Author: mtashby

Current Position: 19 40.115’S 63 25.857’E; Local Timezone: UTC+4; SOG: 0 kt; COG: N/A; TWS: ? kt; TWD: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues): At Anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 13671 nm; Engine Hours: 265; Estimate Fuel: 50+14+50;
Comments: I went to sleep at 19:00 woke up at 3:00. I am still not used to the time change. I will loose two more hours on the way to South Africa. I registered with the SA authorities through the OSASA system and contacted the Zululand Yacht Cub to inform them of my intended arrival. My plan is to rent a scooter and see Rodrigues today, spend Sunday cooking and preparing the boat, and leave Monday. I have been studying the route and reading the previous cruiser accounts. Des recommends the waypoint 26s 46e. This is 1100 nm from Rodrigues, a little more than halfway, and will probably take 12d because of several days of very light wind. The waypoint is SW of Rodrigues, about 50 nm S of Madagascar (just S of the shoals), and about 900 nm from Richards Bay. It is recommended that I said due W from the waypoint. Sailing W from the waypoint sets a course for Inhaca Island (25 57’s 32 58’e), one of only two possibilities to search shelter in the event of weather (the other being St Augustine Bay – Nosy Ve 23 38’s 43 36’e). Inhaca Island is about 175 nm N of Richards Bay. I believe part of the logic in sailing the 26th parallel is to give you the option to bail at one of these two locations, but also to insure you are not driven too far S and miss Richards Bay. Once in the Agulhas current, it would be difficult to make way N. I went to sleep at 19:00 and woke up at 3:00. I did not feel 100%, like I did not have enough rest. I was supposed to meet Ertan at 8:00. I had tea, but did not feel like eating. Ertan and I walked to where the scooter place was supposed to be, but it was apparently no longer in business. We went to the Information Center, was given the contact info for someone who rents scooters, and by 9:00 we had the scooters and were on our way to the Francois Leguat Reserve to pet tortoises. On the way I felt feverish and felt weak as we took the tour. The tour was over at noon. I suggested to Ertan that I should probably eat something, but when we went to the restaurant at the Reserve, nothing sounded good. I told Ertan I needed to get back to the boat. I dropped off the scooter and was at the boat by 14:00. I immediately fell asleep. I was cold and wore a blanket. I slept until 18:00. I still had a slight headache when I woke up and my stomach was not right. I am going back to sleep for the night. It seems unlikely I will have the energy tomorrow to prepare for a passage and it would be prudent to stay until I am certain I am well. I am quarantining myself on the boat and will focus on resting.

Current Position: 19 40.115’S 63 25.857’E; Local Timezone: UTC+4; SOG: 0 kt; COG: N/A; TWS: 5.9 kt; TWD: 148; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues): At Anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 13671 nm; Engine Hours: 265; Estimate Fuel: 50+14+50;
Comments: Two more 5.80 racers arrived last night and anchored in the bay. The supply ship radioed at 5:00 and informed the Coast Guard they would be at the pilot station at 6:15. I got to work early, about 5:30. I repaired the lazy jack lines first and then worked on the gooseneck. I lifted the sail with the spinnaker halyard and I suspended the boom with the main halyard as disassembled the gooseneck. It all went smoothly until I tried to remove the threaded rod I installed in Tonga. It would not budge. I cut a slot in the end of the rod and tried to drive it with the impact wrench and a flat screwdriver, but it would not move. Finally, I put a nut on it and used the impact wrench to drive it out. The threaded rod was destroyed, but I knew I had spare rod. I mounded a large fender washer to the backside of the end of the boom, drilled holes and secured it with two 1/4” screws, then bolted the gooseneck through the washer. The render washer is going to keep the bolt from sliding back and forth and sawing through the aluminum. Putting everything back together was straightforward, albeit with the usual problem of aligning the boom to insert the pins through the gooseneck. The use of halyards and the windlass allowed me to get everything aligned. I took three of the 5.80 sailors to shore and they bought me lunch. I did some shopping (bought 3 dozen eggs, the first I have had since Darwin two months ago) and ferried some of the 5.80 sailors who were displaced by the cargo ship. All of the 5.80 sailors returned to the port except Argo, Christian’s boat, which is still rafted to mine.

Current Position: 19 40.115’S 63 25.857’E; Local Timezone: UTC+4; SOG: 0 kt; COG: N/A; TWS: 5.9 kt; TWD: 148; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues): At Anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 13671 nm; Engine Hours: 265; Estimate Fuel: 50+14+50;
Comments: To make an apples-to-apples comparison, I plotted the courses recommended by PW all leaving Monday. From Rodrigues, it was 16d 1h and 1985 nm. From Mauritius, it was 12d 21h and 1629 nm. From Reunion, it was 11d 12h and 1504 nm. Reunion is apparently off the table as I cannot get a berth. The difference between Rodrigues and Mauritius is a little more than 3d and 350 nm. I woke up at 3:30 to heavy rain. I spent the day working on the boat (raised the storm sail to check its pendant and make sheets, lowered the sailpack and started fixing the chaffed lines of the lazy jack lines, filled the main water tank, etc.) and I did shopping. At 4:00 I moved the boat out of the harbor and anchored in the bay. Two of the 5.80 boats followed me and we rafted, then I took three of the racers to shore in my dinghy as it was too far for them to row in their little inflatable. Saw the fin of a large shark on the way.

Current Position: 19 40.838’S 63 25.225’E; Local Timezone: UTC+4; SOG: 0 kt; COG: N/A; TWS: 5.2 kt; TWD: 133; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues): At Anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 13671 nm; Engine Hours: 265; Estimate Fuel: 50+14+50;
Comments: The boat went from zero-to-sixty, from being practically becalmed to hull speed in a couple of hours as I passed through the sheer line. Fortunately, I was expecting it and was ready. I went from being concerned I would not make the port before dusk tomorrow to the very real possibility I will need to shorten sail to arrive after dawn. At 12:30, the wind is blowing from due S. It is supposed to be blowing from 135-140. If the wind backs, it will slow the boat down as I move from a close reach to a broad reach. Also, it probably will not be necessary to shorten sail as the boat would be less likely to be overpowered (less heeling). So, I’m holding out for a bit before trying to round up in this weather to furl the sail. Almost on cue, at 12:45 the wind backed to 155. Even though I was in a 28 kt gusts, the boat did not feel overpowering. However, I was wrong about the boat slowing down. That would have been true is the boat had not been heeled over in the close reach because it was overpowered. In the near broad reach I find myself surfing at nearly 8 kt. I will wait until dusk and see how much further I have to go before make the decision whether to shorten sail for the remainder of (overnight) passage. I am reaching deeper and taking a beating 2h before dusk so I broad reach the first half of tfe night, when the wind is supposed to be at its strongest. It is 17:30, about dusk and I have 80 nm to go. If I am to arrive at dawn, I must average 80/12=6.7 kt. Since I have been averaging 6.4 during the strongest wind, it seems unlikely I will arrive before dawn. With somewhat decreasing winds, I am more likely to average about 6, making it 80/6=13.3 or about 7:00. Right now I am on a course of 220. I will continue that for 1h, then change the course to the waypoint at 265. I should be on a broad reach by then, giving a more comfortable ride for the night. At 19:00 I changed the course for the waypoint at 171. I got up at 21:00 to adjust the windvane. The wind was blowing 28 from 135. As expected, the speed had increased and it had backed. I am 60 nm from the waypoint and averaging 6 kt on and still expected to arrive about 7:00. The ride is a lot smoother now that I am in a broad reach. By 23:00, as expected, the wind was a little tamer, blowing 18 with gusts in the low 20s. The sky had cleared quite a bit and the sea is well-lit by the full moon. I was about 45 nm from the waypoint, on track to arriving about 7:00, but I am slowing down a bit as the wind does as well. At midnight I downloaded long-range AIS data because some vessels I expected were not showing up on my AIS, even though I knew they had to be in range. Indeed, two 5.80 racers were ahead of me and would be arriving this morning with me. One of the items on my pre-arrival checklist is to practice speaking so I can call on the radio. After several weeks of silence, my voice breaks up when I try to speak. At 3:00 I was 25 nm away and had drifted a bit S, so adjusted the course to a deep broad reach. This slowed the boat down significantly, while sailing against a current, to 4.8 kt, putting an arrival time around 8:00. Sunrise will be about 5:20, giving me plenty of time to get the boat ready (inflate the fenders, rig the mooring lines, raise Q flag, etc.). It is 4:00 and both of the 5.80 racers are heaved to outside the port. They should be moored by the time I get there. I will be in a deep broad reach, almost a run, for the last 20 nm to avoid having to tack. This slows me down, but I don’t want to arrive before 8:00 anyway as I imagine the offices won’t be opening before then. I was contacted by the port authority at 4:45 on VHF 16, 17 nm out, with the usual questions and ordered to drop anchor outside the port until given permission to enter the port by the Harbor Master. At 5:06, 15 nm out, I spotted the island. The wind was blowing 17 from 144. When I was preparing the boat for arrival, I noticed the second reefing line had broken. I repaired it and brought the reef back in to get ready to drop the sails. It is 8:00 and I have wrapped around to the leeward side of the island. The wind is still blowing 18 a half mile offshore. I am about a mile from the Western Pass into Mathurin Bay. I can see the masts of the boats at anchor. I contacted the port authorities. When I first contacted them, they told me to anchor. Now they want me to tie up to the jetty. I was not ready for that, so had to fish out my dock lines and inflate my fenders offshore. By 9:00 I was in the bay and headed for the channel to the jetty. I was accompanied by dolphins for the first time since Tahiti. I was ties up to the jetty by 9:30, with the help of locals who helped with the lines. It is always a challenge as this is a commercial jetty and it very tall … too tall for me to throw the lines and jump up myself to secure them. I was visited by the health official first, who gave me a clean bill of health and allowed me to take down the Q-flags I was then visited by a group of five individuals who seem to represent different departments. After a pile of paperwork, they were most interested in my prescription drugs. They went through my med kit and examined the prescriptions. I then went ashore a visited immigration, who stamped my passport. I went to an ATM to get money to pay the bill and by the time I was back customs was there. They confiscated my speargun which is being held at the police station until I leave. I then had to find the place to pay the bill. I went to the wrong place first, which I only discovered after waiting in line for an hour. After I found the right place, I paid the bill and was supposed to take the receipt to the health department. When I got there the official I needed to talk with was away for lunch, dominant to lunch myself. When I returned I was given the paperwork Inwill need later to check out. The whole process took about five hours. Everyone was very pleasant. The bureaucracy is just a way of life here. I leaned the supply ship will be here Friday, which means tomorrow I need to clear out and go to the anchorage, which is not particularly conveniently located. On a very positive note, during my walk around taking care of paperwork, I found a terrific abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Current Position: 18 58.566’S 65 18.071’E; Local Timezone: UTC+4; SOG: 7.1 kt; COG: 265; TWS: 24 kt; TWD: 179; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues, 265): 113 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 13505 nm; Engine Hours: 264; Estimate Fuel: 50+15+50;
Comments: The cargo ship I was expecting passed 14 nm N of me a t 16:15.by 16:00 the wind had veered to 125, but was still only blowing 6. I was able to make 3 at 250 (265 in the waypoint). Sunset is at 17:45 at Rodrigues (63.5e) so at my current location (66e) it should be about 10m earlier, 17:35. The usual 15-25 is expected back tomorrow morning. I have 170 to go and expect to do 30-40 overnight. This means I need to average at least 140/32=4.3 kt to arrive before dark on Wednesday, which should be easy with the expected wind. I will take the pole down in the morning to get ready door the higher winds. I will continue to use the TillerPilot overnight. The sun went behind clouds on the horizon at 17:30. The full moon was already up as the sun went down. The wind had veered to 140 and I am starting to see double-digits. I am now able to set a course for the waypoint at 265. By midnight the 7 kt eind had backed to 75 and I was only make 1 kt against a current. I changed the course from 260 to 240, but could only make 1.5, so I switched it back to 260 and made the same speed … essentially wing-on-wing. I downloaded a GRIB and learned I cannot expect double-digit winds for another 12h. I have only made 10 nm on in the past 6h. It is now looking like arriving before dark on Wednesday may be a challenge. There is a tanker behind me that will catch up in about 4h. It is 0:15 and the tanker has showed up on AIS at 42 nm to my stern. It should reach me about 3:30. The tanker Leni P passed 1 nm S of me at 3:50. I lt was clear the ship changed course to avoid a collision. I am still 150 nm and moving at 1 kt against a current in 5 kt wind. I will need to average 4.2 kt to reach Port Mathurin before dark tomorrow. Sunrise is at 5:22 at Rodrigues (63.5e) so at my current location (66e) it should be about 10m earlier, 5:12. Sunrise was at 5:13. I have begun my pre-arrival checklist. I checked the engine fluids, emptied water in the fuel traps, cleaned the pump trap, and pumped fuel from the main tank to fill the day tank. The engine ran slowly at first. I discovered the reason was the axillary fuel pump was restricting flow to the engine while it was pumping fuel from the main tank. Not sure why, but I suspect it was because I had not run in a long time and I pumped some air into the fuel line. I ran the engine for an hour, made a little distance, made water, and charged the batteries. Mostly I wanted to make sure it was running well. After running it at idle for so long while charging batteries, it is probably a good idea to run it at full speed for a bit. I continued with my chores with general housekeeping … sweeping, processing the trash, etc. All of this is a lot easier now while the seas are relatively flat than later when the wind picks up. Although I expect to be told by the port authorities that I should tie up to the pier, I also sorted out the anchor chain (my least favorite task) in case I arrive after hours or the pier is full, which it might be, with the 5.80 group arriving. Motoring, I made 6.5 average SOG against a 0.7 kt current. In other words, hull speed. The seas are starting to get bigger as I move W. While motoring, I went ahead and furled the jib and removed the whisker pole in anticipation of enough wind to fill the jib and give it better shape. It is a good thing I did when I didn’t absolutely have to (“reef early and often”), because I had difficulty lowering the pole. It is particularly challenging because of the Yankee cut that puts the pole 15-20’ off the deck I eventually the lifting halyard had wrapped around the top of the sail when I furled it. I have started to see seabirds and flying fish again and I had quite a few squid on the deck. It is 9:00 and I have motored to double-digit winds. It is blowing 19 kt from 145. I am only making 3.6 kt on as I am sailing against a 1 kt current. It has started to rain lightly, so I don’t know if this local weather is affecting the wind direction or speed. Most importantly, there is enough wind that the sails are not slatting in the swell that is now coming from the SW, the direction of the sheer line. I am seeing some gusts of 14. I am clearly out of the doldrums. Given the fact I am now only 125 nm from Rodrigues, the wind is expected to increase, and the direction allows me to sail toward the waypoint at 265 in a beam reach, I am pretty confident now that I will reach the harbor before dusk. There is now pretty of wind to operate the windvane, so I retired the TillerPilot. By 10:00 I was doing 5 kt on in pretty steady 15 kt winds against a cross current. I could see the sheer line approaching from the SW. The sheer line hit at 19:30 with rain, and after an initial burst of wind, the wind dropped to 5 kt. By 10:15 it was back up to double-digits, but had backed to 140. I just went with the flow until it got sorted out. The forecast was for it to come back to 15 from 140. By 11:30 I could see blue sky on the other side of the line and the wind was blowing 20 kt, driving the boat 7 kt. Gusts approaching 30 are expected overnight. The boat is overpowered with the whole Yankee and the double-reefed main in that is not a close reach. I will wait for the sheer line to pass and will then furl in some of the jib to better balance the sails and allow the windvane to operate better. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 179-113=66 nm. The total distance sailed was 13545-13505=40 nm (40/24=1.67 kt avg.). Note the difference is due to current.

Current Position: 18 34.427’S 66 21.760’E; Local Timezone: UTC+4; SOG: 1.8 kt; COG: 242; TWS: 8 kt; TWD: 85; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues, 270): 178 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 13505 nm; Engine Hours: 261; Estimate Fuel: 56+9+50;
Comments: Note: beginning it’s this entry, I will be in the UTC+4 time zone. Starting around noon, I began seeing significant backing … 73 degrees. Sunset is at 17:58 at Rodrigues (63.5e) so at my current location (67e) it should be about 18m earlier, 17:26. By 14:00 is was down to single-digit wind from 75. I downloaded a new GRIB at 16:00. No big surprises. I am going to continue the starboard tack until dawn, then I should be able to ride the port tack into Rodrigues arriving Wednesday morning. I have 228 nm to go, but I won’t knock too much of that off tonight on a course of 315, but it should be an easy glide in. Sunset was at 17:27. I have been surrounded by rain storms all day but not a drop has fallen on me. I tacked to the port at 3:30, 205 nm from Rodrigues on a bearing of 260. The wind was blowing 14 from 105. I was making almost 4 kt at 230 against a cross current. Sunrise is at 5:23 at Rodrigues (63.5e) so at my current location (66.5e) it should be about 12m earlier, 5:11. I got up about 5:00. The boat was rocking pretty bad in complex seas. I had 15 from 105 and was doing 4.3 against a 0.8 current on a heading of 245. The waypoint was 261. I could run a deeper broad reach, but the sails start slatting in the rolling seas and lighter winds. The wind is suppose to veer significantly over the next two days, so I should not need to rack again. Sunrise was behind clouds at 5:11. I have 197 nm to go. I put the line in at 5:30. I saw a seabird yesterday, the first in several days. It seemed lonely and stuck around quite a while, circling the boat and craning its head to look at me with each pass. It was probably looking for a handout. I have not seen any fish in many days. I am going to try to do a noon sighting today. Local Noon Time at 66e should be about 7:36 UTC. The wind became unstable, 8-12 from 80-100, and together with the rolling of the boat it became impossible to keep th job filled, so I raised the whisker pole, which greatly stabilized the boat on a course of about 250 (waypoint 263). I struggled for almost an hour to hold a steady course. It is always difficult to trim the sails when the jib is flattened by the pole, but the fluxional wind conditions and rolly seas compounded the problem. Also, the smaller windvane was struggling to respond to the wind conditions. Since I had not yet modified the larger windvane to be secured by zip-ties, I engaged the TillerPilot to control the course. Now able to hold a course closer to the waypoint, I wasn’t giving up as much hard-earned latitude. Also, with course stability came greater speed, close to 4 kt. I downloaded a new GRIB at 9:30. It predicts single-digit winds until tomorrow afternoon and an arrival time almost exactly 24h from now. I ate an apple this morning, the last item of fresh food onboard. I’m hoping they have fresh fruit in Rodrigues. I saw a large fish under the boat this morning. My pink squid is just not attracting any attention. I switched it out for a diving plug thinking there simply are no fish in the surface. I tried to take a noon sighting, but the sun was over the starboard, the boat was rocking wildly, and the waves made staying on the horizon difficult. Nonetheless, I came pretty close with 18 11’S (actually 18 33’S). I didn’t try to determine the exact local noon time because of the scatter in the measurements. I will try again tomorrow. Note also that I only have an approximate declination table with me, so that may have contributed to the error. It is noon. The wind has dropped to 7 and I am only making 2 against a 0.8 current. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 238-179=59 nm. Note most of the time during the past 24h I was sailing almost perpendicular to the rhumb line. The total distance sailed was 13505-13431=74 nm (74/24=3.08 kt avg.).

Current Position: 18 39.255’S 67 31.667’E; Local Timezone: UTC+6.5; SOG: 4.2 kt; COG: 317; TWS: 13 kt; TWD: 95; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues, 270): 238 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 13431 nm; Engine Hours: 261; Estimate Fuel: 56+9+50;
Comments: Note: this is the last entry where I will use UTC+6.5. Beginning tomorrow, I will be in the UTC+4 time zone. I downloaded a new GRIB at 14:39. There has been a significant change … the area of single-digit winds and the period I am likely be becalmed is now much longer, Monday and part of Tuesday. If the forecast is correct, it seems unlikely I will reach Rodrigues before Wednesday morning. Sunset is at 17:58 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (68.5e) it should be about 114m later, 19:52. Sunset was at 19:53. A bit after dusk the wind backed to 95 with the wind blowing 20. When I went to the cockpit at 1:00, it was doing the same and the trace suggested it had the entire time with a course of 220. At 3:00 the wind was blowing 16 from 83. At 5:30 I was 19s and the waypoint was 260 nm away at 276. I tacked to the starboard on a new heading of 310. In 14 kt of wind at 95, I made a little over 4 kt partially against a current. The ride was much more comfortable as the swell was to the stern. I downloaded a new GRIB. There were no surprises. I don’t see any commercial traffic that I need to worry about today. Sunrise is at 5:43 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (68e) it should be about 116m later, 7:56. The sun rose behind a very nasty-looking cloud bank that was clearly producing heavy rain. I put the pink squid out again. I have not seen any fish on the deck. Flying fish, or birds in two days, nor have I gotten any bites on the line. Perhaps these are not fertile waters. It is 8:00 and the dead air has developed over Rodrigues and it moving NE and expanding. It looks like I may have wind until the early morning hours tomorrow. The wind is currently at 100 but is supposed to back to 70 (I’ve heard that before). I will play it by ear, but expect to continue in a starboard tack for at least 12 and maybe 24h. By 9:00 the wind was blowing from 130!!!! The heading to the waypoint is 274 and I am at 18 53’s. It looks to me I will have wind longer the further N I go. The wind is supposed to veer significantly beginning early Tuesday morning … if you can believe the forecast, which I do not. I am going to continue to drive N, if for no other reason than it will give me a better angle when the wind dies down. By 10:39 it was blowing from 98. Basically, the wind direction is all over the place. The wind speed has fallen to 13, driving the boat 3 kt SOG against at current that is nearly 1 kt. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 327-238=89 nm. The total distance sailed was 13431-13324=107 nm (107/24=4.46 kt avg.).

Current Position: 18 14.445’S 69 00.097’E; Local Timezone: UTC+6.5; SOG: 5.2 kt; COG: 260; TWS: 15 kt; TWD: 126; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues, 268): 327 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 13324 nm; Engine Hours: 261; Estimate Fuel: 56+9+50;
Comments: Sunset is at 17:58 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (70.5e) it should be about 106m later, 19:44. The big swell has been replaced with chop. The sunset was at 19:45. The wind backed slowly overnight to 120 and the speed dropped to 15. I trimmed the sheets at 3:30 and went on deck to tighten a preventer to stop the boom from slapping in the swell. I was making about 4.9 kt. I could make 5.5 if I drove further S. However, there is a sheer line being driven from the SW that will cross Rodrigues early Tuesday morning that will leave me no air on this side of it. In the meantime, the wind is supposed to back to 70 by this time tomorrow. At that time I will tack starboard back over the rhumb line to catch what little air there is and position myself for a final approach to Rodrigues from ENE. I will probably have to deal with the aftermath of the sheer line when I arrive late Tuesday/early Wednesday. I downloaded a new GRIB at 4:00. No surprises. The next 36h will determine if I arrive Tuesday (as originally scheduled) or Wednesday. There is much commercial traffic to the N, some to the S, and there is perhaps one cargo ship that may approach me from the stern tonight. I got up just before 7:00. Surprisingly, the wind was blowing 18 from 130. I could see from the trace that the wind had backed abruptly about 2h ago. Sunrise is at 5:44 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (69.5e) it should be about 110m later, 7:34. Sunrise was behind a cloud bank. There are a few heavy clouds, but it does not look like rain. The water is deep violet today. Most people have seen the ocean, but only people who have travelled by boat far from shore see this shade of blue. Must be about a week since I have seen another vessel … even on AIS. It has been perhaps since the passage from Vanuatu since I have gone this long without seeing anything but water and sky. It is 10:00. I did not have any luck with my home-made South African spoon yesterday, so I am trying a small pink squid today. I have seen quite a few squid on the deck recently. The canned/processed food I have been eating has not agreed with me, so I’d really like to catch a fish. I went below deck for an hour to rest and when I returned to the cockpit at 11:30 a large storm had unexpectedly appeared S of me. It appeared much of it would pass in front of me. The air became cooler and the wind picked up to the low 20s. The storm passed in front of me without any precipitation. It is 13:00 and the wind is still blowing from 125. The GRIB says it should be blowing from 88. For the past week the wind has failed to back as deep as predicted by the GRIBs. I read a passage report once from a sailboat sailing to the Mauritius archipelago that stated the regardless of what the GRIBs predict, the wind always blows from the SE E of the Mauritius. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 448-327=121 nm. The total distance sailed was 13324-13202=122 nm (122/24=5.08 kt avg.).

Current Position: 17 30.690’S 70 Z58.733’E; Local Timezone: UTC+6.5; SOG: 5.5 kt; COG: 263; TWS: 17 kt; TWD: 123; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues, 265): 448 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 13202 nm; Engine Hours: 261; Estimate Fuel: 56+9+50;
Comments: Sunset is at 17:58 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (73e) it should be about 96m later, 19:34. Sunset was in a cloud bank. I went to sleep about 20:30 and was interrupted in about 2h intervals until I got up about 7:00. With nearly ideal sailing conditions, no weather, no commercial traffic, and in the middle of the Indian Ocean 500 nm from the nearest obstacle, I had little to worry about. The wind had slowly veered from 125 to 140 overnight to drive me due E in about 20 kt wind all night. I am 485 nm from Rodrigues, more than three-quarters of the way through the passage. The skies and partly cloudy with no chance of rain for a change. Sunrise is at 5:44 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (72e) it should be about 100m later, 7:24. I downloaded a new GRIB at 7:15. It looks to me like I have another 5d of passage including 1.5-2d of very light/single-digit wind. I have already decided not to use the damaged asymm and instead enjoy a day of mellow conditions to do some fishing and relax before the wind picks up again as I approach Rodrigues. As I have managed to sail well N of the rhumb line, the current forecast has me dipping far further S than previously. This will likely be the last of 24h that I do not have to worry about commercial traffic. There is a long string of cargo ships, tankers, and trawlers crossing my path about 200 nm W. It looked like sunrise was about 7:25. I cleaned 20 fish/squid off the deck and checked the rigging. All the fish and the trawlers W of me suggest these may be good fishing grounds. I dropped a line in the water. I ate my last carrot. It had been stored in the fridge in plastic wrap since Christmas Island for a month and was still quite crispy. About midday the wind started backing, as expected, forcing me to adopt a course closer to the rhumb line. The sky became cloudless and for the first time in a week the batteries were charged by the solar system alone. There was even plenty of energy to run the watermaker. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 582-448=134 nm. The total distance sailed was 13202-13060=142 nm (142/24=5.92 kt avg.).

Current Position: 17 15.701’S 73 20.811’E; Local Timezone: UTC+6.5; SOG: 6.1 kt; COG: 268; TWS: 20 kt; TWD: 124; Distance to Waypoint (Rodrigues, 266): 582 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 13060 nm; Engine Hours: 261; Estimate Fuel: 56+9+50;
Comments: Lighter 12-15 kt winds arrived with a rain storm at 17:00. I had to trim the sails (relax the mainsail) and adjust the windvane (decrease the weather helm) for the lighter winds to keep the boat from jibbing. The boat speed fell to 5 kt. I should have been able to do better except for the fact I didn’t want to present more mainsail and stress the damaged gooseneck and the seas were still big from the previous high winds. The situation is likely to change when the storm passes. At dusk the skies appeared to be clearing up somewhat. The wind was blowing 20 from 110. It continued to blow about 20 all night, backing to 105, and raining/drizzling off and on. I woke up at 6:30 after an uneventful night. I was awake for about 1h at 2:30, but went back to sleep. Sunrise is at 17:45 at the Cocos (97e) so at my current location (74e) it should be about 92m later, 7:17. I downloaded a new GRIB. For the first time all of the recommended routes run S of the rhumb line. There should be no commercial traffic for the next 24h. It is 7:10, almost sunrise, but it is still very dark due to the cloud cover. The seas are still big, but not as confused because there have not been high winds driving waves contrary to the swells. With a little more than 600 nm to go, the weather forecasts are going to start making the endgame clear, and it is not looking good. With single-digit winds predicted and an inability to swing the boom out without stressing the damaged gooseneck, I am going to have to make the difficult decision whether to break out the asymm (which still has the rip in it). Right now, I am going to make the most of the wind I have , even if that means loosing ground S. It is 8:15 and I have enjoyed my tea and breakfast in the cockpit for the first time in several days; however, it is clear from the dark cumulonimbus clouds windward that the chances of rain have not passed. I am determined to sit in the fresh air this morning as long as I can … at least the seas have settled down and I’m not being pelted by rain. As I spent my last few minutes outside, I watched a small patch of brightly-lit sea miles behind the boat. It was no more than a hundred yards wide, illuminated by a pinhole in the clouds. The patch approached my boat with amazing speed and when it reached the boat, for a minute, the boat was lit up brightly and surrounded by near darkness. The light show was amazing. After that climax of the show, I retreated to the cabin. By 13:30 it was partly cloudy and the threat of rain seemed diminished. The boat has averaged 5.6 this morning and the 20 kt wind has slowly veered from 110 to 122. The distance sailed towards Rodrigues in the last 24h was 715-582=133 nm. The total distance sailed was 13060-12919=141 nm (141/24=5.88 kt avg.).