Current Position: 17 27.781’S 4 31.100’W; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 5.2 kt; COG: 295; TWS: 19; TWD: 144; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.6 kt; Current Direction: 330; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 334): 107 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 3754 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 18792 nm; Engine Hours: 412; Estimate Fuel: 60+10+50;
Comments: Sunset is at 18:58 at 5.75W. It should be at 18:47 at 3.0W. The sun went down behind a cloud bank. It is 19:00 and the wind is veering m. It is at the break even point. Since it is expected to continue to veer until the early morning hours, I tacked to the port. I am going to get gusts in the 20s beginning around midnight for at least 24h, pretty much assuring I will reach St. Helena before dark on Monday as it is only 185 nm to the 12 nm limit. There does not appear to be any commercial traffic that I have to worry about tonight. The full moon was spectacular at 20:00 when I went to bed. I set an alarm interval of 2h. I woke up at 22:45 because the boat had rounded up in the higher wind. The trace suggested it did so over a 15m period. Once corrected, the boat was doing nearly 5 kt in 17 kt wind in a deep broad reach. It is almost as bright as daylight. I set an alarm for 1h. I woke up at 1:30 and the boat had rounded up again, this time quite suddenly, so it woke me up. I tacked to starboard at 4:45 in 18 kt wind and with about 150 nm to go. The full moon was still up and made it look like sunrise. I had averaged 5.1 kt overnight. I was averaging 5.3 after I tacked. I downloaded the latest GRIB at 5:00. There were no major changes. I expect the wind to slow down a bit in the early morning hours tomorrow, but otherwise gusting in the 20s. I am on track to arrive at St. Helena late tomorrow afternoon. Moana and Oda will arrive today. I checked on the 5.80 racers and they look like they’re about halfway to St. Helena, perhaps a week behind me. Since they spend a minimum of eight days at each stop, I should be at the coast by the time they leave and to Barbados by the time they get to Recife. Sunrise is at 5:56 at 5.75W so it should be 5:48 at 3.75W. Sunrise was at 5:47. The only traffic I see on the OTH AIS is a cargo ship behind me the should catch up in 15h or so. It’s will need to make a decision about the route forward tomorrow night, so I have been studying the weather models. All the models agree I should head W on a port tack for at least two days, then probably begin a starboard tack most of the reset of the way. The reason W is to avoid becalming conditions that are developing N. All of the models except the ECMWF recommend crossing the ITCZ about 150 nm off the South American coast. The ECMWF suggests crossing about 1000 nm offshore. I am going with the majority opinion to avoid becoming becalmed in the ITCZ. At 8:30 I tacked back to port. Just before dusk I am expected to tack back to starboard for the final run to the island. I slept for an hour at 11:00. When I woke a noon the wind was blowing 22 kt and the boat was doing almost 6 kt. I could expect this higher wind for another 5h, then it would start to weaken to 12-16 by midnight and back about 10 degrees. I prepared a stir fry with the leftover rice, last of the carrots, onion, ginger and egg. I used sesame oil and dark soy sauce and it was very good. It has been sunny all day so I made some water to bathe. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 208-107=101 nm. The total distance sailed was 18782-18630=152 nm (152/24=6.3 kt avg).
Comments: Sunset is at 18:58 at 5.75W. It should be at 18:47 at 3.0W. The sun went down behind a cloud bank. It is 19:00 and the wind is veering m. It is at the break even point. Since it is expected to continue to veer until the early morning hours, I tacked to the port. I am going to get gusts in the 20s beginning around midnight for at least 24h, pretty much assuring I will reach St. Helena before dark on Monday as it is only 185 nm to the 12 nm limit. There does not appear to be any commercial traffic that I have to worry about tonight. The full moon was spectacular at 20:00 when I went to bed. I set an alarm interval of 2h. I woke up at 22:45 because the boat had rounded up in the higher wind. The trace suggested it did so over a 15m period. Once corrected, the boat was doing nearly 5 kt in 17 kt wind in a deep broad reach. It is almost as bright as daylight. I set an alarm for 1h. I woke up at 1:30 and the boat had rounded up again, this time quite suddenly, so it woke me up. I tacked to starboard at 4:45 in 18 kt wind and with about 150 nm to go. The full moon was still up and made it look like sunrise. I had averaged 5.1 kt overnight. I was averaging 5.3 after I tacked. I downloaded the latest GRIB at 5:00. There were no major changes. I expect the wind to slow down a bit in the early morning hours tomorrow, but otherwise gusting in the 20s. I am on track to arrive at St. Helena late tomorrow afternoon. Moana and Oda will arrive today. I checked on the 5.80 racers and they look like they’re about halfway to St. Helena, perhaps a week behind me. Since they spend a minimum of eight days at each stop, I should be at the coast by the time they leave and to Barbados by the time they get to Recife. Sunrise is at 5:56 at 5.75W so it should be 5:48 at 3.75W. Sunrise was at 5:47. The only traffic I see on the OTH AIS is a cargo ship behind me the should catch up in 15h or so. It’s will need to make a decision about the route forward tomorrow night, so I have been studying the weather models. All the models agree I should head W on a port tack for at least two days, then probably begin a starboard tack most of the reset of the way. The reason W is to avoid becalming conditions that are developing N. All of the models except the ECMWF recommend crossing the ITCZ about 150 nm off the South American coast. The ECMWF suggests crossing about 1000 nm offshore. I am going with the majority opinion to avoid becoming becalmed in the ITCZ. At 8:30 I tacked back to port. Just before dusk I am expected to tack back to starboard for the final run to the island. I slept for an hour at 11:00. When I woke a noon the wind was blowing 22 kt and the boat was doing almost 6 kt. I could expect this higher wind for another 5h, then it would start to weaken to 12-16 by midnight and back about 10 degrees. I prepared a stir fry with the leftover rice, last of the carrots, onion, ginger and egg. I used sesame oil and dark soy sauce and it was very good. It has been sunny all day so I made some water to bathe. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 208-107=101 nm. The total distance sailed was 18782-18630=152 nm (152/24=6.3 kt avg).