Month: January 2026

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).

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).

Current Position: 18 07.882’S 2 44.780’W; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 4.2 kt; COG: 330; TWS: 14; TWD: 127; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.2 kt; Current Direction: 310; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 319): 301 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 3862 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 18630 nm; Engine Hours: 412; Estimate Fuel: 60+10+50;
Comments: Sunset should be at 18:42 at 1.66”W. The sunset was actually at 18:47. The wind was supposed to back but it veered towards sunset. After sunset it backed. It is 20:00 and there is a cargo ship less than 2h away. I saw it earlier today on the OTH AIS and I now see it on the AIS 46 nm off my port bow and doing 20 kt. I am setting an alarm for 1h. At 21:00 the Mariagrazia was 45 nm away and on a collision course. When 10 nm away, I radioed the vessel. They confirmed they had me on AIS and would adjust their course to more safely pass my stern. They subsequently radioed back and asked if I was a sailing or fishing vessel. I told them sailing and they said I came up fishing. I checked my AIS settings and am broadcasting as a sailing vessel. The vessel passed 0.5 nm (2 1/2 boat lengths for the 1200’ vessel) to my stern at 21:50. With no other vessels a threat on the OTH AIS, I set an alarm for 2h. It is 4:00. Sunrise is expected at 5:55 at St. Helena (5.75W) so it should be 5:41 at my location (2.2W). The wind is starting to veer. I tacked to the port at 4:15. I will probably be tacking back in 2-3h when the wind backs after sunrise. I should see a “sunrise gust” for a couple of hours. I am about 250 nm from St. Helena, still on track to arrive late afternoon on Monday. Moana and Oda are about 100 nm to the NW, about a day ahead of me. They have slowed down considerably, being caught in a lighter trough of wind. I expect light winds all day, picking up again tonight and staying strong through Monday. Sunrise was at 5:38, off by 3m. There are fewer clouds this morning. No flying fish on the deck or in the water this morning, but I put a line out anyway. I have room in the fridge for a nice tuna. The best chance is probably as U am passing the island. It is almost 7:00 and I just finished my oatmeal. It just occurred to me that I left Saldanha two weeks ago and I am almost one-third of the way to Barbados. It is about one-third to St. Helena, one-third to the Brazilian coast, and one-third along the coast to Barbados. It looks like a high pressure trough is developing to the N this week that may force me to keep S.m until Friday. That is unfortunate because the wind direction favors a starboard tack, so I may be driven somewhat S. After Friday, however, it looks like I may have a clear path for a starboard tack to the coast. It is still a few days before I need to make a decision regarding the route, so the prediction may yet change. A 9:00 I was preparing to tack and I caught the perfect Dorado, just the right size for two meals. It is the first fish I have caught since the Cocos (when I hooked a bird). The main reason I have not been catching fish is for the last several months I have been making relatively short passages and have had fresh food. I have a lemon to use up and some carrots. It’ll make two nice meals. I had the fish filleted and the boat tacked starboard by 9:15. I took a 1h nap and when I woke up at noon the sky was heavily overcast. The wind direction is favorable, albeit light, and I am sailing directly for the waypoint. As I am eating half of the Dorado, I am watched dozens of flying fish. It is the first time I have seen more than one at a time during this passage. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 301-208=93 nm. The total distance sailed was 18630-18490=140 nm (140/24=5.8 kt avg).

Current Position: 19 10.524’S 1 32.201’W; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 5.3 kt; COG: 340; TWS: 18; TWD: 142; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.5 kt; Current Direction: 320; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 322): 301 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 3952 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 18490 nm; Engine Hours: 412; Estimate Fuel: 60+10+50;
Comments: At 16:37 I received my first VHF transmission in two weeks. It was broken, but it was a weather report. Since I am 800 nm from the coast of Africa, the transmission must be coming from St. Helena, which is 400 nm away, still more than twice the distance I have received a transmission in the past. Sunset should be at 18:48 at 0.5W. The sunset was behind a cloud bank. Starting the early morning hours I should have 24h of near 20 kt gusts and a TWA that will allow me to sail close to the waypoint. I should tack to port for 4h tonight from 22:00-2:00, but I am not going to bother because the wind is going to be very light and the TWA not too obtuse. Staying on the starboard will be more comfortable as I do not need to use the lee cloth. I went to sleep at 19:00 with a 3h alarm because there is no traffic and light winds. At 22:30 I woke up because the boat did not sound right. It had rounded up and was headed NE. I had not woken up earlier because it happened very gradually over a 90m period rather than suddenly as it sometimes does when there is a strong wind gust. The wind had gradually veered to 155, as predicted, so I tacked to the port. I downloaded the latest GRIB. As before, the wind was going to remain light for 2-3h more, then it was going to increase with gusts in the low 20s. Unlike the previous forecast, it was now predicted the wind would not back until dawn, so it was good that I tacked. I started setting the timer intervals to 1h in case the predicted increase in wind caused the boat to round up. I figured from the trace that I lost as much as an hour and could not hope to reach St. Helena in the light if I lost more time. At 00:20 I woke again to find the boat had rounded up. Once again it had happened gradually, first to the starboard and now to the port. This suggested to there was as issue with the windvane. I examined it with a flashlight but could not find an issue. I stayed up for 45m and it started to happen again. I crawled out onto the stern with the flashlight and examined the windvane again and found the problem. A cord attached to the blade of the windvane had been rolled up underneath the pulley that is used to adjust the direction. Since the pulley and the cord are black, I did not see it the first time. The problem did not restrict the blade completely (it still looked like it was working), just enough to cause a gradual problem. Coincidentally, at the same time (1:15), the wind started picking up as expected. Sunrise at St. Helena is at 5:55 (5.75W) so it should be at 5:36 where I am (1.0W). Sunrise was behind a cloud bank. By sunrise the wind had backed to the break even point and I tacked to starboard. It is 6:00 and 350 nm to St. Helena. I have 84h to arrive before dark on Monday. I need to average 350/84=4.2 kt. Strong wind is forecasted until Monday (avg. 5.3 kt now) so it is looking good. PW says I won’t arrive until 23:00 on Monday, but I believe it is underestimating the speed. For example, it is predicting 4.7 kt now. Even in 20 kt wind the jib is slatting. Because the wind shifts frequently, the seas are always confused, the boat corkscrews, and the rolling dumps the air from the sails. When I get past St. Helena, I am going to pole out the jib because I probably won’t be tacking as often. I finished the yogurt off (and the granola I was adding to it) this morning. Just a handful of blueberries left. It’ll be oatmeal going forward. I’ve actually sort of missed the oatmeal. It was a staple across the South Pacific. The deck count this morning was one flying fish and one small squid. I used up the naan for lunch by making pocket sandwiches with pastrami, caramelized onion, and some processed Gouda cheese. It is 14:30 and I have just awaken from a 2h nap … making up for sleep lost last night. The wind has been blowing hard all day 16-20 kt. I am making up the lost time from the two missteps last night. It has been cloudy all day too, but there is still enough excess energy that I can make water for a bath. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 397-301=96 nm. The total distance sailed was 18490-18352=138 nm (138/24=5.8 kt avg).

Current Position: 20 20.164’S 0 20.538’W; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 4.7 kt; COG: 335; TWS: 13; TWD: 139; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.1 kt; Current Direction: 300; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 323): 497 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4044 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 18352 nm; Engine Hours: 412; Estimate Fuel: 60+10+50;
Comments: it is 16:30 and the wind has been veering the past few hours. The heading is now close to the waypoint. Sunset should be at 18:40 at 1.5E. The actual sunset was behind a cloud bank. I see no vessels on the OTH AIS that threaten me tonight and the weather is benign, so I am setting the alarm interval for 3h. At 1:00 the wind had not changed much, still blowing 15 from 175. If the forecast remains accurate, it will start backing in the morning and I will tack to starboard until I reach the rhumb line this evening before tacking again. I woke up at 5:00. The last few hours I did not even set an alarm. I had slept 10h. The sun was coming up behind a cloud bank. It was blowing 16 from 155, having backed 20 degrees. I have averaged 4.8 kt in the last 20h and made 60 nm towards the waypoint in the last 13h. I found a flying fish in the cockpit and three more on the deck. My theory about the being in warmer water may be correct. At 6:00 the latest GRIB shows little change except it is looking more like I am going to reach St. Helena after dusk Monday. I am expecting some stronger wind starting after midnight for 24h. I hope so make better time the PW expects then. Also, the route now has me tacking early afternoon. The waypoint is 321, so the break even wind direction is 321-180=141. At 7:00 S/V Tequila showed up on the OTH AIS about 80 nm ahead of me. Moana and Oda are at the same longitude, but 140 nm N. Looks like all three will arrive at St. Helena a day ahead of me. Good thing I won’t be looking for a place to anchor. I wonder if flying fish only fly to escape predators and if so maybe seeing more of them fly is an indication of predatory fish. In other words, not seeing them may simply mean they are not flying because there are no predators present. I crossed over to the Western Hemisphere at 10:38. At noon I felt the boat shift relative to the swells. The wind had backed quite suddenly to 145, close to the break even point. About 12:45 a wave came over the port side into the cockpit, signaling another shift in the wind to 136 and I tacked to starboard. The waves were then following and I picked up some speed. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 498-397=101 nm. The total distance sailed was 18352-18188=164 nm (164/24=6.8 kt avg).