will clean up the mess. It may not look great, but trust me when I say it was better than canned chili. When it comes to cleanup, I just let the sea rinse the pan.
{CAPTION}
Posted on

Check-in July 11, 2025; 4:00 UTC

Current Position: 12 06.600’S 158 25.225’E; Local Timezone: UTC+21; SOG: 6.0 kt COG: 265; TWS: 21 kt; TWD: 122; Distance to Waypoint (R1, Raine Passage, 262): 842; Total Miles Sailed: 7777 nm; Engine Hours: 172 Estimate Fuel: 59+12+50
Comments: As I submitted my report yesterday at 15:00, yet another squall hit, bringing rain and an accidental jibe as the wind changed from 120 to 85. As I have not yet cleared Zona or the reef. I had to remain vigilant at the helm. I finally got a good view of Zona in between storms. It was visible about 20m before another huge squall it. I would say in all 15-20 squalls hit or came close to me in a 6h period. I ended up coming within about 2 nm of Zona and was some distance from the reef. I stayed awake until 23:00, when I was well-clear of both the island and the reef. What remained was 945 nm of open water. According to the forecast, the winds are going to be light (15) and from 115 (a run) tomorrow. Saturday and Sunday will be in the 20’s and 130 (broad reach), so I should make good time arriving at the islands SE of P/NG. Tuesday and Wednesday with be similar to tomorrow and Thursday and Friday like this weekend. I woke up at 24:30 and everything was going on … the alarm went off, the shower sump bilge pump was running, and the boat had accidentally jibed. I jiggled the switch on the pump and it turned off. Yet another bilge pump switch giving me trouble. The boat had jibed because the TWA is close to 160, which means it does not take much to push it another 20 degrees … a change in wind direction, a wave, etc. looks like it had been that way about 15m. When close to a run, there is not much heeling, so it is harder to feel when the boat had jibed. I tried to tighten the starboard control line to help it recover, but now I run the risk of the boat rounding up in a strong gust of wind. It is a delicate balance. The pump had used up some battery power, but I had also accidentally left the fridge on so the batteries were down to 87%, which is were they usually are at 6:00. They will be down to 80% by dawn, which will be hard to make up by solar alone. I woke up at 1:45 because the boat had rounded up. One of the control lines had loosened. I could see from the trace it had been a gradual thing, over a period of 30m, which is probably why it had not waken me up sooner. The boat jibed at 2:10. It had been hit by a wave … the cockpit was wet. I tried tightening the starboard control line. I was having trouble tuning the rig. I sat up for a while and observed the windvane recovering from gusts and waves. It seemed to be operating as it should. Perhaps the problems have been unlucky coincidences. It jibed again at 3:00. I tried adjusting the angle of the windvane to steer a bit further S (i.e., decrease the TWA). At 4:30 I checked the AIS and found the 46’ sailboat Rala 12 nm away on a course to cross paths with me. She was doing 8 kt downwind and I was going 6.5. I had been following the boat on long-range AIS as it was really the only vessel in my area. Models suggested we were going to pass me in about 90m, close to dawn. As dawn approached, the boat continued to drift S. The winds were now consistently 23-26 kt and the boat was overpowered. I reduced the Yankee by 25% and left one reef in the main and she became better behaved, pointing more consistently to 260 at about 6 kt. At 5:50 it is clear U am not going back to bed, so I made my tea. Rala hailed me about 6:00. I agreed to alter course and pass her stern, which 8 did about 6:45. They were on their way to P/NG to take on fuel before continuing to Malaysia. Strange that two sailboats could sail thousands of miles and come within a couple of hundred yards of one another. By this afternoon, and especially overnight, I should see significant improvement in both wind speed and direction. Between now and Monday morning I may cut the current distance to R1 of 880 nm in half. I certainly expect to be well-past the islands SW of P/NG (Tagula and Rossel Island). A cargo ship appeared on the AIS at 12:15, 27 nm to my S. I believe it was the Atlantic Brave and it appeared it would pass safely across my bow. I do not see any other traffic on the long-range AIS that would be a threat in the next 24h. I have been averaging close to 6 kt on a course of about 270 all morning. I have had some periods of good sunshine, but only enough to charge the batteries 91%. Even though I have had almost everything off, it seems unlikely the batteries will get fully charged without running the engine. Out of fresh food, I have been trailing a fishing line for about 2h, but no luck so far. The cargo ship passed 15 nm in front of me at 14:30. I need to clear the boat of all fresh food by the time I reach Australian waters. Tonight I am preparing something they call pumpkin in Vanuatu. It looks like a large acorn squash. Its flesh is surprisingly soft, not rock-hard like pumpkin. I put half of it in the pressure cooker for 8m and put butter, maple sugar and cinnamon on it. It looks like the expected winds are shoring up. The wind is consistently over 20 and has veered to 124. I am actually making some distance N rather loosing ground S as I have been since jibing. I am “storing up” that latitude for early next week when I see a repeat of the last few days. After paying my dues by sailing N for 3d, this is when I reap the rewards by sailing 140-150 nm/d on. I should make R1 in 6d, by Thursday night. The distance sailed towards R1 in the last 24h was 984-842=142 nm (compare to 59 yesterday). The total distance sailed was 7777-7627=150 nm (150/24=6.3 kt avg.).
Posted on

Check-in July 10, 2025; 4:00 UTC

Current Position: 11 54.222’S 160 49.323’E; Local Timezone: UTC+21; SOG: 5.8 kt COG: 260; TWS: 18 kt; TWD: 112; Distance to Waypoint (R1, Raine Passage, 260): 984; Total Miles Sailed: 7627 nm; Engine Hours: 170 Estimate Fuel: 59+13+50
Comments: About 16:30, I rounded up, furled in the jib, and removed the whisker pole. By this time the wind was blowing 17-19 consistently, the the Yankee didn’t bump with the wave action. I picked up a kt of speed with the better-shaped foresail. Sunset was about 18:00. I am committed to rounding Zona. There is a huge pack of trawlers 30 nm to my W that I would have to deal with all night if I were to jibe now. Rounding Zona on Friday would mean I would have to deal with them or the multitudes of others further W. At 18:15 I went to the cockpit to watch the last light of the day and was surprised to see storm clouds ahead … it had been such a sunny day. I was feeling good about stowing the whisker pole because if there is anything worse than dealing with it at night it is dealing with it at night in a storm. I should have known than stronger winds usually brings some weather with it. At 20:20, the wind had backed to 110, about 5h early, and the boat’s course changed from more of a run to a broad reach, and in doing so picked up speed, now averaging over 6 kt in 18-20 kt winds. There were no vessels in my way and the Rennell Reef was far enough to my W that I did not have to worry about drifting towards it. I was awaken at 23:00 because it didn’t feel right. The course was NE and the windvane was unable to correct. Thus had apparently been going on for 30m, shortly after a routine check at 22:30. I put the boat back on course and as soon as I climbed back into my berth, it happened again. I looked for a cause (last time it was a broken reefing line), but could not find anything obvious. The wind was blowing a bit harder than it had been, 23 kt. Apparently, I did not have enough weather helm on the windward control line and the leeward line was too tight. Once the control lines were adjusted, the windvane was able to handle the gusts. The windvane operated correctly the rest of the night. I woke up an hour before sunrise. The boat is averaging 7 kt in about 22 kt wind. The sea is big again and the cockpit a bit wet. I downloaded a new GRIB. PW has me going to almost 10S (just S of Guadalcanal Island) before jibing SW and weaving through the island SE of Papua/New Guinea. I don’t want to do that. I was to sail S of those islands, around 12S. It makes no sense to sail all the way to 10S, so I plan to cut between Rennell Reef and Zona. The problem is there is not a lot of room, I will need to jibe a couple of times because of the wind direction, and PW does not seem to recognize the reef is there. Navionics says it breaks the surface. So, I will need to plot my own course and use Navionics. My plan is to go to almost 12S, the southern end of Zona, about 6h away (35 nm, 13:00), then jibe toward Rennell. A few nm from the reef, I will jibe again towards Zona. Once I am clear of the reef (its northern tip is at 12 13’S), I will do one last jibe (close to 12S) and head E. I should be clear of the reef by midnight. My patience sailing N will begin paying dividends tomorrow when I should be sailing directly towards the waypoint under optimal conditions for the remainder of the passage. With about 1000 nm to go, I can expect to make 140-150 nm a day (1000/145=7 days). In my first five days I made 450 nm on (700 nm sailed) … but my second week I will make 1000 nm on. I should arrive next Friday. I intend to take my time getting through the reef, so I will probably arrive at Thursday Island next weekend. I removed about 7 oz of water from the Racor filter, what was separated when I filled the day tank a few days ago. Here are my waypoints to navigate between Rennell and Zona …
Z1: 11°52.635’S 161°3.327’E Z2: 12°4.291’S 160°3.800’E
If I can set a course from Z1 to Z2, it will only be necessary to jibe once (E). If I cannot make Z2, I will need to jibe again N for some distance before jibing E again. Z2 is effectively the safe point N of the reef. The last few hours to Z1 I had to help keep the steering on-track because there was not much room for error. There was a tendency to head up and drift E, which would make it impossible to make Z2 without an additional jibe. It is heavily overcast, hazy, and the sea is gray. It is 11:30, l am 8 nm from Z1 and there is a squall off the starboard bow, further reducing the visibility. I noticed Lani, who crossed paths with me the evening before last, is at 14.5S and is only doing 3.5 kt it light air. This is exactly the reason I’ve spent the last three days making my way N, to catch the strong SE wind I should have all week. It started to rain at 11:50. The squall will pass it front of me, close to Z1. The squall is obliterating the potential viewing of Zona, but it will pass long before I have sailed past the island. The island is about 50 nm long and runs WNW to SSE. I am now essentially in line with the length of the island, off its SE cape about 20 nm. I jibed at 12:50. I was far enough N that it was easy to set a course for Z2, which was 55 nm away. There is about a 5 nm difference between where PW places Zona and where Navionics does. I trust the latter much more. My course is going to put me within a couple of nm of Zona’s southern coast. When I am with 13 nm, I will turn Starlink on for a bit (as it will be the last chance for Internet for the next 8-10d. It is noteworthy that the course I am on right now is almost directly towards R1. While it is note all that easy to maintain this course, the wind is going to begin veering by tomorrow by 10-15 degrees, making it much easier. I prepared the last of the lamb curry and when I went to the cockpit to eat it started raining hard. I sat in the rain, eating and showering. It is 14:00 and I am about 20 nm from Zona, but cannot see a thing because of the weather. While eating a large flock of seabirds visited me, perhaps 30-40. You see a couple of seabirds at a time while in blue water, but the large gathering indicates land. At 14:15 the rain stopped and it was sunny. I still could not see the island because the storm was headed that way. At 14:50 the precipitation stopped and the haze cleared enough that I barely make out the island, about 15 nm away. It looks like in about 35 nm I will be clear if both the island and the reef (about 21:30). The distance sailed towards R1 in the last 24h was 1043-984=59 nm. The total distance sailed was 7627-7484=143 nm (143/24=6.0 kt avg.).
Posted on

Captain’s Log] Check-in July 9, 2025; 4:00 UTC

Current Position: 13 49.602’S 161 47.577’E; Local Timezone: UTC+21; SOG: 5.1 kt COG: 330; TWS: 17 kt; TWD: 120; Distance to Waypoint (R1, Raine Passage, 265): 1043; Total Miles Sailed: 7484 nm; Engine Hours: 169 Estimate Fuel: 59+14+50
Comments: Despite a good day of sun yesterday, because of the mustard incident in the fridge and the fact I am heading NW (so the solar panels are shaded all afternoon), I found myself with a warm fridge and incompletely charged batteries at 15:00 and had to run the engine for 45m. At 16:00, the 45’ catamaran Lani showed up on the AIS doing 4.6 kt at 283. I have been tracking it on PW. It was 14 nm forward of my starboard beam. Since I was doing about the same speed on 335, we were on collision courses that might have to be sorted out in about 2.5h (after sunset). They were clearly headed for the Torres Strait downwind with a spinnaker. Sunset was at about 17:52. It was the first time in a month I was able to see the sunset with a cloudless horizon. I was about 8 nm from Lani and we had not yet crossed each other’s paths. It looked like Lani was going to cross my bow at a distance of 1-2 nm in about 90m. They had slowed to 3.8 kt and my speed had increased to 5.2 kt. Lani’s captain Martin contacted me via VHF at 18:15. He is indeed headed for Port Kennedy. We briefly discussed strategies concerning the wind and concerning crossing the GBR. As a 45’ catamaran, Lani is faster than my 38’ monohull downwind, so we have different courses planned. We agreed to meet up at Thursday Island. He passed about 3 nm off my bow at 18:40. I downloaded new files at 19:20, mostly to get updated long-range AIS data. It looked like one of the trawler trains was relocated, moving W to E, and would cross my path in about 2h about 30 nm in front of me. There were other long strings of trawlers spread out NW to SE on both my port and starboard, but they do not look like a problem for now. At 12:30 I downloaded a new long-range AIS map to confirm the train of trawlers had passed. There are no more in my path to the Solomons. Putting up the whisker pole was a sound decision. The boat has been doing a solid 5 kt on course. By dusk today, I should have reached the southern edge of Rennell, and I will need to make a decision about whether to turn W or continue N around Zona. It is interesting that PW does not show Rennell as a hazard (although it plots a course around it via the top of Zona), whereas Navionics shows Rennell at 0 feet. I woke up to an alarm at 3:30 and found the boat headed due N. The wind had shifted to 130. I adjusted the windvane and trimmed the sails to point closer to Zona, but I was still headed 5 degrees further E than I wanted. Not much more I can do. Jibing would send me into 60 Chinese trawlers. Woke up to the 5:50 alarm and a tanker was passing 15 nm S of me. It had shown up on the long-range AIS at 17:30, but not on the AIS transceiver (with a 65 nm range) at 3:30. As the tanker was doing 12 kt, it should have shown up. My only explanation is its transmitter is weak. The wind was supposed to be blowing from 197, but it was 138, putting me off course. I was sailing a course of 350 and needed 333 for Zona, but there was not much I could do but hoped the wind backed after dawn as it sometimes does. The wind is supposed to back to 102 tomorrow morning, then 130 and strong after passing Zona. The route now has me going past the smaller island of Bellona before jibing E. In fact, so far N that I’d need to go around the islands E of Papua/New Guinea. I am absolutely not doing that because it is a navigational nightmare there. Also, all of this depends on wind patterns and boat speeds that have not panned out up to now. The latitude that I would need to jibe to travel safely south of Rennell is about 13 20’S, which I should reach by dusk. At that point the wind is supposed to increase 5 kt. I will probably take down the whisker pole and jibe. I will be N of the large group of trawlers immediately W of me (although there is another group further W that I would have to contend with). Alternatively, I could stick with the original plan of rounding Zona, but instead of heading E per PW, I could go SE to avoid the islands off of P/NG. Guess I will be making that call in 12h. It is 7:15, bright and sunny, and very few clouds. Looks like a repeat of yesterday with a bit more wind. The boat is averaging 5 kt and I just saw my first gust of 20. I am going to try to leave the whisker pole up because it helps me run, but if the wind gets much over 20, I will have to take it down. Also, the flat sail created by the pole makes it more difficult to run. I might get a better angle on Zona by removing it, but then I run the risk of the sail bumping as the seas are starting to get bigger. I was going to make French toast this morning… taking advantage of the relatively calm seas, but the bread went moldy overnight. It lasted 4d, which is typical. Does not seem to matter if I refrigerate it or not. Tonight, I will finish off the last of the curry I prepared for the passage. I should try to cook again before the seas get rough. I watched the tanker drop off the AIS map at 25 nm … which explains why I didn’t see it during my check last night. It is becoming a bit overcast and the batteries are not charging as fast as I need them to. At 9:15 I ran the engine for 30m and at the same time ran the watermaker, fridge, fuel pump, and IG. About one-half bowl of water came over with the fuel, which it typical for four days at sea. PW had a warning the boat would roll 10:00 for a couple of hours and that has proven to be the case. I have been studying the weather map and I should be able to leave the whisker pole up until tomorrow morning. However, I definitely don’t want to have to take that rigging down in the dark if the high wind gusts come early. I will break it down before dusk and if I have to run a more northerly course to make the jib behave. At 10:30, the boat accidentally jibed. It took me a few minutes to realize the main was misshapen because the first reefing line had broken again at the grommet in the sail. The strange thing is I specifically addressed this issue before leaving Vanuatu by cutting out the frayed line and replacing it with new rope. Also, it is just not blowing that hard. I really need to find a piece of Dyneema long enough to spice a section into the reefing line. The distance sailed towards R1 in the last 24h was 1093-1043=50 nm. The total distance sailed was 7484-7375=109 nm (109/24=4.5 kt avg.).
Posted on

How I Rig My Whisker Pole

I have seen different ways of rigging a whisker pole. I use four lines. The pole is attached to the mast at a the same height as the clew of the sail. The end of the pole is held parallel to the deck using a spinnaker halyard (red). The jib sheet passes through the claw of the pole (green). Two preventers are attached to the pole. The aft preventer (black) runs through a block on the deck to the staysail wench and it all owes me to select the TWA to present the sail to the wind. The spinnaker tack line which is attached to the end of the pole (yellow) passes through a block on the bow sprit and then back to the lazy jib wench. This preventer keeps the poke from running into the lower shroud (steel cable in photo). This system is useful in light winds when the foresail would “bump” (sometimes violently) as the boat is rocked by the waves. This happens because the foresail is temporarily in the shadow of the mainsail. The pole is also sometimes used for wing-on-wing sailing downwind (running). However, I find unless the seas are calm, my boat tends to roll severely when sailing wing-on-wing. It takes me about 20m to set up the pole single-handed, because I need to make several trips back and forth to set up lines. As a consequence, I do not use a pole unless I believe it is going to be up a long time. In this case it was been up 24h and will probably be up 12 more.
{CAPTION}

Sent from my iPhone

Posted on

Check-in July 8, 2025; 4:00 UTC

Current Position: 15 29.013’S 162 24.891’E; Local Timezone: UTC+21; SOG: 4.0 kt COG: 330; TWS: 12 kt; TWD: 115; Distance to Waypoint (R1, Raine Passage, 270): 1093; Total Miles Sailed: 7257 nm; Engine Hours: 167 Estimate Fuel: 60+13+50
Comments: Sunset was about 17:40. The skies looked dark and menacing downwind, but much less so upwind. Although I was presenting a lot of sail (the Yankee and one reef in the main in 21 kt gusts) I was confident the boat was not going to be overpowered. The wind is expected to lessen overnight. There was one freighter on a semi-parallel course as me, but it was expected to pass some distance. There were a few smaller boats in the area and the fishing trawlers were still a day away. I am routinely checking the bilge and there is no water accumulating, either because there is less water getting in or the automatic valve pumps are removing it. I downloaded a GRIB at 17:40. Not much has changed. I will head N to the Solomons until Thursday morning (2.5d), then head W. It is 18:10 and the ship is now 25 nm off my starboard and expected to pass 15 nm in front of me. Since dusk, the wind has veered to 125, sending me on a more northerly course. Since that is where the wind is going to be in a couple of days, I am not tempted to jibe. I note there is a cold front about 30 nm S of me (17S), which must be the weather I spotted at sunset. And, there are thunderstorms warning at 11S (including the Solomons), but that is supposed to dissipate by the time I reach it. At 19:30 the course was practically due N as the wind continued to blow from 125 (sometimes 130), 10-15 degrees more southerly than predicted. Jibing would put me on a course much closer to R1, but I am concerned about the dead air tomorrow. According to the forecast, staying the course will bring me air Wednesday but if I jibe I’d follow the dead air Wednesday and have a poorer angle to R1 later in the week. I am sticking with the plan in the hopes the forecast is correct, albeit a little late. On a positive note, the 23 kt wind is driving me nearly twice the speed expected (predicted from 14 kt wind). The extra speed is bringing me closer to the freighter, but I still expect it to pass about 5 nm off my bow in about 90m. At 20:30, after an hour of 130-135 wind, I was being driven easterly, backwards, so I jibed and made a course directly at R1 at close to 6 kt. If I can make good time easterly the next 24h, I should be able to catch the last of the wind northerly after a jibe, also allowing me the squeeze between two large groups of trawlers. Since I am now in a parallel course with the freighter and it is moving twice my speed, I can safely sleep. However, over the next 2h I was woken up a dozen times to trim the sails, trying to find the right compromise between course and speed. The problem was the direction of the waves was causing the boat to corkscrew and the jib to bump (which woke me up) when it was shadowed by the main. Finally, about 22:20 I seemed to find a balance where the boat was headed pretty much due W and the sails were sheeted in to reduce the play. I was still averaging 6 kt in 18 kt wind. Before trying to sleep, I checked the AIS and was surprised to find a cargo ship coming up behind me, 26 nm away and doing 13 kt. It was on the PW long-range plots, but I had not paid attention to it because before I jibed we were not on a similar course. Like the earlier one, it was headed for the Torres Strait. However, because I was being forced W, it looked like it would pass my stern. It was at least 2.5h away. I set an alarm for 1h and tried to sleep. At midnight I confirmed it would pass 10 nm to my stern in 1h. By 2:00, the wind had shifted to 95, almost due E, making it impossible to sail W. I jibed and headed N again … about 325 at 6 kt. About 4:30 I made the last adjustment of the night. I went back to the berth, did not set an alarm, and woke up at 7:00. It was overcast and unusually dark for the time of morning. The wind was down to 13 kt. The boat had averaged 4.8 kt on a course of 320 while I slept. This is about what I could expect the next 24h. The overcast came from a long front that covered the E (starboard) side of the boat, the dark clouds blocking out the sun. The leading edge of the front was backlit by the sun, emphasizing the density of the dark clouds beneath it. A whisker pole would help stabilize the foresail, but I was reluctant to set one until I learned how menacing the weather was. So I settled for trimming the main to give the jib a bit more air, then made my morning tea. I hadn’t noticed immediately, but the big waves of the last few days were gone and the ride was relatively smooth … probably why I slept so late. While enjoying my peppermint tea, the sun rose over the front, and I downloaded a new GRIB. The weather course looked very good, denting me NW between two of the biggest groups of trawlers. The route goes up and around Zona Island (Solomon group, just S of Guadalcanal) before catching big air the rest of the way E. The nastiness burned off by 8:30 and I set the whisker pole the sails are much more stable now and I picked up perhaps half a kt. It is 9:00 and a seabird has been circling close to the boat for an hour. It keeps swooping past the cockpit and staring at me. Perhaps he’s waiting for a handout, like he might get from one of the trawlers. I have been having the same breakfast each morning, La Ferme de Tagabe (a French yogurt-like dairy product), the muesli I got in Tonga, and a banana. However, I had to jettison the last of the bananas last night when they fell into some dirty water. They were about done anyway. It is 12:40 and it has been slow going all morning, a little over 4 kt towards Zona Island, now about 240 nm away. The wind is expected to pick up tomorrow evening, so I expect to be there by the end of the day Thursday. The course has me passing Zona, then turning SW to sail between Zona and the tiny island of Bellona north of it. There is a large atoll S of Zona called Rennell. The southern edge of Rennell is about 170 nm from my location, so I expect to reach it late tomorrow night or early Thursday morning. I will need to make a decision whether to jibe before Rennell or after Zona. I don’t have a feeling how tall Zona is, but I could expect some shadowing as I round it. For the first time during the passage, I have had almost a full day of sunshine. The batteries should be charged by 1:30 or so, then I will try to make some water. I opened the fridge and it smelled like something was rotting. I discovered a bottle of mustard broke, covering almost everything and dripping down to the lower level. An hour had passed before I had it cleaned up. Needless to say, the fridge was warm after and had to be cooled down … so no making water today. I normally never drink while sailing, but a bottle of beer dropped while I was cleaning the fridge and the cap popped off. I figure it was the sea gods rewarding me for my patience. The distance sailed towards R1 in the last 24h was 1172-1093=79 nm. The total distance sailed was 7375-7257=118 nm (118/24=4.9 kt avg.).
Posted on

Check-in July 7, 2025; 4:00 UTC

Current Position: 16 42.173’S 163 32.068’E; Local Timezone: UTC+21; SOG: 7.0 kt COG: 330; TWS: 20 kt; TWD: 98; Distance to Waypoint (R1, Raine Passage, 272): 1172; Total Miles Sailed: 7257 nm; Engine Hours: 167 Estimate Fuel: 60+13+50
Comments: Sunset was about 17:30. The TWD of 130+ has allowed me to set a course towards the waypoint all day. However, beginning this evening the wind is going to veer to 100 or so by dawn, making it necessary to jibe N. It is 18:30 and I am about 100 nm from the Atoll de Huron. While my course right now has me north of the reef, the veering wind tonight will likely put me on a collision course with it. However, my arrival would be sometime mid morning, and I already plan to have jibed N by then. I woke up at 20:15 because it felt like the boat had changed directions (relative to the waves). The wind had shifted dramatically to 95. Also, the wind speed dropped to 15 with gusts of 20. I adjusted the windvane as much as I could to a course of 263, but the waypoint is at 273. The boat slowed to less than 5 kt. After some time the wind shifted again to 105. The change in the wind had begun, albeit early. I was loosing latitude, but it was still too early to jibe. At 22:45, the boat accidentally jibed. I looked at the trace and it was clear the wind had become variable. I unfurled most of the Yankee and could manage a little more than 5 kt mostly due W. I studied the wind patterns for about 30m. I considered shaking out a reef, but I knew it would not help that much. I also considered jibing, but as long as I could eke out a mostly westerly course, it was better to stay on a starboard tack. The GRIB was 18h old, so ai downloaded a new one. The weather plan had changed markedly. I was to jibe in 4h and head way N to the latitude of R1 so as to avoid dead air developing in the S. Winds would be lighter the next few days. The long-range AIS showed a passenger ferry heading towards me from the W at 12 kt. While 60 nm away, our combined speeds have us intercepting in 3-4h. I set an alarm for 2h and went back to sleep. At 3:00 the passenger ship passed 20 nm S of me and I was still making progress W, so I went back and to sleep. At 4:30 I woke up, shook out the second reef, fully deployed the jib, and jibed to a course of 325 at a little over 6 kt. The ride is smoother … a better angle to the swells. Time to gain some latitude. I’m at 17.5S and need to be 11S for the Raine Passage. I’ve been lucky so far, but there are a bunch of fishing trawlers around 15S. At 5:40, I changed the course to 330 and an making 6.7 kt. Sunrise should be about 6:35, but it is light enough that I can tell there are fewer clouds than yesterday. It looks like I will have these wind conditions (17/23) until late this afternoon, then the wind will start slowing down. Tomorrow it will be relatively light (13/17) then early Wednesday it should pick up a bit. One reason for heading N is to catch more wind. I fell back asleep and was awaken at 6:30 by the shower sump bilge pump. I saw some water come from the chain locker hose. The drain is on the port side, so the starboard tack dumped some water into the bilge. Also, I was doing 7.5 kt and waves were breaking over the bow. I went to the foredeck and stuffed a rag in the hawse pipe. At least I know the automatic feature of that pump is working again. The boat at sped up because the wind was coming from 95 degrees at 25 kt. There were squalls in the area, so this change in wind is probably temporary. The wind eventually to 115 and 19. It is 9:20 and sailing conditions have thus far been near perfect. I have had 20-25 kt winds from 100, following seas, and have averaged 6.8 kt with the full Yankee and one reef in the main. Unfortunately, very little sunlight. The course has been about 330 (R1 is at 273). My course is a bit more acute than the weather plan, which currently has me waiting to the Solomon Islands before jibing W for R1. I have been sitting in the cockpit all morning drinking tea and listening to music, but it is starting to get (relatively) cold and wet. It is 10:40 and finally some sunshine. Most of the rest of the day had periods of sunshine, allowing me to fully charge the batteries. The current PW weather route has me arriving at the GBR about 200 nm S of the latitude of R1 and following the reef up to the passage. That sounds nerve-racking. I am sticking to my original plan of heading N until I can head W to the passage. The distances sailed towards R1 in the last 24h was 1296-1172=124 nm. The total distance sailed was 7257-7107=150 nm (150/24=6.25 kt avg.).