Current Position: 10 25.740’S 109 26.230’E; Local Timezone: UTC+7; SOG: 6.2kt; COG: 275; TWS: 21 kt; TWD: 128; Distance to Waypoint (Christmas Island, 270): 219 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 10847 nm; Engine Hours: 242; Estimate Fuel: 51+11+50;
Comments: Note that I have switched to the new time zone (UTC+7). This will be the time zone until I leave Christmas Island for the Cocos (when the time zone will change to UTC+6). I brought my fishing line in at dusk and discovered the reason I hadn’t had any bites … something had bitten the lure off the line. Sunset was at 17:28. I have not seen another boat all day, but as soon as it is dark I began seeing fishing boats all around me. I passed the first one in the port side at 18:50. It was about 1 nm away. At 20:00 there did not appear to be any lights ahead, so I set the alarm for 45m. At 21:00 no lights. 22:30 no lights. 23:30 no lights. At 1:00 there were two lights off the port side, but nothing ahead. At 2:00 I was passing a fishing boat on the port, but nothing ahead. At 3:20 there was nothing ahead. The wind had backed from 110 to 140, allowing me to make progress N again. At 3:45 I was awaken because for some reason the boat had rounded up (the heeling and rush of water had awaken me). The trace suggested it happened a few minutes earlier. Sunrise should be in about 2h, so it will start getting light in 1h. I saw far fewer fishing boats last night. The boat is averaging 6.6 kt and unexpectedly making progress N. I covered the ground overnight 3h faster than expected. I am beginning to think there is a chance I will arrive on Tuesday in time to moor before dark. I downloaded new GRIB/AIS data. No surprises for the weather … 15-18 with gusts 22-25 for the rest of the passage. The direction will oscillate 110-125. When >120, I can make set a course for the waypoint. When <120 I will loose ground S, necessitating a jibe before the island. I will be crossing another shipping lane just before Christmas Island, and it is probably not a good idea to jibe there, so will need to plan accordingly. It is 5:00, starting to get light, and the boat rounded up again with a gust. Not sure why it is doing that … perhaps too much weather helm because I am still flying the full jib with a double-reefed main. It may help to ease the jib sheet … will try to trim the sails when it is more light. It is almost 6:00, after sunrise, although I cannot see the sun yet because of clouds in the horizon. I trimmed the jib and no longer have a problem with the boat rounding up. The seas are big with periodic swell that sometime reached 15’ or more. I have changed my course to 280 (only possible because the wind is at least temporarily coming from 140) so the waves hit almost squarely at the stern. I am sitting towards the stern, enjoying my tea. And watching the towering waves roll towards me, causing the boat to lift like a cork and surf more than 8 kt. Neither the wave height nor the wind direction was predicted. At 8:00 I passed a large neon green float or canister. It was perhaps one-third the length of my boat. It might have been something used for fishing, but usually those have AIS beacons. About 8:30 I was putting out a fishing line and noticed a large vessel coming up behind me, perhaps 1-2 nm away. I didn’t notice it at first because of the large following waves I double-checked and it was not on AIS, so it is either a fishing or military vessel. After a while it fell back, either slowing down or stopping. My guess is it was a fishing vessel repositioning itself for another night of fishing. Christmas Island is at about 10 23’S and I am currently 10 28’S. I have been making up latitude lost yesterday and am currently the furthest N I have been. In contrast, the PW route would have had me 40 nm S of here, distance I would have had to make up. It is probably break even since a route further S would have resulted in faster boat speeds, but the real advantage of heading further north is there is less heeling (only 2 degrees) and less rolling with the following waves … making for a much more comfortable ride. The boat speed is only about 5 kt in 23 kt of wind, but the surfing acts almost like the effect of a current, adding 1.4 kt to the SOG.bit is 14:00 and I am at 10 26’S, having made 3’ of latitude today, half of what I need to be at the latitude of Christmas Island. Of course it does not matter, but it would be nice not to have to jibe as the time heading due N is essentially wasted. The distance sailed towards Christmas Island in the last 24h was 363-219=144 nm. The total distance sailed was 10847-10691=156 nm (156/24=6.5 kt avg.). If I am to arrive by Tuesday and have time to secure the boat before dark, I need to cover the remaining 219/48=4.6 kt. I have been averaging 140-150 nm on each day, so this seems very probable. There is no reason with the forecast that I cannot make at least 6 kt. My best guess is I will arrive by midday on Tuesday after a fast 8-day passage.
Comments: Note that I have switched to the new time zone (UTC+7). This will be the time zone until I leave Christmas Island for the Cocos (when the time zone will change to UTC+6). I brought my fishing line in at dusk and discovered the reason I hadn’t had any bites … something had bitten the lure off the line. Sunset was at 17:28. I have not seen another boat all day, but as soon as it is dark I began seeing fishing boats all around me. I passed the first one in the port side at 18:50. It was about 1 nm away. At 20:00 there did not appear to be any lights ahead, so I set the alarm for 45m. At 21:00 no lights. 22:30 no lights. 23:30 no lights. At 1:00 there were two lights off the port side, but nothing ahead. At 2:00 I was passing a fishing boat on the port, but nothing ahead. At 3:20 there was nothing ahead. The wind had backed from 110 to 140, allowing me to make progress N again. At 3:45 I was awaken because for some reason the boat had rounded up (the heeling and rush of water had awaken me). The trace suggested it happened a few minutes earlier. Sunrise should be in about 2h, so it will start getting light in 1h. I saw far fewer fishing boats last night. The boat is averaging 6.6 kt and unexpectedly making progress N. I covered the ground overnight 3h faster than expected. I am beginning to think there is a chance I will arrive on Tuesday in time to moor before dark. I downloaded new GRIB/AIS data. No surprises for the weather … 15-18 with gusts 22-25 for the rest of the passage. The direction will oscillate 110-125. When >120, I can make set a course for the waypoint. When <120 I will loose ground S, necessitating a jibe before the island. I will be crossing another shipping lane just before Christmas Island, and it is probably not a good idea to jibe there, so will need to plan accordingly. It is 5:00, starting to get light, and the boat rounded up again with a gust. Not sure why it is doing that … perhaps too much weather helm because I am still flying the full jib with a double-reefed main. It may help to ease the jib sheet … will try to trim the sails when it is more light. It is almost 6:00, after sunrise, although I cannot see the sun yet because of clouds in the horizon. I trimmed the jib and no longer have a problem with the boat rounding up. The seas are big with periodic swell that sometime reached 15’ or more. I have changed my course to 280 (only possible because the wind is at least temporarily coming from 140) so the waves hit almost squarely at the stern. I am sitting towards the stern, enjoying my tea. And watching the towering waves roll towards me, causing the boat to lift like a cork and surf more than 8 kt. Neither the wave height nor the wind direction was predicted. At 8:00 I passed a large neon green float or canister. It was perhaps one-third the length of my boat. It might have been something used for fishing, but usually those have AIS beacons. About 8:30 I was putting out a fishing line and noticed a large vessel coming up behind me, perhaps 1-2 nm away. I didn’t notice it at first because of the large following waves I double-checked and it was not on AIS, so it is either a fishing or military vessel. After a while it fell back, either slowing down or stopping. My guess is it was a fishing vessel repositioning itself for another night of fishing. Christmas Island is at about 10 23’S and I am currently 10 28’S. I have been making up latitude lost yesterday and am currently the furthest N I have been. In contrast, the PW route would have had me 40 nm S of here, distance I would have had to make up. It is probably break even since a route further S would have resulted in faster boat speeds, but the real advantage of heading further north is there is less heeling (only 2 degrees) and less rolling with the following waves … making for a much more comfortable ride. The boat speed is only about 5 kt in 23 kt of wind, but the surfing acts almost like the effect of a current, adding 1.4 kt to the SOG.bit is 14:00 and I am at 10 26’S, having made 3’ of latitude today, half of what I need to be at the latitude of Christmas Island. Of course it does not matter, but it would be nice not to have to jibe as the time heading due N is essentially wasted. The distance sailed towards Christmas Island in the last 24h was 363-219=144 nm. The total distance sailed was 10847-10691=156 nm (156/24=6.5 kt avg.). If I am to arrive by Tuesday and have time to secure the boat before dark, I need to cover the remaining 219/48=4.6 kt. I have been averaging 140-150 nm on each day, so this seems very probable. There is no reason with the forecast that I cannot make at least 6 kt. My best guess is I will arrive by midday on Tuesday after a fast 8-day passage.