Current Position: 18 14.445’S 69 00.097’E; Local Timezone: UTC+6.5; SOG: 5.2 kt; COG: 260; TWS: 15 kt; TWD: 126; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues, 268): 327 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 13324 nm; Engine Hours: 261; Estimate Fuel: 56+9+50;
Comments: Sunset is at 17:58 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (70.5e) it should be about 106m later, 19:44. The big swell has been replaced with chop. The sunset was at 19:45. The wind backed slowly overnight to 120 and the speed dropped to 15. I trimmed the sheets at 3:30 and went on deck to tighten a preventer to stop the boom from slapping in the swell. I was making about 4.9 kt. I could make 5.5 if I drove further S. However, there is a sheer line being driven from the SW that will cross Rodrigues early Tuesday morning that will leave me no air on this side of it. In the meantime, the wind is supposed to back to 70 by this time tomorrow. At that time I will tack starboard back over the rhumb line to catch what little air there is and position myself for a final approach to Rodrigues from ENE. I will probably have to deal with the aftermath of the sheer line when I arrive late Tuesday/early Wednesday. I downloaded a new GRIB at 4:00. No surprises. The next 36h will determine if I arrive Tuesday (as originally scheduled) or Wednesday. There is much commercial traffic to the N, some to the S, and there is perhaps one cargo ship that may approach me from the stern tonight. I got up just before 7:00. Surprisingly, the wind was blowing 18 from 130. I could see from the trace that the wind had backed abruptly about 2h ago. Sunrise is at 5:44 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (69.5e) it should be about 110m later, 7:34. Sunrise was behind a cloud bank. There are a few heavy clouds, but it does not look like rain. The water is deep violet today. Most people have seen the ocean, but only people who have travelled by boat far from shore see this shade of blue. Must be about a week since I have seen another vessel … even on AIS. It has been perhaps since the passage from Vanuatu since I have gone this long without seeing anything but water and sky. It is 10:00. I did not have any luck with my home-made South African spoon yesterday, so I am trying a small pink squid today. I have seen quite a few squid on the deck recently. The canned/processed food I have been eating has not agreed with me, so I’d really like to catch a fish. I went below deck for an hour to rest and when I returned to the cockpit at 11:30 a large storm had unexpectedly appeared S of me. It appeared much of it would pass in front of me. The air became cooler and the wind picked up to the low 20s. The storm passed in front of me without any precipitation. It is 13:00 and the wind is still blowing from 125. The GRIB says it should be blowing from 88. For the past week the wind has failed to back as deep as predicted by the GRIBs. I read a passage report once from a sailboat sailing to the Mauritius archipelago that stated the regardless of what the GRIBs predict, the wind always blows from the SE E of the Mauritius. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 448-327=121 nm. The total distance sailed was 13324-13202=122 nm (122/24=5.08 kt avg.).
Comments: Sunset is at 17:58 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (70.5e) it should be about 106m later, 19:44. The big swell has been replaced with chop. The sunset was at 19:45. The wind backed slowly overnight to 120 and the speed dropped to 15. I trimmed the sheets at 3:30 and went on deck to tighten a preventer to stop the boom from slapping in the swell. I was making about 4.9 kt. I could make 5.5 if I drove further S. However, there is a sheer line being driven from the SW that will cross Rodrigues early Tuesday morning that will leave me no air on this side of it. In the meantime, the wind is supposed to back to 70 by this time tomorrow. At that time I will tack starboard back over the rhumb line to catch what little air there is and position myself for a final approach to Rodrigues from ENE. I will probably have to deal with the aftermath of the sheer line when I arrive late Tuesday/early Wednesday. I downloaded a new GRIB at 4:00. No surprises. The next 36h will determine if I arrive Tuesday (as originally scheduled) or Wednesday. There is much commercial traffic to the N, some to the S, and there is perhaps one cargo ship that may approach me from the stern tonight. I got up just before 7:00. Surprisingly, the wind was blowing 18 from 130. I could see from the trace that the wind had backed abruptly about 2h ago. Sunrise is at 5:44 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (69.5e) it should be about 110m later, 7:34. Sunrise was behind a cloud bank. There are a few heavy clouds, but it does not look like rain. The water is deep violet today. Most people have seen the ocean, but only people who have travelled by boat far from shore see this shade of blue. Must be about a week since I have seen another vessel … even on AIS. It has been perhaps since the passage from Vanuatu since I have gone this long without seeing anything but water and sky. It is 10:00. I did not have any luck with my home-made South African spoon yesterday, so I am trying a small pink squid today. I have seen quite a few squid on the deck recently. The canned/processed food I have been eating has not agreed with me, so I’d really like to catch a fish. I went below deck for an hour to rest and when I returned to the cockpit at 11:30 a large storm had unexpectedly appeared S of me. It appeared much of it would pass in front of me. The air became cooler and the wind picked up to the low 20s. The storm passed in front of me without any precipitation. It is 13:00 and the wind is still blowing from 125. The GRIB says it should be blowing from 88. For the past week the wind has failed to back as deep as predicted by the GRIBs. I read a passage report once from a sailboat sailing to the Mauritius archipelago that stated the regardless of what the GRIBs predict, the wind always blows from the SE E of the Mauritius. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 448-327=121 nm. The total distance sailed was 13324-13202=122 nm (122/24=5.08 kt avg.).