Current Position: 12 14.324’S 122 58.918’E; Local Timezone: UTC+8 SOG: 0.4 kt (from current); COG: 0; TWS: 18 kt; TWD: 117; Distance to Waypoint (Ashmore Reef): At Anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 10003 nm; Engine Hours: 236; Estimate Fuel: 55+10+50;
Comments: I was thinking Seabourn Pursuit might be the ABF vessel that is supposed to be at Ashmore Reef. But when I downloaded new PW files, I see it is on it way back at 15:00, after spending less then 24h at the reef. At 16:00 I jibed to 315, a point well S of the reef, 30 nm away, figuring I can more easily make adjustments N later on than the other way around. I also furled in about 25% of the jib for two reasons, so slow me down a bit, and to make it easier to heave to later. Seabourn Pursuit passed me starboard to starboard at a distance of 6 nm 30m later. She’s a 564’ passenger ship, so certainly not the ABF vessel. It is 18:00, I have furled in half the Yankee and have two reefs in the main and the boat is still going over 5 kt. All week I have struggled to get the boat to move, and now I can’t seem to slow her down. I would drop the main all together, but I would be worried about rocking and I need this sail plan to make my was to the backside of the reef and to heave to. An ABF aircraft contacted me as I was writing this with the usual questions. I am only 20 nm from the W side of Ashmore. At this rate I will be there in 4h, about 22:00. I will make my way to the leeward NW side and see what the seas are like for heaving to. Could be a long night. At 19:00 I decide I need to get some sleep before I get too close to the reef so set three alarms at 30m intervals. It is 22:00. I am about 7 nm SW of the West Island (and the same distance to Ash01), making my way around to the NW end of the reef. I have sustained 25 kt winds and the seas are pretty big after 36h of the wind. I am hoping the seas settle down on the leeward side. Of course, the reef is not going shadow any of the wind, but it will be a lot easier to heave to for 5h in calmer water. The forecast was for the winds to decrease to 16 (still gusts to 26) between now and dawn … hopefully sooner rather than later. The sea seems to become somewhat calmer as I rounded the W end. The boat also slowed down and is almost in irons. It is 23:30 and I am on the E side of the reef, about 3 nm to the Ash01 waypoint, the southern-most point of the channel leading to the lagoon, although it does not matter. The wind is still blowing 25. It is midnight and I am 2 nm due E of Ash01, doing 3 kt on a course of about 30. The wind direction is 100 and I assume the waves are coming from the same direction. I am going to continue for another mile of so and heave to. It is 00:30, I went forward to remove the preventer, and I sheeted the main as best I could (against the wind). I am about 4 nm from the reef. I would get better protection if I were closer, but don’t want to take the chance, so I heave to and begin monitoring my drift. I am doing almost 3 kt on a course of 150, which is a problem both in speed and direction as it would send me close to the reef. I relax the main sheet a bit and adjust the windvane to neutralize the watervane and this seems to help a bit. I am still doing 2.5 kt but the course is now close to 170, which may still be a problem. Part of the problem is a 1 kt current in the same direction. I’m going to wait a bit and see if the current wraps around the reef. I played this came in Tahiti when I arrived at night and had to heave to in a current. I will have to periodically move until morning. It is 1:00 and I am getting too close to the reef, so I set sail again, against the current. I also reduced the jib even more. I am only showing 20% if the jib and still going 3.5 kt due N, against the current. I will sail around in circles for the next 4-5h, ending up where I am now in time to motor in to the mooring. Hopefully the wind will die down a bit … it is currently 27 kt. It is 3:30 and I have sailed about 5 nm due N. The wind is blowing 18-21 from 77 and the current is flowing away from the reef. I tried to heave to again, and again the boat is traveling 2.5 kt on a course of 163, essentially directly at Ash01, which is 4.8 nm away. Sunrise is expected to be at 6:00, but it will start getting light about 5:00. I am going to drop the main to see if the boat slows down. Dropping the main slowed the boat down considerably, to about 1 kt. The course is influenced more by the current now, and it is about 200, away from the reef. Since it is 4:00, it should not be necessary to do anything else but furl the last of the jib, which I will do after the ship is motoring. There is no rush. My plan is to take one off the outer bouys because they are easier to get to (no coral boomies to deal with) and because it is supposed to be very windy the next two days, and the idea of navigating around the coral heads in 25 kt wind does not appeal to me. Wednesday morning is supposed to be 14-17, and I can wait until 10:00 so I have good light to spot the coral. I will spend today and tomorrow cleaning the boat, surveying for damage, and cooking. It’s 4:30 and the wind is back up in the mid-twenties. The little bit of Yankee that is out and turned inside-out is enough to drive the boat 2 kt with the help of the current, which is fine because it should put me exactly where I need to be at sunrise (Ash01). I was drifting further W than I want to be, so at 5:30 I started the engine, furled the rest of the jib, and set out for Ash01, which was 3 nm. Ash01 is not the channel into the lagoon but one extreme in a 5-mile-wide cone that visitors are allowed to navigate into the reef (the rest is protected). Ash01 is still 3.5 nm from the reef, so I began motoring 6.5 nm from the reef. The sea conditions were terrible… the reef offering no protection that far away. The waves were short and steep, and I was headed right into them. The bow was burying itself with each wave, making for a lot of pitching and rolling … and very slow going. The wind was still blowing 18 from the E, the direction I was motoring, so there was plenty of spray. I passed Ash01 about 6:30. The sea conditions were somewhat better, but still rough and wet as I was still 3.5 nm from the reef. 3 nm out, the depth sounder started reading … 180m. At 6:45 I spotted West Island in the distance. The depth 2 nm out was 60n. There is either a ship or some sort of structure ahead. The depth 1 nm out was also 60m. The channel through the reef starts out half a mile wide, so it is hard to miss. There were substantial waves well inside the channel. I was hailed by the ABF vessel on station as I came in. They asked me where I intended to moor and recommended the inner mooring new West Island. They also pointed out the channel markers, green on port are red on starboard. There were about a dozen markers that took me to the mooring field in front of the island. There were three vessels already there, two older power boats and a lifeboat of the sort you might find on a large ship. While lining the boat up with one of the mooring balls, I discovered my feathering prop did not go into reverse. The boat continued to move forward when ai put it in reverse. It may need to be greased. After I grabbed one of the mooring balls, I took a 2h nap. When I woke ABF was arriving in their RIB. One was David, the man you had hailed me when I came in. We discussed the rules briefly. They said they had only arrived yesterday and would be here three weeks before being replaced. They said they patrolled the area so might not always be here. They also said I was the only person here besides themselves, and the other boats were just “extras” in case someone needed a boat. The wind is going to continue to howl for the next couple of days. It looks like Thursday-Sunday may very nice for snorkeling, greasing the prop, etc. Note: I sail I would retire my Oden’s Raven flag every 10,000 nm, so I will retire the one that is flying now.
Comments: I was thinking Seabourn Pursuit might be the ABF vessel that is supposed to be at Ashmore Reef. But when I downloaded new PW files, I see it is on it way back at 15:00, after spending less then 24h at the reef. At 16:00 I jibed to 315, a point well S of the reef, 30 nm away, figuring I can more easily make adjustments N later on than the other way around. I also furled in about 25% of the jib for two reasons, so slow me down a bit, and to make it easier to heave to later. Seabourn Pursuit passed me starboard to starboard at a distance of 6 nm 30m later. She’s a 564’ passenger ship, so certainly not the ABF vessel. It is 18:00, I have furled in half the Yankee and have two reefs in the main and the boat is still going over 5 kt. All week I have struggled to get the boat to move, and now I can’t seem to slow her down. I would drop the main all together, but I would be worried about rocking and I need this sail plan to make my was to the backside of the reef and to heave to. An ABF aircraft contacted me as I was writing this with the usual questions. I am only 20 nm from the W side of Ashmore. At this rate I will be there in 4h, about 22:00. I will make my way to the leeward NW side and see what the seas are like for heaving to. Could be a long night. At 19:00 I decide I need to get some sleep before I get too close to the reef so set three alarms at 30m intervals. It is 22:00. I am about 7 nm SW of the West Island (and the same distance to Ash01), making my way around to the NW end of the reef. I have sustained 25 kt winds and the seas are pretty big after 36h of the wind. I am hoping the seas settle down on the leeward side. Of course, the reef is not going shadow any of the wind, but it will be a lot easier to heave to for 5h in calmer water. The forecast was for the winds to decrease to 16 (still gusts to 26) between now and dawn … hopefully sooner rather than later. The sea seems to become somewhat calmer as I rounded the W end. The boat also slowed down and is almost in irons. It is 23:30 and I am on the E side of the reef, about 3 nm to the Ash01 waypoint, the southern-most point of the channel leading to the lagoon, although it does not matter. The wind is still blowing 25. It is midnight and I am 2 nm due E of Ash01, doing 3 kt on a course of about 30. The wind direction is 100 and I assume the waves are coming from the same direction. I am going to continue for another mile of so and heave to. It is 00:30, I went forward to remove the preventer, and I sheeted the main as best I could (against the wind). I am about 4 nm from the reef. I would get better protection if I were closer, but don’t want to take the chance, so I heave to and begin monitoring my drift. I am doing almost 3 kt on a course of 150, which is a problem both in speed and direction as it would send me close to the reef. I relax the main sheet a bit and adjust the windvane to neutralize the watervane and this seems to help a bit. I am still doing 2.5 kt but the course is now close to 170, which may still be a problem. Part of the problem is a 1 kt current in the same direction. I’m going to wait a bit and see if the current wraps around the reef. I played this came in Tahiti when I arrived at night and had to heave to in a current. I will have to periodically move until morning. It is 1:00 and I am getting too close to the reef, so I set sail again, against the current. I also reduced the jib even more. I am only showing 20% if the jib and still going 3.5 kt due N, against the current. I will sail around in circles for the next 4-5h, ending up where I am now in time to motor in to the mooring. Hopefully the wind will die down a bit … it is currently 27 kt. It is 3:30 and I have sailed about 5 nm due N. The wind is blowing 18-21 from 77 and the current is flowing away from the reef. I tried to heave to again, and again the boat is traveling 2.5 kt on a course of 163, essentially directly at Ash01, which is 4.8 nm away. Sunrise is expected to be at 6:00, but it will start getting light about 5:00. I am going to drop the main to see if the boat slows down. Dropping the main slowed the boat down considerably, to about 1 kt. The course is influenced more by the current now, and it is about 200, away from the reef. Since it is 4:00, it should not be necessary to do anything else but furl the last of the jib, which I will do after the ship is motoring. There is no rush. My plan is to take one off the outer bouys because they are easier to get to (no coral boomies to deal with) and because it is supposed to be very windy the next two days, and the idea of navigating around the coral heads in 25 kt wind does not appeal to me. Wednesday morning is supposed to be 14-17, and I can wait until 10:00 so I have good light to spot the coral. I will spend today and tomorrow cleaning the boat, surveying for damage, and cooking. It’s 4:30 and the wind is back up in the mid-twenties. The little bit of Yankee that is out and turned inside-out is enough to drive the boat 2 kt with the help of the current, which is fine because it should put me exactly where I need to be at sunrise (Ash01). I was drifting further W than I want to be, so at 5:30 I started the engine, furled the rest of the jib, and set out for Ash01, which was 3 nm. Ash01 is not the channel into the lagoon but one extreme in a 5-mile-wide cone that visitors are allowed to navigate into the reef (the rest is protected). Ash01 is still 3.5 nm from the reef, so I began motoring 6.5 nm from the reef. The sea conditions were terrible… the reef offering no protection that far away. The waves were short and steep, and I was headed right into them. The bow was burying itself with each wave, making for a lot of pitching and rolling … and very slow going. The wind was still blowing 18 from the E, the direction I was motoring, so there was plenty of spray. I passed Ash01 about 6:30. The sea conditions were somewhat better, but still rough and wet as I was still 3.5 nm from the reef. 3 nm out, the depth sounder started reading … 180m. At 6:45 I spotted West Island in the distance. The depth 2 nm out was 60n. There is either a ship or some sort of structure ahead. The depth 1 nm out was also 60m. The channel through the reef starts out half a mile wide, so it is hard to miss. There were substantial waves well inside the channel. I was hailed by the ABF vessel on station as I came in. They asked me where I intended to moor and recommended the inner mooring new West Island. They also pointed out the channel markers, green on port are red on starboard. There were about a dozen markers that took me to the mooring field in front of the island. There were three vessels already there, two older power boats and a lifeboat of the sort you might find on a large ship. While lining the boat up with one of the mooring balls, I discovered my feathering prop did not go into reverse. The boat continued to move forward when ai put it in reverse. It may need to be greased. After I grabbed one of the mooring balls, I took a 2h nap. When I woke ABF was arriving in their RIB. One was David, the man you had hailed me when I came in. We discussed the rules briefly. They said they had only arrived yesterday and would be here three weeks before being replaced. They said they patrolled the area so might not always be here. They also said I was the only person here besides themselves, and the other boats were just “extras” in case someone needed a boat. The wind is going to continue to howl for the next couple of days. It looks like Thursday-Sunday may very nice for snorkeling, greasing the prop, etc. Note: I sail I would retire my Oden’s Raven flag every 10,000 nm, so I will retire the one that is flying now.