Current Position: 16 06.431’S 78 01.690’E; Local Timezone: UTC+6.5; SOG: 6.7 kt; COG: 290; TWS: 24 kt; TWD: 150; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues, 263): 859 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 12765 nm; Engine Hours: 257; Estimate Fuel: 56+10+50;
Comments: At 14:30 I furled in about 20% of the Yankee as the winds began to build to better balance the sails and relieve some of the strain on the leach of the jib. I was averaging 6.8 kt at 280. Sunset is at 17:58 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (80.3e) it should be about 67m later, 19:05 by sunset I was already seeing gusts near 30 and averaging over 7 kt. I set a course closer to a run to smooth out the ride. I woke up at 6:30 to light rain. I had slept in approximately 1h intervals for almost 10h. I was also awaken three times when the boat rounded up during the night, driven by high winds and big seas. At least one of those times it was because the control line on the windvane had slipped under the pressure. I had strange dreams. It is 7:00, almost sunrise, and the wind has dropped to 19. Not sure if it is due to the storm that just passed. I adjusted the windvane closer to a broad reach than a run to try to stop slatting of the sails. The boat has slowed down from an average of 7 overnight to 5.8 kt this morning. I downloaded a new GRIB. The wind should be mid-20s with gust in the low-30s from about 120. I will likely encounter three commercial vessels in the next 24h. It is 8:40 and another squall is rolling in. It does not look threatening. Another one hit at 10:00 with a moderate amount of rain. By midmorning I was once again averaging close to 7 kt. As predicted, the winds blew mid-20s with occasional gusts in the low-30s. By midday it was still dark so I ran the engine 45m to charge the batteries. I fell asleep after lunch for 1.5h and woke at 14:10 to see a bit of sun. It was still heavily overcast but it was brighter. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 1007-859=148 nm. The total distance sailed was 12766-12605=161 nm (161/24=6.71 kt avg.).
Comments: At 14:30 I furled in about 20% of the Yankee as the winds began to build to better balance the sails and relieve some of the strain on the leach of the jib. I was averaging 6.8 kt at 280. Sunset is at 17:58 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (80.3e) it should be about 67m later, 19:05 by sunset I was already seeing gusts near 30 and averaging over 7 kt. I set a course closer to a run to smooth out the ride. I woke up at 6:30 to light rain. I had slept in approximately 1h intervals for almost 10h. I was also awaken three times when the boat rounded up during the night, driven by high winds and big seas. At least one of those times it was because the control line on the windvane had slipped under the pressure. I had strange dreams. It is 7:00, almost sunrise, and the wind has dropped to 19. Not sure if it is due to the storm that just passed. I adjusted the windvane closer to a broad reach than a run to try to stop slatting of the sails. The boat has slowed down from an average of 7 overnight to 5.8 kt this morning. I downloaded a new GRIB. The wind should be mid-20s with gust in the low-30s from about 120. I will likely encounter three commercial vessels in the next 24h. It is 8:40 and another squall is rolling in. It does not look threatening. Another one hit at 10:00 with a moderate amount of rain. By midmorning I was once again averaging close to 7 kt. As predicted, the winds blew mid-20s with occasional gusts in the low-30s. By midday it was still dark so I ran the engine 45m to charge the batteries. I fell asleep after lunch for 1.5h and woke at 14:10 to see a bit of sun. It was still heavily overcast but it was brighter. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 1007-859=148 nm. The total distance sailed was 12766-12605=161 nm (161/24=6.71 kt avg.).