Current Position: 27 04.426’S 39 28.614’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 4.1; COG: 297 (HDG 275 and 1.9 kt current 340); TWS: 7; TWD: 005; P (6:00): 1015.0; P (12:00): 1014.6; P (18:00): 1012.7; P (24:00): 1012.6; Distance to Waypoint (Richards Bay): 404; Total Miles Sailed: 15135 nm; Engine Hours: 285; Estimate Fuel: 36+13+50;
Comments: The barometer is falling and I woke up this morning to fairly grey clouds. Rain is a possibility, but nothing looks threatening. The wind finally seems to be backing, albeit 36h after it was supposed to. I have been in a deep broad reach to the starboard since yesterday afternoon to try to make as much distance E as I can. I’d really like to see 30-50 degrees, but I know that is bringing lighter winds. There are 12 commercial vessels 50 nm S of me and only one in between. It is nice not to be in the shipping lane anymore. I put a fishing line out at 7:00. Don’t have a lot of hope catching anything. I have had no fish or squid on the deck for a week, have not seen any flying fish, and very few birds. I polished fuel to the day tank and checked fluids. The oil, oil filter, fuel filter, and Racor filter will need to be changed when I get to RBay. At 7:30 I shook out the second reef in the main and unfurled the remaining 20% of the Yankee. As I suspected, the sacrificial line I had put through the second reefing point had warn through the outer braid and was hanging on by the inner core. That sacrificial line was put on just before dusk on the 23rd, so it lasted only 2.5d! I am saving the line so I can fabricate a new sacrificial line that is stronger (out of a length of Dyneema covered in fire hose with a piece of double-braid attached to allow it to be cinched … much like I did with the control lines for the windvane). I did not gain any speed presenting more sail, just compensated for diminishing wind speed. I am still averaging 5.5. I received Des’s weather report and am relieved the low in the south is going to primarily impact the coast. It looks like if I can reach the coast by Tuesday, with the help of the Agulhas current should be in RBay by Wednesday evening or Thursday morning at the latest. The trick will be to get past the dead air over the next couple of days. I should have a westerly 2 kt current tonight, so hope to achieve at least 5 kt avg with the single-digit winds from the NW that are expected. The staysail may pay off if I am reaching with light winds. When I was forward to shake out the reef, I neglected to check the gooseneck, so I went back and found the bolt was loose. I am reluctant to tighten it too much as it will certainly strip the aluminum threads. By 9:30 the wings had dropped to 9 and was still from 110 (not 75 like it was supposed to be). The current was 1.3 at 270, so was perpendicular to the course. The SOG dropped to 3. I changed the course to 330 to get some wind to the sails and turned on the engine at 1500 rpm to make almost 6 kt on a COG of about 320. At noon and 27 07’s 40 43’e I finally reached an area where the wind had backed to 80. I turned the engine off, and set a course for 27s 36e at 287 and 252 nm away. The wind was blowing 8 kt from 80 and I was at a broad reach with a SOG 3.4 with a current of 0.6 at 260. The current is supposed to increase to 2.5 and shift to 315 after midnight. In other words the SOG should increase to about 5 after midnight. This is not a perfect situation, but I cannot run the engine for three days to get to the coast. I should pick up some speed as I more from a broad to a beam reach. It is 17:00 and it has been slow going all afternoon with 6-8 kt wind that is now from 65 degrees. There has been a 0.6 kt current flowing in the direction of the waypoint. The average SOG has only been 3.1 kt. I am hoping to average at least 4 overnight as the current picks up and I shift to a beam reach. At 17:30, now that the wind is finally on the beam, I shook out the last reef in the main as the extra sail area of the main is not going to interfere with with the downwind performance of the foresails. The sunset was at 17:30 (40 25’e). I had been awaken several times during the night by someone playing music on VHF 16. I did not recognize the language. It seemed to be some sort of game. By midnight the wind was blowing 10-12 from due N and the boat was doing about 5 in a close reach. There seemed to be little current, perhaps 0.5 kt to the N, and it certainly was not contributing to the boat speed. There were two ships to be concerned with, one on the opposite course in about 1h and one on the same course in perhaps 3h. At 3:30 the current had finally picked up, 1.5 kt to the NNW and I was going about 5 kt E in 8 kt wind. Interesting that Greij is now almost 100 nm S of me, below the latitude of RBay, and they are continuing S. They must be headed for Durban or beyond. Sunrise was 4:43 (39 32’e). I sailed 93 nm on to RBay in the last 24h, which is much better than expected in winds that averaged 6-8 kt, especially as I did not have much help from currents most of the way. Based upon what Inhavevseen in the last 24h and the forecast, the pattern seems clear for the last 200 nm to the coast … 5-8 kt N winds during the day and 9-11 kt N winds at late night. The best boat speed I can expect is 2.5-3.5 kt. I couldn’t expect that if not for the fact that there is virtually no swell. Any additional SOG will have to come from currents. I now expect to reach 27s 36e Tuesday morning. From there I will head S, and expecting help from easterly winds and the Agulhas current, I might be able to make RBay by nightfall on Wednesday.
Comments: The barometer is falling and I woke up this morning to fairly grey clouds. Rain is a possibility, but nothing looks threatening. The wind finally seems to be backing, albeit 36h after it was supposed to. I have been in a deep broad reach to the starboard since yesterday afternoon to try to make as much distance E as I can. I’d really like to see 30-50 degrees, but I know that is bringing lighter winds. There are 12 commercial vessels 50 nm S of me and only one in between. It is nice not to be in the shipping lane anymore. I put a fishing line out at 7:00. Don’t have a lot of hope catching anything. I have had no fish or squid on the deck for a week, have not seen any flying fish, and very few birds. I polished fuel to the day tank and checked fluids. The oil, oil filter, fuel filter, and Racor filter will need to be changed when I get to RBay. At 7:30 I shook out the second reef in the main and unfurled the remaining 20% of the Yankee. As I suspected, the sacrificial line I had put through the second reefing point had warn through the outer braid and was hanging on by the inner core. That sacrificial line was put on just before dusk on the 23rd, so it lasted only 2.5d! I am saving the line so I can fabricate a new sacrificial line that is stronger (out of a length of Dyneema covered in fire hose with a piece of double-braid attached to allow it to be cinched … much like I did with the control lines for the windvane). I did not gain any speed presenting more sail, just compensated for diminishing wind speed. I am still averaging 5.5. I received Des’s weather report and am relieved the low in the south is going to primarily impact the coast. It looks like if I can reach the coast by Tuesday, with the help of the Agulhas current should be in RBay by Wednesday evening or Thursday morning at the latest. The trick will be to get past the dead air over the next couple of days. I should have a westerly 2 kt current tonight, so hope to achieve at least 5 kt avg with the single-digit winds from the NW that are expected. The staysail may pay off if I am reaching with light winds. When I was forward to shake out the reef, I neglected to check the gooseneck, so I went back and found the bolt was loose. I am reluctant to tighten it too much as it will certainly strip the aluminum threads. By 9:30 the wings had dropped to 9 and was still from 110 (not 75 like it was supposed to be). The current was 1.3 at 270, so was perpendicular to the course. The SOG dropped to 3. I changed the course to 330 to get some wind to the sails and turned on the engine at 1500 rpm to make almost 6 kt on a COG of about 320. At noon and 27 07’s 40 43’e I finally reached an area where the wind had backed to 80. I turned the engine off, and set a course for 27s 36e at 287 and 252 nm away. The wind was blowing 8 kt from 80 and I was at a broad reach with a SOG 3.4 with a current of 0.6 at 260. The current is supposed to increase to 2.5 and shift to 315 after midnight. In other words the SOG should increase to about 5 after midnight. This is not a perfect situation, but I cannot run the engine for three days to get to the coast. I should pick up some speed as I more from a broad to a beam reach. It is 17:00 and it has been slow going all afternoon with 6-8 kt wind that is now from 65 degrees. There has been a 0.6 kt current flowing in the direction of the waypoint. The average SOG has only been 3.1 kt. I am hoping to average at least 4 overnight as the current picks up and I shift to a beam reach. At 17:30, now that the wind is finally on the beam, I shook out the last reef in the main as the extra sail area of the main is not going to interfere with with the downwind performance of the foresails. The sunset was at 17:30 (40 25’e). I had been awaken several times during the night by someone playing music on VHF 16. I did not recognize the language. It seemed to be some sort of game. By midnight the wind was blowing 10-12 from due N and the boat was doing about 5 in a close reach. There seemed to be little current, perhaps 0.5 kt to the N, and it certainly was not contributing to the boat speed. There were two ships to be concerned with, one on the opposite course in about 1h and one on the same course in perhaps 3h. At 3:30 the current had finally picked up, 1.5 kt to the NNW and I was going about 5 kt E in 8 kt wind. Interesting that Greij is now almost 100 nm S of me, below the latitude of RBay, and they are continuing S. They must be headed for Durban or beyond. Sunrise was 4:43 (39 32’e). I sailed 93 nm on to RBay in the last 24h, which is much better than expected in winds that averaged 6-8 kt, especially as I did not have much help from currents most of the way. Based upon what Inhavevseen in the last 24h and the forecast, the pattern seems clear for the last 200 nm to the coast … 5-8 kt N winds during the day and 9-11 kt N winds at late night. The best boat speed I can expect is 2.5-3.5 kt. I couldn’t expect that if not for the fact that there is virtually no swell. Any additional SOG will have to come from currents. I now expect to reach 27s 36e Tuesday morning. From there I will head S, and expecting help from easterly winds and the Agulhas current, I might be able to make RBay by nightfall on Wednesday.