Current Position: 21 11.827’S 3 29.982’E; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 4.6 kt; COG: 304; TWS: 13; TWD: 175; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.5 kt; Current Direction: 310; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 312): 606 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4270 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 18021 nm; Engine Hours: 412; Estimate Fuel: 60+10+50;
Comments: Sunset should be at 18:30 at 4.5E. The sunset was actually at 18:29. It is blowing 11 from 170, driving me somewhat E, but since it would take me a hour to furl the asymm, tack, reorganize the running rigging, unfurl the asymm, and reset the windvane, it is just not worth it. At the point I am going to enter the shipping channel in 2-4d, I may tack. I am in a very deep broad reach, so I am not making the speed I could is the AWA was more obtuse. I brought the fishing line in for the night without any strikes today. I may try a different lure tomorrow. I went to sleep at 19:00. Since the OTH AIS shows no commercial traffic that will likely cross my path tonight, I set alarm intervals of 2h. It is 2:00, the wind is blowing 13, the SOG is 5.4, and I have begun heading more easterly (340). At 3:30 the boat heeled over severely. Everything went flying in the cabin. An (obviously unexpected) 20 kt gust had overwhelmed the windvane and caused the boat to round up. Once the course was corrected, I put boat in a near run. The boat was doing 7 kt in 18 kt wind on a course of 320. At 3:45 I got hit with a 22kt gust followed by 19 kt wind. The windvane struggled but kept the course. By 4:00 the wind had settled at 15 and the boat was riding comfortably. The previous GRIB said gusts of 17 between 2-3:00, then working down to single digits by dawn. The GRIB was 18h old do I updated it. The new forecast is for 12 kt winds and 15 kt gusts all day and some 19 kt gusts tonight. The wind will veer during the day from 125 to 145. This seems to be a pattern. It looks like I will reach the shipping channel by tomorrow evening (New Year’s Eve) and it will be a good time to tack. I will run some weather simulations in the morning to decide whether it is best to redeploy the asymm on the starboard or run the jib for a while. On the OTH AIS I see 2-3 ships on my stern that may come into range later this evening and 1 on my bow that may show up in the early morning hours. Once it is light, I am going to secure everything in the cabin. I also need to go on deck to make sure there was no damage when I heeled over. Sunrise should be at 5:01 (4.0E). Sunrise was in fact at 5:03. The sky is mostly cloudy and there are significant wind-driven waves. The swell still seems light. Despite heading misty N in the last 13h, I still made 36 nm on to St. Helena (and probably twice that over ground). Because I am going to see gusts of 18-20 much of the night, the AWA will be >135, and I need to furl the asymm if I am going to tack tomorrow evening, I may furl the asymm before dark and run the jib overnight. It will be easier to tack back and forth with the jib overnight if the wing direction dictates. I could drop the asymm to the deck and lash it to redeploy on Thursday (New Years). While I had my tea and yogurt in the cockpit, I watched the instruments to learn how the asymm behaves in strong wind. It does just fine in gusts up to 20 kt provided the boat is in a deep broad reach. Without an obtuse AWA, the boat heels over severely. The windvane maintains a deep broad reach so long as the wind is blowing 15 kt or so. The sail collapses in lighter wind with an AWA>160 or so. At 10:00 I downloaded the latest GRIB. I also explored possible routes forward. I have decided there are no single-digit winds predicted in the next week. Further, several periods of 20 kt winds are predicted and the wind will continue to veer in the day and back at night. Since it is inconvenient to tack with the asymm, ai have decided to drop it and fly the jib. Since the winds are picking up this afternoon, I will make the changeover before noon. This will allow me to tack to the starboard and take advantage of the wind direction to make my way towards St. Helena. At 10:30 I started switching sails. I struggled again to furl the asymm. It seems to need just the right amount of tension on the torsion cable, the right amount of tension on the sheet, and some but not too much luff. In other words, it is a two person job and I will struggle every time I deploy or retrieve it. I tacked to port right away. I lost perhaps 0.5 kt speed, but was headed NW instead NNE, so I was making more progress on. I will tack back to starboard tonight when the wind backs. I like the idea of not having the asymm up tonight when I get 20 kt gusts and really like th idea that I am getting some separation from the shipping channel. I am doing about 4.5 kt in 12 kt of wind. It will pick up tonight. The waypoint bearing is 311. This means the break even point is 311-180=131. If the wind is >131 I should be on a port tack and if <131, I should be on a starboard tack. Right now, the TWD is 160, so I am on a port tack. Note, this calculation is for magnetic (not true) compass headings. I ate my leftovers from yesterday at noon. That is pretty much the end of the fresh food. I will make one of my shelf-stable meals tomorrow, probably something to go with the naan I still need to eat. At 13:20 I saw a flying fish. It is the first one I’ve seen in the South Atlantic. I saw millions of the in the South Pacific. Perhaps it has something to do with the water temperature, which I assume is going up as I get away from the Benguela Current (which comes from southern waters) and I head for more northern latitudes. It is 15:00 and as expected the wind has increased (14) and begun to veer (170). At 15:30 the ship I was expecting from the bow passed 3 nm to my starboard. If the three to my bow, because I tacked, only one will come anywhere near me, and it should be quite a ways off my starboard when it passes. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 693-606=87 nm. The total distance sailed was 18021-17866=155 nm (155/24=6.4 kt avg).
Comments: Sunset should be at 18:30 at 4.5E. The sunset was actually at 18:29. It is blowing 11 from 170, driving me somewhat E, but since it would take me a hour to furl the asymm, tack, reorganize the running rigging, unfurl the asymm, and reset the windvane, it is just not worth it. At the point I am going to enter the shipping channel in 2-4d, I may tack. I am in a very deep broad reach, so I am not making the speed I could is the AWA was more obtuse. I brought the fishing line in for the night without any strikes today. I may try a different lure tomorrow. I went to sleep at 19:00. Since the OTH AIS shows no commercial traffic that will likely cross my path tonight, I set alarm intervals of 2h. It is 2:00, the wind is blowing 13, the SOG is 5.4, and I have begun heading more easterly (340). At 3:30 the boat heeled over severely. Everything went flying in the cabin. An (obviously unexpected) 20 kt gust had overwhelmed the windvane and caused the boat to round up. Once the course was corrected, I put boat in a near run. The boat was doing 7 kt in 18 kt wind on a course of 320. At 3:45 I got hit with a 22kt gust followed by 19 kt wind. The windvane struggled but kept the course. By 4:00 the wind had settled at 15 and the boat was riding comfortably. The previous GRIB said gusts of 17 between 2-3:00, then working down to single digits by dawn. The GRIB was 18h old do I updated it. The new forecast is for 12 kt winds and 15 kt gusts all day and some 19 kt gusts tonight. The wind will veer during the day from 125 to 145. This seems to be a pattern. It looks like I will reach the shipping channel by tomorrow evening (New Year’s Eve) and it will be a good time to tack. I will run some weather simulations in the morning to decide whether it is best to redeploy the asymm on the starboard or run the jib for a while. On the OTH AIS I see 2-3 ships on my stern that may come into range later this evening and 1 on my bow that may show up in the early morning hours. Once it is light, I am going to secure everything in the cabin. I also need to go on deck to make sure there was no damage when I heeled over. Sunrise should be at 5:01 (4.0E). Sunrise was in fact at 5:03. The sky is mostly cloudy and there are significant wind-driven waves. The swell still seems light. Despite heading misty N in the last 13h, I still made 36 nm on to St. Helena (and probably twice that over ground). Because I am going to see gusts of 18-20 much of the night, the AWA will be >135, and I need to furl the asymm if I am going to tack tomorrow evening, I may furl the asymm before dark and run the jib overnight. It will be easier to tack back and forth with the jib overnight if the wing direction dictates. I could drop the asymm to the deck and lash it to redeploy on Thursday (New Years). While I had my tea and yogurt in the cockpit, I watched the instruments to learn how the asymm behaves in strong wind. It does just fine in gusts up to 20 kt provided the boat is in a deep broad reach. Without an obtuse AWA, the boat heels over severely. The windvane maintains a deep broad reach so long as the wind is blowing 15 kt or so. The sail collapses in lighter wind with an AWA>160 or so. At 10:00 I downloaded the latest GRIB. I also explored possible routes forward. I have decided there are no single-digit winds predicted in the next week. Further, several periods of 20 kt winds are predicted and the wind will continue to veer in the day and back at night. Since it is inconvenient to tack with the asymm, ai have decided to drop it and fly the jib. Since the winds are picking up this afternoon, I will make the changeover before noon. This will allow me to tack to the starboard and take advantage of the wind direction to make my way towards St. Helena. At 10:30 I started switching sails. I struggled again to furl the asymm. It seems to need just the right amount of tension on the torsion cable, the right amount of tension on the sheet, and some but not too much luff. In other words, it is a two person job and I will struggle every time I deploy or retrieve it. I tacked to port right away. I lost perhaps 0.5 kt speed, but was headed NW instead NNE, so I was making more progress on. I will tack back to starboard tonight when the wind backs. I like the idea of not having the asymm up tonight when I get 20 kt gusts and really like th idea that I am getting some separation from the shipping channel. I am doing about 4.5 kt in 12 kt of wind. It will pick up tonight. The waypoint bearing is 311. This means the break even point is 311-180=131. If the wind is >131 I should be on a port tack and if <131, I should be on a starboard tack. Right now, the TWD is 160, so I am on a port tack. Note, this calculation is for magnetic (not true) compass headings. I ate my leftovers from yesterday at noon. That is pretty much the end of the fresh food. I will make one of my shelf-stable meals tomorrow, probably something to go with the naan I still need to eat. At 13:20 I saw a flying fish. It is the first one I’ve seen in the South Atlantic. I saw millions of the in the South Pacific. Perhaps it has something to do with the water temperature, which I assume is going up as I get away from the Benguela Current (which comes from southern waters) and I head for more northern latitudes. It is 15:00 and as expected the wind has increased (14) and begun to veer (170). At 15:30 the ship I was expecting from the bow passed 3 nm to my starboard. If the three to my bow, because I tacked, only one will come anywhere near me, and it should be quite a ways off my starboard when it passes. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 693-606=87 nm. The total distance sailed was 18021-17866=155 nm (155/24=6.4 kt avg).