Current Position: 27 15.252’S 41 19.670’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 5.6; COG: 308; TWS: 18; TWD: 102; P (6:00): 1017.3; P (12:00): 1016.9; P (18:00): 1016.3; P (24:00): 1016.1; Distance to Waypoint (Richards Bay): 497; Total Miles Sailed: 15049 nm; Engine Hours: 282; Estimate Fuel: 36+15+50;
Comments: It is 6:00. The skies are partly cloudy with no chance of rain. I am in a 1.5 kt SW current and 18 kt wind from 110 in a deep broad reach averaging 6 kt. It looks like I will have another 24-36h of decent wind before becoming largely becalmed starting midday tomorrow and lasting about 36h. My plan will be to strategically motorsail E, perhaps reducing the period I am becalmed to 12-24h. I note that I am now only 22 nm (23 nm closer in 24h) from Greij (a larger, faster boat) as a consequence of choosing a more favorable course. I reached 27.5s 43e by 8:00 and the wind was still blowing from 115 (and the 1.5 current to 270. I decided to continue on the COG of 265 because the alternative was to tack almost due N, loosing the current and probably dropping the SOG to 4 or less. I am about 60 nm from 28s 42e … at my current speed about 12h away. So, I will continue on this course until dusk if necessary, then tack N. Hopefully by then the wind will have backed to a more favorable angle. While doing a routine check, I discovered a bolt had failed on the frame that supports the windvane. The only way to make a repair would be to stop the boat, lower the dinghy, and position myself behind the windvane. I know from doing this work in the past that even a slight swell makes the work hazardous. On open ocean it would be suicidal. I put a harness on and dangled behind the boat to lash the structural pieces, preventing them from moving around and securing the pieces from loss should another bolt work itself loose. I needed to raise the watervane to relieve the gram geo further stress, the problem is the line attached to the bottom of the vane feet underwater was chaffed off. I have replaced it several times, but even the Dyneema lines did not last but a couple of weeks. I made a lasso from some paracord and fed it down the shaft of the vane until I could lasso the bolts that hold the vane on. After raising the watervane I lashed it to the frame and disconnected the windvane to allow it to turn freely, then centered the watervane with the control lines and lashed them to the stanchions to further reduce movement. I am pretty sure this was the bolt I could loose in Tonga and I am quite certain I put a lock washer on it, so I don’t understand how it came loose again (this time completely). Of course, that was more than 4 months and almost 10,000 miles ago. I am restricted now to using the TillerPilot. Fortunately, I have a new one that I had delivered while in Darwin and I have the backup (that does not work as well. I will need to make repairs to the windvane when I get to RBay. Also, I will order parts there and have them delivered to Cape Town where I was planning to overhaul the windvane anyway. It is 9:00, 55 nm to 28s 42e, I am averaging 5.4, and there is no sign yet of the wind backing. It is 13:00 and the wind has actually veered to 126, so I set a course for 175. Helped by the 1.6 kt current about the same direction, the SOG is 5.7 in a very deep broad reach. Concerned I was sailing too far S, at 14:00 and 27 43’s 42 28’e, I tacked starboard and set a COG of about 320. I am currently 550 nm from RBay. I chose a waypoint of 27s 40e 140 nm away to get me back up to the 27th parallel and as far E as the current wind conditions allow. With 14 kt wind from 120, a boat speed of 4.0 and partial assistance from a 1.2 kt wind, I was able to achieve a SOG of 5.2, about 0.3 kt slower than the port tack, due almost entirely to the current angle. It is 16:30 and the wind has actually veered more as the sun gets ready to set … about 130. The ECMWF model says it should be 90 and all the models predict a similar angle. The wind has blown from the wrong direction for at least 24h. It is supposed to continuous back to 38 over the next 24h, but unfortunately the wind velocity is also expected to drop from 15 to 7. I am only averaging a little over 4 kt now with the 1.5 kt current perpendicular to my course … and I am going in the wrong direction! By tomorrow night I might actually make better speed by dropping the sails and drifting with the current. If I thought I could motor out of the situation I would, but it is impractical to motor for 2-3 days. There is no use motorsailjng tonight as the direction I really want to go is directly downwind, so I would get very little help from the sails, but in a day or so when the light wind is suppose to be from the N, I might be able to make good time motorsailjng. For tonight, I will make the best out of the wind I get. Tomorrow, I may be forced to break out the (torn) asymm. The sunset was in an isolated rain storm downwind. By 18:00 the crosscurrent was down to 0.75 kt since it was not contributing significantly in helping drive the boat southward, the boat was drifting even more northward. I woke up at midnight because the boat was moving faster. I thought the wind had finally backed. Nope … still 110. Instead, the wind was blowing 18 and the 0.9 kt current had shifted to 320. I was back up to 27 26’s. Since the current had shifted, I was being shifted N faster than expected. It is 3:30 and the wind had backed to 105. I am making a little over 5 kt (4.2 avg. since tacking 10h ago). The current has increased a bit to 1.1. I downloaded a new forecast to 26s 36e and it does not look as dire as it used to. The wind will be single digit but on the beam. There will be a period of perhaps 12h where motorsailing may be necessary. It looks like the currents will be favorable. I believe I can make the waypoint by Monday night (about 240 nm from RBay). It is 5:00, partly cloudy, relatively calm seas, and very mellow sailing. I have sailed about 100 nm on towards RBay in the last 24h, which is better than I expected since nearly half the time I have been sailing almost perpendicular to the rhumb line. I am about 70 nm from 27s 40e and am now able to sail the rhumb line with an average of 5.6 kt. However, it is not my intention to sail there but rather to curve E as the backing of the wind allows me to.
Comments: It is 6:00. The skies are partly cloudy with no chance of rain. I am in a 1.5 kt SW current and 18 kt wind from 110 in a deep broad reach averaging 6 kt. It looks like I will have another 24-36h of decent wind before becoming largely becalmed starting midday tomorrow and lasting about 36h. My plan will be to strategically motorsail E, perhaps reducing the period I am becalmed to 12-24h. I note that I am now only 22 nm (23 nm closer in 24h) from Greij (a larger, faster boat) as a consequence of choosing a more favorable course. I reached 27.5s 43e by 8:00 and the wind was still blowing from 115 (and the 1.5 current to 270. I decided to continue on the COG of 265 because the alternative was to tack almost due N, loosing the current and probably dropping the SOG to 4 or less. I am about 60 nm from 28s 42e … at my current speed about 12h away. So, I will continue on this course until dusk if necessary, then tack N. Hopefully by then the wind will have backed to a more favorable angle. While doing a routine check, I discovered a bolt had failed on the frame that supports the windvane. The only way to make a repair would be to stop the boat, lower the dinghy, and position myself behind the windvane. I know from doing this work in the past that even a slight swell makes the work hazardous. On open ocean it would be suicidal. I put a harness on and dangled behind the boat to lash the structural pieces, preventing them from moving around and securing the pieces from loss should another bolt work itself loose. I needed to raise the watervane to relieve the gram geo further stress, the problem is the line attached to the bottom of the vane feet underwater was chaffed off. I have replaced it several times, but even the Dyneema lines did not last but a couple of weeks. I made a lasso from some paracord and fed it down the shaft of the vane until I could lasso the bolts that hold the vane on. After raising the watervane I lashed it to the frame and disconnected the windvane to allow it to turn freely, then centered the watervane with the control lines and lashed them to the stanchions to further reduce movement. I am pretty sure this was the bolt I could loose in Tonga and I am quite certain I put a lock washer on it, so I don’t understand how it came loose again (this time completely). Of course, that was more than 4 months and almost 10,000 miles ago. I am restricted now to using the TillerPilot. Fortunately, I have a new one that I had delivered while in Darwin and I have the backup (that does not work as well. I will need to make repairs to the windvane when I get to RBay. Also, I will order parts there and have them delivered to Cape Town where I was planning to overhaul the windvane anyway. It is 9:00, 55 nm to 28s 42e, I am averaging 5.4, and there is no sign yet of the wind backing. It is 13:00 and the wind has actually veered to 126, so I set a course for 175. Helped by the 1.6 kt current about the same direction, the SOG is 5.7 in a very deep broad reach. Concerned I was sailing too far S, at 14:00 and 27 43’s 42 28’e, I tacked starboard and set a COG of about 320. I am currently 550 nm from RBay. I chose a waypoint of 27s 40e 140 nm away to get me back up to the 27th parallel and as far E as the current wind conditions allow. With 14 kt wind from 120, a boat speed of 4.0 and partial assistance from a 1.2 kt wind, I was able to achieve a SOG of 5.2, about 0.3 kt slower than the port tack, due almost entirely to the current angle. It is 16:30 and the wind has actually veered more as the sun gets ready to set … about 130. The ECMWF model says it should be 90 and all the models predict a similar angle. The wind has blown from the wrong direction for at least 24h. It is supposed to continuous back to 38 over the next 24h, but unfortunately the wind velocity is also expected to drop from 15 to 7. I am only averaging a little over 4 kt now with the 1.5 kt current perpendicular to my course … and I am going in the wrong direction! By tomorrow night I might actually make better speed by dropping the sails and drifting with the current. If I thought I could motor out of the situation I would, but it is impractical to motor for 2-3 days. There is no use motorsailjng tonight as the direction I really want to go is directly downwind, so I would get very little help from the sails, but in a day or so when the light wind is suppose to be from the N, I might be able to make good time motorsailjng. For tonight, I will make the best out of the wind I get. Tomorrow, I may be forced to break out the (torn) asymm. The sunset was in an isolated rain storm downwind. By 18:00 the crosscurrent was down to 0.75 kt since it was not contributing significantly in helping drive the boat southward, the boat was drifting even more northward. I woke up at midnight because the boat was moving faster. I thought the wind had finally backed. Nope … still 110. Instead, the wind was blowing 18 and the 0.9 kt current had shifted to 320. I was back up to 27 26’s. Since the current had shifted, I was being shifted N faster than expected. It is 3:30 and the wind had backed to 105. I am making a little over 5 kt (4.2 avg. since tacking 10h ago). The current has increased a bit to 1.1. I downloaded a new forecast to 26s 36e and it does not look as dire as it used to. The wind will be single digit but on the beam. There will be a period of perhaps 12h where motorsailing may be necessary. It looks like the currents will be favorable. I believe I can make the waypoint by Monday night (about 240 nm from RBay). It is 5:00, partly cloudy, relatively calm seas, and very mellow sailing. I have sailed about 100 nm on towards RBay in the last 24h, which is better than I expected since nearly half the time I have been sailing almost perpendicular to the rhumb line. I am about 70 nm from 27s 40e and am now able to sail the rhumb line with an average of 5.6 kt. However, it is not my intention to sail there but rather to curve E as the backing of the wind allows me to.