Current Position: 20 51.230’S 1 29.548’E; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 4.6 kt; COG: 312; TWS: 14; TWD: 168; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.5 kt; Current Direction: 310; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 318): 499 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4150 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 18188 nm; Engine Hours: 412; Estimate Fuel: 60+10+50;
Comments: Sunset should be at 18:32 at 3.5E. The actual sunset was hidden by a cloud bank. The wind was 16 with gusts of 20. It arrived earlier than expected. I was glad I had swapped the asymm for the jib. It would have been a long night dodging cargo ships and trying to keep the boat upright if the kite was still up and I was headed N. I went to sleep at 20:00. Since there seemed to be little chance of encountering a commercial vessel, I set alarm intervals of 2h. No vessels were encountered overnight. The wind was as predicted, driving the boat with a SOG of almost 5 kt. I woke a little after 4:00 with 550 nm to St. Helena. I downloaded GRIB data and explored routes to Barbados. Stopping by St. Helena is 36.5d, stopping by Ascension is 37d, and heading directly to Barbados is 36.25 days. There is not that much difference. It is basically a question of how long I sail W, when I tack NW, and whether I need to go further W after reaching one of the islands. Since it only cost a few hours to go to St. Helena, I will take that route. If I push hard, I may make it during daylight hours on Monday. The route to St. Helena involves beating up the rhumb line, so it is a good thing I am flying the jib. It is 6:00, partly cloudy, and I have 15 kt wind giving a SOG of 5.1 on a broad reach. The route has me on a port tack for 24h. The TWD should favor a starboard tack tomorrow. I saw a couple more flying fish this morning and one on the deck. I shook the second reef out of the main at 9:00, after the morning breeze, and picked up a couple tenths of a kt, averaging almost 5 in 13 kt wind. The additional main created weather helm that made it necessary to trim the sails and make a correction with the windvane. It is almost a tossup to fly more main when sailing downwind with the Yankee. In the end I discovered what I always discover … it’s just not worth running one reef when I am just using the Yankee downwind. Any advantage of the additional sail are is negated by slatting of the jib when the boat rolls. I put the second reef back in the main and spent 30m trimming the sails and adjusting the windvane to get back to where I started. The mainsail is hauled in much more than you would expect for a broad reach so as to expose as much of the Yankee as possible. In other words, the Yankee is doing all the work. I am certain this is because I cannot get a good shape of the main because of the stack pack. When I get back I am going to redesign it so I can drop it when not in use. This will make it necessary to design the lazy jacks so they are independent of the stack pack. I am also going to design it so the reefing points in the middle of the sail can be secured (to give the sail a better shape). I am breaking into the shelf-stable provisions today. I am having Kitchaei Curry with Noodles, Naan, and Raw Carrot. The last two items are “on sale” and need to be used up. I have also been working on my bottle of “Christmas” wine the past three days, so will need to finish it tonight unless I want vinegar. It is a sunny day and I have plenty of energy, so I made water to use for a bath and do a little laundry. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 606-498=108 nm. The total distance sailed was 18188-18021=167 nm (155/24=6.4 kt avg).
Comments: Sunset should be at 18:32 at 3.5E. The actual sunset was hidden by a cloud bank. The wind was 16 with gusts of 20. It arrived earlier than expected. I was glad I had swapped the asymm for the jib. It would have been a long night dodging cargo ships and trying to keep the boat upright if the kite was still up and I was headed N. I went to sleep at 20:00. Since there seemed to be little chance of encountering a commercial vessel, I set alarm intervals of 2h. No vessels were encountered overnight. The wind was as predicted, driving the boat with a SOG of almost 5 kt. I woke a little after 4:00 with 550 nm to St. Helena. I downloaded GRIB data and explored routes to Barbados. Stopping by St. Helena is 36.5d, stopping by Ascension is 37d, and heading directly to Barbados is 36.25 days. There is not that much difference. It is basically a question of how long I sail W, when I tack NW, and whether I need to go further W after reaching one of the islands. Since it only cost a few hours to go to St. Helena, I will take that route. If I push hard, I may make it during daylight hours on Monday. The route to St. Helena involves beating up the rhumb line, so it is a good thing I am flying the jib. It is 6:00, partly cloudy, and I have 15 kt wind giving a SOG of 5.1 on a broad reach. The route has me on a port tack for 24h. The TWD should favor a starboard tack tomorrow. I saw a couple more flying fish this morning and one on the deck. I shook the second reef out of the main at 9:00, after the morning breeze, and picked up a couple tenths of a kt, averaging almost 5 in 13 kt wind. The additional main created weather helm that made it necessary to trim the sails and make a correction with the windvane. It is almost a tossup to fly more main when sailing downwind with the Yankee. In the end I discovered what I always discover … it’s just not worth running one reef when I am just using the Yankee downwind. Any advantage of the additional sail are is negated by slatting of the jib when the boat rolls. I put the second reef back in the main and spent 30m trimming the sails and adjusting the windvane to get back to where I started. The mainsail is hauled in much more than you would expect for a broad reach so as to expose as much of the Yankee as possible. In other words, the Yankee is doing all the work. I am certain this is because I cannot get a good shape of the main because of the stack pack. When I get back I am going to redesign it so I can drop it when not in use. This will make it necessary to design the lazy jacks so they are independent of the stack pack. I am also going to design it so the reefing points in the middle of the sail can be secured (to give the sail a better shape). I am breaking into the shelf-stable provisions today. I am having Kitchaei Curry with Noodles, Naan, and Raw Carrot. The last two items are “on sale” and need to be used up. I have also been working on my bottle of “Christmas” wine the past three days, so will need to finish it tonight unless I want vinegar. It is a sunny day and I have plenty of energy, so I made water to use for a bath and do a little laundry. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 606-498=108 nm. The total distance sailed was 18188-18021=167 nm (155/24=6.4 kt avg).