Current Position: 12 24.953’S 129 19.173’E; Local Timezone: UTC+9.5 SOG: 1.6; COG: 325; TWS: 8 kt; TWD: 109; Distance to Waypoint (Ashmore Reef, 269): 375; Total Miles Sailed: 9645 nm; Engine Hours: 228; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: Sunset was at 18:43. With such light winds forecasted overnight, I shook out the first reef. I was making about 1.6 kt against a 1 kt current with 7 kt wind in a close reach toward the waypoint at 269. It wasn’t much, but it was better than sitting still, which is what I expected. I downloaded another PW forecast, this time using the Offshore App and Iridium. It is not only wrong, but is completely different than the one I downloaded from Starlink and the PW website 30m ago. The one from the App looks like the earlier forecast, suggesting the app’s data are not updated at the same time as the website. By 21:00 the boat was making 2.7 kt towards the waypoint in a close haul with 5 kt of wind from 350 and a current from the E at almost 1 kt. For the next 3h the boat made slow progress towards the waypoint at 269. As expected, at 00:45 I was awaken by the TillerPilot alarm because it could not maintain the course. I am not sure how long it had been going off because it is not very loud and is at the stern of the boat. The wind was coming from due W, making progress towards 269 impossible. Sizing up the wind and current directions, I tacked to 320 and made almost 3 kt in 5 kt wind aided by a 0.7 kt current. The trace had should I had been going that direction anyways. Since I was in irons, the boat had simply been floating in the direction of the current. By 1:10, 1 nm in along 320. The AIS showed only one threat at this time, a cargo ship heading towards me at 9 kt 50 nm away. I set an alarm for 2:00, thinking the wind might continue to back, but it was unchanged. At 3:00 it had backed to 240 so I changed to 305 against a 0.7 kt current. By 5:30 I was going backwards with wind at 4.5 kt from 165 and a strong head current. I am in a dead zone of air bound by the mainland and Bathurst Island and the forecast suggests I’m not getting out of here soon (days), so I have no choice but to motor. I downloaded new GRIBs. The ECMWF model has been failing me, which means isn’t surprising as it is best offshore and these winds are definitely land-based. All the other models are basically similar … I need to head SW about 20 nm, getting a little closer to the mainland and into the Joesph Bonaparte Gulf, so I changed my course for 240 at 6:00. I have started seeing some help from the current and am averaging 5.3 kt. By 6:45 the horizon is glowing orange for the 7:06 sunrise and in queue the wind picks up to 12 kt. I change the course to 250 for a close reach and a cross current to make a SOG of 4 kt with the engine off. Now that there’s some wind, I switched to the windvane. It took awhile to trim the sails and balance the windvane with a little weather helm, but eventually settled into 240 in 15 kts of wind and a SOG of a little more than 5 with the help of the current. As the sun came up, gusts to 20 formed and the boat was overpowered. I put a reef in the main and adjusted the course to the waypoint, a beam reach. She was making 5-5.5 in 17. It was harder to put the first reef in under load with the anti-chafing material on the line, and I couldn’t quite get it all in. A school of dolphins showed up to encourage me as I struggled with the reefing line. When my struggle was over, they left. The see got lumpy incredible quickly when the wind picked up. Almost like square waves because the current is perpendicular to the waves. I’ll be glad to be in deep water again. The winds are expected to be back down to single digits at dusk. However, in contrast to last night, I may see 20 kt gusts beginning around midnight developing into 30 kt gusts by early morning. While in single digits, I should furl in 25% of the jib and make sure the first reef in the main is complete. By noon the boat had slowed down to 3 kt in part because the winds were less, 14 with no gusts, and in part because the current started working against me. At 15:30 I tacked for two reasons. The wind was down to 6 kt and had backed to 100, driving me towards the shore. Also, the direction of the waves were hitting in the beam an causing the sails to slat. I changed the course to 325 and engaged the TillerPilot to hold the course better in the light winds. The SOG was 1.5-2 against a 0.4 kt current. The distance sailed towards Darwin in the last 22h was 433-375=58 nm. The total distance sailed was 9645-9609=36 nm (36/22=1.6 kt avg.). Note this discrepancy is due to the current. Note I will go through another time zone, probably tomorrow.
Comments: Sunset was at 18:43. With such light winds forecasted overnight, I shook out the first reef. I was making about 1.6 kt against a 1 kt current with 7 kt wind in a close reach toward the waypoint at 269. It wasn’t much, but it was better than sitting still, which is what I expected. I downloaded another PW forecast, this time using the Offshore App and Iridium. It is not only wrong, but is completely different than the one I downloaded from Starlink and the PW website 30m ago. The one from the App looks like the earlier forecast, suggesting the app’s data are not updated at the same time as the website. By 21:00 the boat was making 2.7 kt towards the waypoint in a close haul with 5 kt of wind from 350 and a current from the E at almost 1 kt. For the next 3h the boat made slow progress towards the waypoint at 269. As expected, at 00:45 I was awaken by the TillerPilot alarm because it could not maintain the course. I am not sure how long it had been going off because it is not very loud and is at the stern of the boat. The wind was coming from due W, making progress towards 269 impossible. Sizing up the wind and current directions, I tacked to 320 and made almost 3 kt in 5 kt wind aided by a 0.7 kt current. The trace had should I had been going that direction anyways. Since I was in irons, the boat had simply been floating in the direction of the current. By 1:10, 1 nm in along 320. The AIS showed only one threat at this time, a cargo ship heading towards me at 9 kt 50 nm away. I set an alarm for 2:00, thinking the wind might continue to back, but it was unchanged. At 3:00 it had backed to 240 so I changed to 305 against a 0.7 kt current. By 5:30 I was going backwards with wind at 4.5 kt from 165 and a strong head current. I am in a dead zone of air bound by the mainland and Bathurst Island and the forecast suggests I’m not getting out of here soon (days), so I have no choice but to motor. I downloaded new GRIBs. The ECMWF model has been failing me, which means isn’t surprising as it is best offshore and these winds are definitely land-based. All the other models are basically similar … I need to head SW about 20 nm, getting a little closer to the mainland and into the Joesph Bonaparte Gulf, so I changed my course for 240 at 6:00. I have started seeing some help from the current and am averaging 5.3 kt. By 6:45 the horizon is glowing orange for the 7:06 sunrise and in queue the wind picks up to 12 kt. I change the course to 250 for a close reach and a cross current to make a SOG of 4 kt with the engine off. Now that there’s some wind, I switched to the windvane. It took awhile to trim the sails and balance the windvane with a little weather helm, but eventually settled into 240 in 15 kts of wind and a SOG of a little more than 5 with the help of the current. As the sun came up, gusts to 20 formed and the boat was overpowered. I put a reef in the main and adjusted the course to the waypoint, a beam reach. She was making 5-5.5 in 17. It was harder to put the first reef in under load with the anti-chafing material on the line, and I couldn’t quite get it all in. A school of dolphins showed up to encourage me as I struggled with the reefing line. When my struggle was over, they left. The see got lumpy incredible quickly when the wind picked up. Almost like square waves because the current is perpendicular to the waves. I’ll be glad to be in deep water again. The winds are expected to be back down to single digits at dusk. However, in contrast to last night, I may see 20 kt gusts beginning around midnight developing into 30 kt gusts by early morning. While in single digits, I should furl in 25% of the jib and make sure the first reef in the main is complete. By noon the boat had slowed down to 3 kt in part because the winds were less, 14 with no gusts, and in part because the current started working against me. At 15:30 I tacked for two reasons. The wind was down to 6 kt and had backed to 100, driving me towards the shore. Also, the direction of the waves were hitting in the beam an causing the sails to slat. I changed the course to 325 and engaged the TillerPilot to hold the course better in the light winds. The SOG was 1.5-2 against a 0.4 kt current. The distance sailed towards Darwin in the last 22h was 433-375=58 nm. The total distance sailed was 9645-9609=36 nm (36/22=1.6 kt avg.). Note this discrepancy is due to the current. Note I will go through another time zone, probably tomorrow.