Current Position: 16 18.875’S 7 19.879’W; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 4.7 kt; COG: 284; TWS: 14; TWD: 159; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.6 kt; Current Direction: 285; Distance to Waypoint (BARB4, 282): 211 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 3578 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 19091 nm; Engine Hours: 412; Estimate Fuel: 60+10+50;
Comments: As I leave the 12 nm limit of the western end of St. Helena at 23:00, the SOG was 4.8 kt in 16 kt wind. I am headed almost due W and have 290 nm to go to BARB1. I should reach it by dusk on Thursday. I do not see any traffic to be concerned about, so I set the timer for 2h. There were no issues overnight and I had made about 50 nm W. I woke up at 6:00. The sun had come up behind a cloud bank. The wind had veered overnight so I made an adjustment to the windvane. I expect the wind to be okay today, but lighten up tomorrow as I begin the skirt the dead air to the N. At 7:00 I went to the foredeck to do an inspection. The slack jib sheet had become wrapped around the windlass when I tacked last night, and it has caused the Yankee to be misshapen. I untangled the sheet, trimmed the sail, and picked up half a kt to 5 in 13 kt wind. I am in a shallow broad reach . If I were in a beam reach I would raise the staysail, shake out the second reef, and probably make 6 kt. It is cloudy today and the batteries are down because of Starlink. I never ran the engine yesterday, so if by the end of the day they are not charged, I’ll run the engine a bit. It needs to be exercised anyway. There is a rain storm behind me, over St. Helena. Not sure if it will hit me. The boat could use a good washing and so could I. It is 9:30 and I see a large rain storm approaching upwind. There is not much to worry about as the storms seem to by low energy and I am not exposing much sail. I slept for an hour at 10:00. By 13:00 the sky was cloudless, the seas were very calm, and the wind had dropped to 10-14 kt. The SOG had fallen to 4.5. This was more like the conditions expected tomorrow. On a positive note, the batteries were charging rapidly. The distance sailed towards BARB4 in the last 20h was 303-211=92 nm. The total distance sailed was 19091-18958=133 nm (133/20=6.7 kt avg).
Sent from my iPhone
Comments: As I leave the 12 nm limit of the western end of St. Helena at 23:00, the SOG was 4.8 kt in 16 kt wind. I am headed almost due W and have 290 nm to go to BARB1. I should reach it by dusk on Thursday. I do not see any traffic to be concerned about, so I set the timer for 2h. There were no issues overnight and I had made about 50 nm W. I woke up at 6:00. The sun had come up behind a cloud bank. The wind had veered overnight so I made an adjustment to the windvane. I expect the wind to be okay today, but lighten up tomorrow as I begin the skirt the dead air to the N. At 7:00 I went to the foredeck to do an inspection. The slack jib sheet had become wrapped around the windlass when I tacked last night, and it has caused the Yankee to be misshapen. I untangled the sheet, trimmed the sail, and picked up half a kt to 5 in 13 kt wind. I am in a shallow broad reach . If I were in a beam reach I would raise the staysail, shake out the second reef, and probably make 6 kt. It is cloudy today and the batteries are down because of Starlink. I never ran the engine yesterday, so if by the end of the day they are not charged, I’ll run the engine a bit. It needs to be exercised anyway. There is a rain storm behind me, over St. Helena. Not sure if it will hit me. The boat could use a good washing and so could I. It is 9:30 and I see a large rain storm approaching upwind. There is not much to worry about as the storms seem to by low energy and I am not exposing much sail. I slept for an hour at 10:00. By 13:00 the sky was cloudless, the seas were very calm, and the wind had dropped to 10-14 kt. The SOG had fallen to 4.5. This was more like the conditions expected tomorrow. On a positive note, the batteries were charging rapidly. The distance sailed towards BARB4 in the last 20h was 303-211=92 nm. The total distance sailed was 19091-18958=133 nm (133/20=6.7 kt avg).
Sent from my iPhone