Author: mtashby

Current Position: 18 39.529’S 173 59.003’W; Local Timezone: UTC+23; SOG: 0 kt COG: N/A; TWS: 11 kt; TWD: 160; Distance to Waypoint (Vava’u): At Anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 5750 nm;
Comments: By 16:30, the wind had backed to the W enough that it was no longer possible to close haul due W and I started to sail south of the latitude for the N end of Vava’u. Since I do not know how long it will take for the wind to back to the S, I will tack in about 3h and regain some of the latitude. The course plotted by PW says the wind will be about 200 at midnight. So, if I head S for 3h and then tack and head N for 3h, I should be at the correct latitude and can reach W until aI arrive at the waypoint. Since I should only be 25 nm from the waypoint then (midnight), I will likely shorten sail to time my arrival after dawn. At 17:00, an hour before sunset, the TWD was 300 at 15 kt. When the direction reaches 270 or so, I will be heading almost due S. At that point I will tack. Depending on the wind conditions and how far I am from the waypoint, that may be a good opportunity to shorten sail. I couldn’t let the thing with the charger go. I ended up working on it for an hour. First, I wired the old charger to power and confirmed the settings. Then I transferred the settings to the replacement charger. It stated it was charging but the current wasn’t flowing through the shunt. I double-checked the correct negative wire was connected and I measured voltage coming out of the charger to the Li battery bank … only that is not what I was measuring. I was measuring the back voltage from the Li bank to the charger. Once again I was done in by a bad connection at a Victron device. Once properly connected, it worked fine and I put a charge on the battery bank. In the meantime, it is 22:00 and I am still sailing. I have 49 nm to go to the N end of the island., doing 5 kt on a 248 course (waypoint is at 267). Wind is 15 kt from 322 and I am sailing a close haul on this approximate heading for 2h more, when I will tack. I am guessing I’ll reach the latitude of the waypoint (18 30S) about 1:00 and will be about 32 nm away. At that point I should be able to sail due W and with an average speed of 4.5 kt I should be at the waypoint by 8:00. I will probably loose the wind in the lee side of the island and will have to motor the 15 nm or so to the entrance if the convoluted channel to the harbor. Navigating the channel will probably take a couple of hours. At 21:00 a 20 kt wind surprisingly hit from 340, causing the boat to round up and actually point NW towards the waypoint. This was followed by rain, obviously the edge of a squall. Since I was headed in a desirable direction and I knew it would be temporary, I made no adjustments to the sails and just went with the flow. At 21:45, on the backend of the storm, I experienced the vacuum and single-digit wind speeds. At 22:30 I was awaken 15m before an alarm because something didn’t feel right. The wind had shifted to 255 and I was being driven nearly due S. There was driving rain, obviously a storm, but I had to tack. Going out onto the deck to remove a preventer in the rain with the boat heeled over far enough for the sea to be rushing over the toe rail was not pleasant, except I did get a nice freshwater shower. Tacking was uneventful and I was soon sailing 288 relative to the waypoint at 273 doing 4.5 kt in an extreme close haul in 17 kt wind. Basically, I was exactly on the course recommended by PW and a hour ahead of schedule about 39 nm from the waypoint. Is the wind continued to rotate southward, the boat would pick up speed and rotate towards the waypoint. I felt good about the progress, but decided to stay awake should the effects of the storm be temporary and a correction be necessary. Indeed, I felt the boat slow and by 23:05 it was headed 325 at 2 kt in 8 kt of wind. I was in the vacuum left by the storm. I simply had to wait for it to pass to discover what the new reality was with respect to wind speed and direction. I was headed in the generally correct direction as I needed to recover latitude. By 23:25, the boat started moving again towards the waypoint 3.5 kt in 10 kt of wind from 200. The wind and the boat were doing what they were supposed to according to the forecast. By 00:45 the wind had stabilized enough that I could take 30m naps. I woke up at 2:15 while dreaming of a leopard attacking me. The boat was surfing over 7 kt in 15 kt of wind. It was pouring down rain. The wind was coming from due S and the rain was cold. I have not had to wear a jacket when working in the cockpit, but I had to return to the cabin and put one on. LlI put the boat back on course going 6 kt with 30 nm to go. It is 4:00, sunrise is at 7:03, and I am 19 nm from the waypoint. Like I did for Hiva Oa, I expect to arrive around sunrise. Since I have plenty of time, my plan is to sail around to the leeward side of the island, but if I get bewinded, I will motor. Once I am outside the channel, about mid morning, I will heave to and take care of some pre-arrival details, which includes sorting out the chain locker, inflating the fenders, sorting out the dock lines, and calling the Vava’u Port Authority on VHF 16 to announce my arrival. It is nearly 5:00. The winds have been light, variable, and unstable as I approach the island. I now have a new waypoint, closer to shore and 14 nm away. The wind vane has struggled to keep course, particularly when the wind is single digits, so I have switched to the (backup) TillerPilot, which is doing well. I will need it when I am motoring around the island anyway. I expect to be at the waypoint around 8:00. I see Danza, the boat that passed me the night before last is at the channel waiting for light. They must not have made it in time yesterday. At 6:00, 10 nm from the waypoint, I got hit by 22 kt winds that overwhelmed the TillerPilot and caused an accidental jibe. I corrected the course and switch to the wind vane. With some drizzle, it feels like a nearby squall. 10m later and it has begun to rain. Visibility may become an issue. The boat is doing 7 kt. It seems we’re going to finish this one with a bang. It is 6:35, a half hour before sunrise and light enough I can see the heavy cloud cover extending to the horizons except for a sliver to the N. 6 nm remain to the northern waypoint. I have had sustained 22 kt winds for the last 35m, driving the boat to near hull speed, 7.4 kt. I am letting the winds drive me a bit N as the boat is showing its two working sails unreefed and is heeled over. The waypoint should be the beginning of the lee side of the island, where I will drop the sails when/if the wind subsides. It is 6:48 and I have spotted Vava’u 5 nm away and surrounded in clouds. It is 7:30, I just passed the waypoint, and I am within half a mile of the northern tip of the island the boat is going hull speed (7.4) in 19 kt of wind. I’ve had to hand steer the last hour. The island is covered in fog and rain. I’ve used Radar to help sort out fog from land masses. A rainbow developed over the island during sunrise. As I rounded the northern tip of the island, still on a course W, the seas calmed, the wind dropped to 14, and the boat slowed to 6. There was a sound I did not recognize, that of the servo rudder slicing through the water. Well, it’s not done yet. At 8:20, it is blowing 25 kt and the boat is surfing at 7.6 kt. The leeward side of the island offered surprisingly little protection. There are some fairly large cliffs, but no mountains or tall hills. The entrance to the channel looks fully exposed to the wind, so I ducked into an indentation on the NW corner of the island to point into the wind and drop the sails. I floated there for a couple of hours taking care of issues before arriving (pumping up fenders, removing water from cockpit lockers, sorting out chain locker, etc.). I moved to the entrance of the channel about noon and tried to contact the Vava’u Customs authorities on the VHF. I then found an e-mail that I had apparently missed that said I should just find a mooring and move to the customs dock on Monday. I contacted Beluga Diving on VHF 9 and got instructions for a mooring ball. Fortunately, one was available and I snagged it about 14:00. The convoluted course to the anchorage was very interesting. I am looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

Current Position: 18 30.106’S 172 50.538’W; Local Timezone: UTC+23; SOG: 6.4 kt COG: 255; TWS: 15 kt; TWD: 340; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 257): 62; Total Miles Sailed: 5564 nm;
Comments: Note, I will have crossed the dateline by the time the check-in is submitted. All of the local times reported herein are UTC+23. As I began writing this, it is Thursday 16:30. Now it is Friday 15:30. Sunset will be about 17:50, 2h from now. I am doing 6.5 kt in 20 kt of wind coming from 61. Sometime tomorrow, hopefully later in the day, the wind will drop to single digits. Overnight, the wind is expected to back from the E to due N. It will also reduce in speed from 20 to 12-15. However, I will be sailing on a beam reach instead of a broad reach (nearly a run), so if necessary I can use the staysail to maintain good speed. Ideally, I can knock the current 175 nm to the N side of Vava’u down to 50 nm or so, which I will have to make Saturday night to put me in a position to make my way around to the W side of the island and navigate the complicated passage to the anchorage at Neiafu well before dark on Sunday. It is an hour before sunset. During the last hour the it has gotten progressively darker with a hodgepodge of different types of clouds. I prepared some of the swordfish I caught today. It is going to be in sale the next five days, ensuring I get my quota of mercury. Before dusk, I spotted the 59’ powerboat Danza about 7.5 nm off my starboard quarter doing about 7,5 kt, about 2 kt faster than me. They passed 0.75 nm S of me about 20:30. I downloaded a new GRIB and it does not look good. The winds I am riding now will be gone by morning, not tomorrow night. They will be replaced with a soup of different wind patterns that will require a lot of hands-on to navigate. It is predicted that I won’t reach the northern end of Vava’u until Sunday afternoon, too late to access the anchorage. To make things worse, lightning is expected Sunday morning. Around 00:30, the wind shifted to 45 and I had to trim the sails and rebalance the wind vane to maintain course. The wind vane does not seem to do as well on a starboard tack as a port, which makes sense when I think about how it was damaged. It may need a few more blows from the mallet. It is 4:00. The weather model does not appear to be correct. By now, the wind is supposed to be from the N, but I am getting 14 kt wind from 40, making 4.5 kt, and am 5h ahead of schedule. I trimmed the main, adjusted the wind vane, and checked for an update on the weather. The latest GRIB now says the wind will turn due N over the next 6h and recommends I change course northward at dawn. I am going to try to make progress to the waypoint as long as I can. Basically, I think what is happening with the weather between here and Vava’u over the next 24h is too complicate to model. Even if the current map is correct, I should be able to make progress toward the waypoint for the next 12h. By then, the map will have changed again, as it has every time I have downloaded it over the past 24h. Sunrise should be about 6:50. I woke at 7:00 and it was light. It had just started raining hard. I was at the point where I was supposed to change the course northward. The wind was supposed to be 13 and blowing from 19 and it was 30 and blowing 10, but I figured it could be due to the rain storm. I was right and by the time so had shaken the first reef out and trimmed the sails, I was doing 5.2 kt in 15 kt of wind blowing from 60. .The forecast from a few hours ago was wrong again, but I certainly was not complaining. The course was 266 and the waypoint was at 257. I had managed to end up at the latitude of the waypoint, which was a 100 nm away. I would try to remain at 18 30S and if and when the wind backs to the N, I will be in a position to use the staysail in a beam reach. Had I followed the recommended route, I would have been 45 nm N. Satisfied, but fooling uself that every could so south any moment, I decided to make myself a cup of tea. But, before it was brewed, I was surprised by a strong rain storm. I had been watch upwind for storms, but this came from the bow and as it struck the wind went practically zero. I took advantage be heaving to and retrieving a line I had been training behind the boat for two weeks. The line is attached to the bottom of the servo rudder and is used to raise it when not in use. Retrieving it was on my list of things to do today because I could not run the risk of fouling the prop with it in the water. While retrieving the line, I noticed that the stanchion on port side was missing two of its three screws and the third had backed out and was about to fall into the sea. The stanchion was moving back and forth with the motion of the surge. I quickly took the weight off the stanchion by connecting the hoist to the outboard and tightened the screw. I will need to find replacement screws. I went to the starboard side and sure enough those screws were loose as well. I had been thinking about putting a bar across the stern pulpit for further support. If I can find the stock and the hardware in Darwin, I will do that. In the wake of the strong storm that had passed, not surprisingly, the wind dropped to single digits, causing the boat speed to fall to 2.5 kt. The direction changed to 60, but I knew this was all going to be short-lived, so I didn’t even try to adjust the course or trim the sails and instead went with the flow so I could finally enjoy my tea. While drinking my tea in the cockpit, I downloaded a new GRIB. Of course the weather had changed. It now recommended I do what I had been doing the past 24h, make my way towards the waypoint. My motive for retrieving the line was the expectation the wind would get confused at some point and I would need to motor out of dead air. Until I found the energy to rummage trough the extra hardware locker, a laborious task that involves removing most of the storage containers in the upper pilot’s berth on the port side, I cannibalized two screws from less important stanchions. As I enjoyed my tea, the sun came out from the storm that had just passed and I noted that it was surprisingly clear ahead. Surprisingly, because thunderstorms are predicted later. I started to parse my punch list for today. If all goes as planned, I will arrive at port tomorrow and I need to do things like inflate the fenders, which I have not used since leaving San Carlos. Since the seas were unusually calm and the boat was moving slowly, I decided to take my tea on the foredeck, wearing my harness of course. It was there that I averted near disaster. Two of the four screws that held the boom on were missing and a third was loose both screws on the port side were missing and the boom was flexing in the fitting that connects to the gooseneck. I quickly went below and found replacement screws. They were unusual, large, but recognizing the importance of having spares, I had two in my emergency hardware box. With the help of the engine, I put the boat in a position with respect to the wind that moved the boom to line up the screw holes. Because if the forces involved, there was no way U was going to be able to manhandle it into position. I discovered that the top screw had stripped out. That is probably what caused the problem. I would need to tap the hole and put in a larger bolt, but I did not think I had a large enough. I would check later. Fortunately, the forces should come mostly from the starboard side until I reach Vava’u. I of course examined the rigging in Tahiti and did not spot the missing screws. So I suspect they came out during the passage. It is possible they were loose before that and I just didn’t notice. I am going to have to take the time to check the security of every piece of hardware on the deck and in the rigging after every passage. By that, I mean get a driver/wrench in every piece of hardware and check that it is tight. It is 9:30 and the sun has come out. I have been trying to have my tea for almost two hours. It is still hot in the thermal mug. I will need to lash secure the boom to minimize its movement for the remainder of the trip. I also noticed the sheet for the jib is getting warm where it goes through the block. I need to reverse the line, but that involves lowering the jib because the line is attached too high up to reach. The cabin looks like a bomb went off. Looking for the hardware I need, I threw stuff in a pile, and that pile was quickly spread all over the floor by the motion of the boat. I am running down my priorities. I can see rain clouds windward. I am going to produce very little solar today. I decide to get the cabin put back together again, make some breakfast, pull the DC-DC charger from beneath the V-berth, and replace the one in the engine room. It will be a challenge, not only because of the motion of the boat, but because most of the stuff on top if the V-berth will have to be moved to get to the compartment with the controller. I’m finishing my tea in the cockpit before getting to work when I see a show float by. It is too far away to reach. I see amazing little flotsam out here. With all of the commotion, I am already an hour behind the schedule that was made two hours ago. It took me about 30m to get DC-DC #3 out from underneath the V-birth. It was very hot and humid, and I was dripping sweat on the Li batteries and electronics. I was worried I was going to cause a short. As I was taking the unit out, I was reminded it is the “non isolated” version whereas the one I am replacing is the isolated version. However, since the Li and AGM banks share a common ground, that shouldn’t be a problem. In fact, it is easier to install the non-isolated version because it only has a three large cables at the base instead of four. By the time I got back to the cockpit to cool off it was nearly 11:00, and clouds had replaced sunshine. I did not see any breaks in the thick, dark clouds, so I don’t expect much solar energy. The wind was in the single digits at 22 and the boat was crawling along at 2.8 kt. In a positive note, with the boat hardly moving and the seas calm, it was going to be easier to work in the engine room. While sitting in the cockpit thinking about the process, the wind suddenly shifted to due N and started blowing double digits. I trimmed the sails and set the single vane and was suddenly doing 5.5 kt. I started working in the engine room at 11:15. It was warm from running the engine for a minute earlier. I should disconnect the batteries before working on the charger, but that would cause all sorts of problems with the instrumentation, so I worked with hot wires, successively removing the negative, insulating the wire with electrical tape. Since the units were the same dimensions, it was pretty much plug-and-play, except ai replaced the two grounds with one. I used the ground to that main buss rather than the one from the engine block, and double checked the AGM side was hot. The input side of DC-DC #1 was black. It had clearly been shorted out and that was likely the cause of its failure. DC-DC #3 has been programmed to charge a Li bank from another Li bank. I had to reprogram it to charge from an AGM bank. After doing that, I the substitute DC-DC #3 was tested and I thought it works, but the excess current is not being detected at the shunt. There were two grounds going to the isolated charger and I arbitrarily picked one to use for the non-isolated charger. I thought both grounds when to the buss, but now I am thinking one went to the shunt and the other to the buss, and I picked the one that went to the buss. It does not matter in that the voltage of the Li bank tells me the state of charge, but it is convenient to have an amperage inventory. I have to rewire the shut anyway (because the small inverter I use for the computers is wired to the wrong side of the shunt. On further testing, it is clear current is not flowing between the battery banks. I will deal with this in Tonga. I will connect DC-DC #1 to a battery source and check its setting to make sure the ones I am using are correct. I vaguely remember it took some time to set this up. I knew something was going on while working in the engine room. When I returned to the cockpit I discovered the boat was doing 7 kt in 27 kt of wind. I adjusted the course to the waypoint and was still making over 6.5 kt in 16 kt wind from the N. Just when I thought there is zero chance I will make it in time tomorrow to anchor, the wind gives me some hope. I’ve only made 16 nm in 5h, an average of 3 kt. 85 nm to go to the north side of the island. It is 13:15 and I have 78 nm to go, During the period that distance is covered (between now and 8:00 Sunday morning), the wind is supposed to back (shift counterclockwise) 180 from N, where it is blowing at 15 kt now) to S. There is a dead zone I cannot sail between, about 220-300 degrees from my current waypoint direction of 257 (due W). In the 18h or so, I assume about 9 will be N of me and 9 will be S. I am sailing a beam reach now as the wind blow from the N. Over perhaps the next 6h, that should change to a close reach and eventually a close haul, at which time I will need to head S to still make progress. Eventually I will tack and head N again to make up the difference. It should be something 14:00 to 20:00, head W. 20:00 to 23:00 head S. Tack and head N 23:00 to 2:00. Finally, head W 2:00 to 8:00 to make the waypoint. The period between 20:00 and 2:00 in particular will require quite a bit of hands on sailing. So, I don’t expect to get much sleep tonight. At 14:00, I am heeled over 15 degrees doing almost 7 kt. I am worried about the stern pulpit. I have taken as much weight as I can that is supporting the 6hp outboard using the lift. I just put a cargo strap between the two stanchions with the outboards to lend more support. Sunset should be about 18:05, 2.5h from now. I have done 181-62‎ = 119 nm on in the last 24h, which is very good considering I was largely becalmed most of the morning. I am sailing with the full Yankee and no reefs in the main, which I what I plan to do overnight as gusts over 18 are not expected.

Current Position: 18 48.256’S 170 47.086’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 5.4 kt COG: 260; TWS: 18 kt; TWD: 67; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 262): 181; Total Miles Sailed: 5538 nm;
Comments: It is 16:00 and I am at 169W. The 20 kt wind that has allowed me to sail essential E using just my foresail is going to disappear by dawn and be replaced with 12-15 kt wind with gusts of 20. At the point I will have to raise the main and jibe to a broad reach towards Tonga. My plan is to continue E until I reach 170W, then jibe. It should take me 10-12h to do that, making it 2-4:00 in the morning. This should place me about 240 nm from Tonga in the morning and after sailing 4-5 kt/h during the day, about 180 nm from north side of the Tonga island Vava’u by the end of the day tomorrow, Thursday (Friday Tonga time). The wind will go to single digits by tomorrow night, so there is no chance I will make safe harbor by Friday (Saturday Tonga time). My plan is to cover that 180 nm over the Tonga weekend and position myself to come into the harbor first thing Monday morning (Sunday my current time). During the next two days, the wind will shift from the E to the NNE, allowing me to curve around on a bean reach for Vava’u, using all three sails in the light wind if necessary. The wind is going to shift to the SE and become strong on Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning (Sunday-Monday Tonga time) making it more difficult to heave to. So, if the opportunity presents itself, I will try to make safe harbor Saturday before dark (Sunday Tonga time) and stay on the boat until the quarantine procedure is complete. It is 17:30 and I just downloaded PW data. For the first time the AIS data includes the harbor at Vava’u. There are at least 16 vessels at anchor there and a dozen more are anchor in the island group. White Malkin is there and Little Wren SoloSail is on the N side of the island, presumably heaving to until daylight. Sunset should be at 18:45 (UTC-10, about one hour from now) and I will be at the waypoint PW recommends for jibing in about 40m. The advantage of jibing now is I can raise the mainsail in the light and trim the sails before it gets dark. The advantage of waiting is sailing with the foresail along is generally trouble-free, although I continue to loose latitude (and will loose more as the wind shifts to the E). I believe I will lift the main before dark just because I’ll probably have at least 45m of light to sort things out if there is a problem. I will start by furling in half of the Yankee and I will start with two reefs in the main because I still expect 25 kt gusts tonight and sustained winds of 20. Further, I will be exposing more of the sails in the broad reach. I needed every minute of light to hoist the main and tune the wind vane. I had trouble in the 25 kt hoisting the main because the top baton kept getting hung up on the lazy jack. I eventually dropped the lazy jack and sail pack to get the mai up, then put everything back together again. I finished just as it got dark and a squall hit. The boat is doing almost 6 kt in 25 kt wind with about half the Yankee and two reefs in the main. The wind direction is 85 and I am in an extreme board reach, almost a run. I am about 45 nm from Niue. I believe I will average about 5.5 kt, so should be there in about 8h, which would be 3:00. There is perhaps a 50:50 chance I am going to have to jibe before I get there, and I don’t want to take any chances in the dark. Note that even after all the gymnastics to get the main up, I am exactly on the course recommended by PW, which predicts I will reach Niue at 9:00, much later than I likely will. I will set alarms and stay awake the couple of hours that will be necessary to clear Niue. Just as I was typing this, a squall hit with 30 kt winds, causing the boat to round up a bit towards the island. I am going to have to be cautious. I note this starboard tack is much more comfortable than the port tack was, I think because of the direction of the swell. It was hitting me broadside before and it seems to be following seas now. The TWD is shifting as I approach Niue. At 00:15 it is 76 and I am 16 nm away. This may allow me to pass the island without jibing, but it will be very close. The problem is, while the wind vane is doing a very good job, as mentioned before, I am getting periodic gusts of 25-30 kt that are causing the boat to round up. I am now staying awake to hand steer through those gusts. I am down below, but the sounds of the wind/water and the heeling signal when I need to take control. Niue is about 8 nm wide and normally when you approach the windward side of an island, particularly one with some elevation, the surface wind direction will change as the wind is parted around the island. I am looking for that. It is 1:00 in the UTC-10 timezone and my phone just switched to midnight (UTC-11). Interestingly, the time on PW has also switched to UTC-11. It is 1:30 and it has become clear that it will not be necessary to jibe. It would appear that my closest approach will be about 5 nm and it looks like I will pass the island 4h ahead of the schedule that was downloaded at 17:00 yesterday. The town of Alofi is on the leeward (opposite) side of the island, so it is not surprising that I do not see any lights. There are roads on this side of the island, but I do not believe there are any concentrations of population. At 3:00, I passed the closest point to Niue, about 5 nm. Once past, I downloaded a new GRIB, extended AIS data, and a weather routing plan. I have managed to shave an entire day off of the passage. The plan shows an arrival to the N side of the island about 22:00 on Saturday Tonga time. I will plan on navigating the complicated channel to anchorage on Sunday morning. It is 4:30 (UTC-10), I am clear of Niue, wind is blowing at 20 kt, I am traveling at 5 kt, and there is no AIS traffic, so I am going to sleep. I have 60h to make the 230 nm to the N side of Vava’u, the 15 nm or so around to the channel on the E side, and navigate the convoluted channel to the anchorage. There is no rush, but when I wake up I am going to deploy more sail to take advantage of the 12-15 kt wind I will have the next 48h. I woke at 7:30 UTC-10. This will be the last check-in at UTC-10. Beginning 2:00 UTC, after I do this check-in, I will switch to UTC+23 (as if I had crossed the dateline). In other words, it is Thursday 7:30 UTC-10, but Friday 6:30 UTC+23. I am about 15 nm E and downwind of Niue. I woke up and the boat was going 3.5 kt in 12 kt of wind. To get out of the shadow, I unfurled most of the Yankee and adjust the course to a more acute wind angle (145). The TWD was 70. This put me on a course of 285 and gave me a boat speed of 4.9 kt. Sunrise was at 7:48. The wind is supposed to back from 80 to 68 by mid morning, at which time I will adjust the course closer to the waypoint (which is currently 266). The sky this morning is largely without clouds, except on the horizons, and the waves are substantially less high, perhaps affected by Niue. At 8:30 I shook out the second reef. I was making about 5 kt in 16 kt wind. I rigged a preventer and put out a fishing line.in celebration of passing and Niue and reaching waters that were not as angry, I cooked a large breakfast of eggs, potatoes, onions and prosciutto. At 9:30 I seemed to be out of the island’s shadow and was making 5.2 kt on a course of 285. As predicted, the wind start to back to 68 about 10:30. The nice thing (sometimes) about the wind vane is it steers relative to the wind. I did not need to make any adjustments. The boat automatically steered closer to the waypoint. By 11:00, I was out of the “wave shadow” of Niue and the big swell was back. I was really glad I had fixed the meal and cleaned up before the rocking returned. The wind became variable in speed and direction, making it difficult to trim sails and run a steady course. The boat bounced between a course of about 275 at 5 kt and 300 at 6 kt. I just went with the flow and figured it would sort itself out soon enough. About noon, I got a strike on the fishing line. I was a 7’ billfish. Having lost my gaff and not having any interest in bringing a billfish aboard by the gills, I ran a noose of rope down the fishing line and it naturally stopped at the tail. After cinching the loop, I dragged the fish aboard tail-first. The course recommended by PW has been very accurate today. Including changed in wind direction and strength. Since Niue, I have basically been curving around to the E as the wind direction changes. However, the forecast has changed every time I new GRIF has been issued with respect to were the dead air is going to be and when, so basically I cannot plan for that. Instead I am keeping the GRIFs up-to-date and downloading frequent weather plans. The distance sailed on to Tonga in the last 24 h was 290-181=139 nm (a remarkably good day).

Current Position: 19 31.992’S 168 56.150’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 5.8 kt COG: 244; TWS: 22 kt; TWD: 95; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 268): 290; Total Miles Sailed: 5427 nm;
Comments: As predicted, it blew 20-25 kt all night from about 115. On average, the course was almost exactly towards the waypoint at 5-6 kt boat speed. I did not set alarms, but instead relied upon what was a very bumpy ride to wake me when things felt out of control, which was every half hour or so. The boat was not helping much as I was almost in a run, but it rocked violently at times. I had padded both sides of the berth and wedged myself in to keep from being tossed back and forth. When I was awaken, I checked the Cortex app for current heading and the PW Offshore app for current position relative to the planned course. I went to the cockpit several times, primarily to check the control lines of the wind vane (which I sometimes had to tighten)and confirm what my iPhone was telling me (which I sometimes did not believe because of how rough the ride was). Sometimes I would find the boat being driven further S than planned and I would wait a minute or two to see the wind vane correct the course. Occasionally I would help it. For example, at 22:40 there was a gust of nearly 30 kt, and I steered by hand for a couple of minutes. The gust lasted longer than usual, about 15m. The boat was surfing at 8.5 kt. My current course is essentially straight at Niue, but the wind will back from 115 to 85 in the next 24h, sending me around the island. Around 1:00, I first started noticing deviation from 115 and some gusts closer to 90. I am at 19 20S and need to be 18 55.S to clear Niue. It is going to become increasing difficult to sail E, much less move further N. I will need to make a decision whether to jibe or whether to pass Niue S. It will be easier I jibe later, when the wind direction is closer to 85. Further, I can maintain boat speed in a broad reach. In any case, the decision probably does not need to be made until later this afternoon. One thing is certain, I saved at least a quarter day by switching to just the headsail and sailing closer to a run these past 24h (by not loosing as much latitude), and probably more (because that means having wind for a longer period of time). It is 2:00 and I just downloaded the latest GRIF with weather planning. My intuition was correct. The proposed route has me going S of Niue to take advantage of the longer period of wind. There was a fairly heavy rainfall at 2:20, but no additional wind. Although I woke periodically, the wind vane required no interventions until I finally got up at 6:45. During that time the boat moved about 30 nm nearly due E (6 kt/h). My best guess is I will be part Niue in 24h and will jibe for Tonga. There are a huge number of boats between the two islands, mostly commercial fishing boats, many in long lines of a half dozen. It is almost 7:00. The weather looks like a repeat of yesterday … frequent low-energy squalls separated by periods of sunshine and punctuated by an angry sea that is causing the boat to continuously pitch and roll. If there is any respite today, I will prepare the cabin for the jibe at the end of the day (ia.e., stow and secure everything on the starboard side). I am sailing the rough yet another rainbow this morning. It never gets old. While I was enjoying my morning tea in the cockpit, a large, rogue wave came over the port quarter. I’m awake now. It is 8:30 and the wind is still coming from 110, so I continue to make progress almost due E, but the forecast is still for the wind to shift to 90. That will be one of the determining factors on when to jibe. I laid down for a nap at 11:09 and when I woke up just before noon the wind had backed to almost 90. I adjusted the wind vane and downloaded a new GRIB, which was 18h old. The new weather plan recommended I jibe earlier than before, about 16:00, in 4h. Doing so would not allow me to quite clear Niue “, and instead several smaller jibes would be required. The plan would have me clear just S of Niue about dawn. I studied the plan and as usual PW overestimated my speed during the day and underestimated it at night. I noticed the paracord used to raise the flags on the starboard had chaffed through the outer sheath. I took down the French Polynesian flag and will replace the cord once I am in seas that are not as angry. It is 14:45, the batteries are at 99%, there is sunshine, so it looks like I will have excess energy today. I turned on the watermaker (and turned off the fridge), not expecting to produce a significant amount of water, but to purge the system so I don’t get growth. I made about 1.5 gallon of water in 45m, then turned off the watermake abs turned the fridge on. A few minutes later, at 3:30, the batteries were fully charged. I noticed the DC-DC charger once again has a low input voltage (9.4V), which I know is wrong because the AGM bank is at 13.0 V (fully charged). I don’t know if the connection is bad or the charge is defective. Although I don’t intend to work in it today, I put a meter across the terminals and established the connection is good. When I get to Tonga, after I use the Internet to determine whether it can be fixed, I will substitute DC-DC #1 (the one that connects the AGM bank to the house Li bank) with DC-DC #3 (the one that moves energy from the Li bank under the V-berth to the house bank, which I never use). The distance sailed on to Tonga in the last 24 h was 418-290=128 nm. The total distance sailed was 5427-5276=141 nm (14/24=5.8 kt average, within 1 nm of yesterday). Note I am officially in the UTC-11 timezone now, but I won’t change my clocks until after I have crossed the dateline.

Current Position: 19 17.290’S 166 38.104’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 5.9 kt COG: 264; TWS: 22 kt; TWD: 1137 Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 262): 419; Total Miles Sailed: 5277 nm;
Comments: It is 17:50, about 30m before sunset. The wind is blowing steady 18-30 kt and the boat is making 5.5-6 kt towards N1, which is 310 nm. The wind speed is expected to stay in the 15-20 kt range until early tomorrow morning (4:00), when the speed will increase to 20 with 25 kt gusts. I already have to reefs in the main, but most of the Yankee is deployed, which is too much for 25 kt gusts. I want to take advantage of this wind to make as progress as possible before Friday morning when the wind will start dropping off significantly. I should make B1 early Thursday morning, where I will jibe for Tonga. Tonga could be two and a half days from there, but I will only have one day of good wind, placing me perhaps 150 nm away by Friday midday (which will be Saturday midday in Tonga). I figure it is going to take the better part of two days to make that 150 nm. For tonight, I will compromise and bring in 25%. I am still making 5.6 kt in 18 and 6 in 20 kt of wind, but the boat won’t be overwhelmed in 25 kt gusts. Sunset was at 18:25. I believe I crossed into UTC-11 overnight 165W), but I will be here such a short period of time, I will ignore it. I will change my time zone when I reach Tonga. I was awaken at 22:30 because the boat was off course. It had rounded up and was heading almost due S. I am not sure why as the wind vane seemed set up properly. Perhaps the control lines were too loose and it got overwhelmed by a wave or a gust of wind. I adjusted it to head further E (essentially directly at N1, a point just S of Niue) in the 20 kt wind, almost a run and stayed up awhile to see if it would accidentally heave to. At 23:30 I downloaded a new GRIB. In a new development, the wind is expected to back becoming due E as I approach Niue. Five of the six routes are the same, having me head to a waypoint 85 nm SE of Niue before changing my course for Vava’u. By the time I make up the 85 nm, the wind has started waning. I’m not worried about loosing the wind because in the worse case I’m becalmed for part of a day. Favorable wind is expected the next day. Little Wren SoloSail has reappeared on the AIS map at the same distance as always (285 nm), just N of Niue. The range of the AIS map is 300 nm, which is why she comes and goes. One thing is certain, I need to pass Niue to the S (not N), so I am continuing on my course. I was awaken at 1:00 by a squall. That must have passed in front of me. It was raining and the wind had dropped to single digits and was coming from the NE, causing the boat to swing around to the S. I knew this was just temporary, so I waited for the wind to build and veer, then put the boat back on course. The whole episode only lasted 15m. This is probably what happened at 22:30 (but without the rain). It too awhile for the wind to build back up to 20 kt, but by 1:35 the boat was doing better than 6 kt on course. I was now alerted to the fact the weather is unstable and began setting 1h alarms. As predicted, at 4:30, I started getting gusts of 25 kt. The boat handled them well, making up to 7.5 kt (hull speed). I adjusted the wind vane in an attempt not to loose and more latitude than necessary. Also, a more easterly course is more comfortable. At 5:40 I got hit by a big wave that spun the boat around facing almost due N. The preventer stopped a jibe and the wind vane recovered surprisingly quickly. It happened again at 6:00, just before dawn. This time the boat turned around almost 180. It felt like another storm. It was 40m before sunrise and no sign of light. I travelled 319-240‎ = 79nm on and 5221-5136=85 nm total (85/14=6.1 kt average) since the check-in. It’s 10m after sunrise and it is practically pitch black outside. It is 7:10. Sunrise at Niue was 6:45, so I’m guessing sunrise was at least 30m ago where I am. There is a ribbon of yellow to the E, but dark everywhere else. I am 230 nm from N1, which is essentially the southern coast of Niue. However, I am about 170 nm from where I should be jibing towards Tonga. Between now and then, the winds will back to almost due E. I will need to change my course ever more southerly between now and midday tomorrow. The reason for passing Niue to the S was to avoid a shadow, but regrettably, that is exactly what is going to happen as the wind backs E. There is still time to change course and pass the island to the N, and one of the six models recommends that, it sets me up for a bad angle afterwards. Furthermore, I still have to dip to practically the same latitude before jibing for the sixth model anyways. I will maintain my effort today to stay as far N as possible. The sun broke through at 8:00 and I was rewarded by a complete rainbow that I literally sailed through. The wind is blowing at 95 degrees. I dropped and lashed the main and completely unfurled the Yankee. I am doing 6 kt in 22 kt wind directly downwind, essentially directly towards N1. No problem staying on course now and I have the added bonus of following seas. If this keeps up, I will avoid having to go 50 nm S and then back to Niue. As importantly, it would allow me to pass Niue with still a morning of good wind to make my way to Tonga, assuming I can average 5 kt between here and Niue.at 8:45, a small squall pass across the port bow, driving the boat northward, and reminding me of one of the disadvantages of flying just a headsail. However, I am going with the flow. Making north s bit actually puts me in a better position later. At 9:05, pears were on sale … so I ate all three of them. As predicted, the waves are building with the high winds … about 12’. It’s going to be a rough two days until I get past Niue. I swung the boom over to the port side and lashed it. Not only did that give me another half kt of speed (windage of the sailpacknin its “wing-on-wing” configuration), but it exposed more of the solar panels, giving me another 10 Ah midday. I tried to turn on the engine to charge the batteries, but the “input voltage is too low.” When the engine is running, the input voltage, which is the voltage of the starter AGM bank, reads 8.4V according to the DC-DC charger. However, I have a voltage monitor on the bank, and I know its voltage is normal, 12.8V. I strongly believe there is a short that only manifests itself when the charger is on (when the engine is on. At 12:10, a good-sized squall past my starboard quarter. While it missed me, one developing on the port side will not. Before the storm hit, I took the wiring apart for the charger, wrapped some electrical tape around the base of the connectors, and replaced one connector. ITge storm hit just as I was finishing up at 13:30 with lite rain and a slight increase in wind. I started the engine and my repair seemed to work, which is good because it appears I will produce very little solar energy today. After studying the charger, I believe the connector I replaced last time as making intermittent contact.l, and it wasn’t a short after all. The wire clamps on the Victron units are very temperamental. Especially in tight places, it is not always clear if they are properly secured. I ran the engine about 30m, and the batteries were topped off. Around 15:00 the boat was surrounded by 4-5 small squalls that made the air unstable. The boat accidentally jibed several times, but when the wind stabilized the wind vane was able to recover. Basically, I am testing whether using the foresail alone with the wind vane is stabile enough to leave overnight while I sleep, and that appears to be the case. I have decided to sail N of Niue. The distance sailed on to Tonga in the last 24 h was 555-418=137 nm. The total distance sailed was 5276-5136=140 nm (140/24=5.8 kt average). In other words, I sailed directly towards Tonga all day. The distance to the N side of Niue is approximately 183 nm. If this pace continues, I will reach Niue by Thursday morning, leaving 235 to Tonga. I expect to arrive in about five days, Sunday local time or Monday Tonga (after crossing the dateline).

Current Position: 19 02.728’S 164 11.787’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 5.7 kt COG: 240; TWS: 18 kt; TWD: 113; Distance to Waypoint (N1, 254): 319; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 258): 555; Total Miles Sailed: 5136 nm;
Comments: For sailing, yesterday started out very challenging in the early morning hours, but shortly after daybreak, sailing conditions became near perfect. The sailboat Stet that snuck up on me yesterday turned of its AIS before dark last night. It probably needs to conserve energy like I do. Since we two are the only boats writhing hundreds of miles out here, the AIS does not serve much purpose for vessel avoidance, although it is useful for tracking. Sunset was at 18:19. The tanker Alcyone passed 30 nm N of me at 1:00. I downloaded a new set of extended AIS data from PW and confirmed Stet was now 22 nm from me and falling behind. Further, the vessel Jumbo Top, which had been on a course towards me, had passed N by 15 nm. No other vessels were within two days of me. The sailboat Little Wren SoloSail, which was part of the 15 boats in the Global Mini Challenge race appeared on the AIS map for the first time in several days and was 285 nm from me, the same distance as when I left Tahiti, although they were going to pass Niue to the N and I to the S. I downloaded a new GRIB. The weather prediction did not change markedly, although the recommended course, which was consistent in all six models, suggested it was not necessary to go as far S before jibing past Niue, so I adjusted my course accordingly. The jibe is still expected Wednesday late afternoon. After that the wind is expected to slow down, making the last 300 a slower haul. If the forecast holds, there is a good chance I am becalmed Saturday (Sunday Tonga time), but if I am, wind should arrive Sunday (Monday Tonga time), which is fine, because I don’t want to arrive on Sunday. I was awake 1-2, then adjusted my course due E to a broad reach, reducing the speed to 5 kt, lessening the heal, and reorienting the seas to be following, making for a mellow ride. With nothing in my way, I did not set an alarm and went back to sleep. I woke at 3:30 and checked the Cortex to make sure I was on course, went back to sleep and woke at 6:20, almost 3h later. That is the longest I have slept while not at anchor since leaving San Carlos. It is partly cloudy (mostly clear except on the horizons). At 7:00, made about 676-595‎ = 81nm since the check-in yesterday (81/15‎ = 5.4kt average towards the waypoint. I am trying a new strategy with the fridge. I turn jt off at night after the batteries are fully charged and when the power consumption starts going negative (about 15:30), I turn it in for 30 m at 19:00. I turn it on for 30m at 7:00, and I turn it in when the solar starts positive when everything is running but the fridge (about 9:00). Today, the batteries started out at 89% at 7:30, after running the fridge for 30m (which is unusually high … it is usually about 82%). The wind is a little lighter this morning. I unfurled the last 20% of the Yankee at 8:00 (still a double reef in the main for the gusts). The TWD had backed to 105, and the Yankee flagged on the waypoint (257). I created a new waypoint a few nm S of Niue (N1 that is 358 nm away and 253 and I am steering towards that doing almost 6 kt in 17 kt wind coming from 145. I should reach N1 about the time the wind shifts direction and slows down. This will leave me about 230 nm to the N side of Neiafu (the main island of the northern group of Tonga). It is 9:00, the sun is shining, the batteries are still at 89% and down 65 Ah, I am producing an excess of energy, and I just turned on the fridge. With the fridge on, right now, it is about break-even. It is 10:00, exactly one week after leaving Tahiti. The batteries are still at 89%, but -63 Ah, so I am producing excess energy with the fridge on. At 11:00, the batteries were at 90% (-58 Ah). At 12:00, 92% (-49 Ah). At 13:00, 94% (-36 Ah). By midday, the seas were unusually calm and the winds relatively light, so I took advantage to cook split pea soup (bag of dried split peas, 3 carrots, 1 onion, 5 oz can of Hormel smoked ham, water to cover one inch, and cook in pressure cooker 20m from time flame was turned on). At 14:00, 96% (-25 Ah) and I turned off the fridge while the batteries finished charging. Note a lot of cloud cover came in about 14:00 and charging slowed down. By midafternoon, the wind also picked up a bit, as expected, and the speed increased a kt to 5.5. At 15:00, 98% (-16 Ah). At 16:00, 99% (-10 Ah). Note, the batteries just became charged at 16:00. The voltage is starting to shoot up to 14.5 V. The residual -10 Ah is due to siphoning of current from the shunt by a small inverter I use to charge my tablet computer. When I have time, I need to rewire that so it comes out of the correct side of the shunt. The distance sailed on in the past 24h was 676-555‎ = 121nm. The total distance sailed was 5136-50097 nm (124/24 = 5.2 kt average).

Current Position: 18 39.801’S 162 01.852W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; SOG: 6.1 kt COG: 240; TWS: 18 kt; TWD: 134; Distance to Waypoint (Tonga, 256): 676; Total Miles Sailed: 5009 nm;
Comments: Regrettably, it got cloudy yesterday afternoon and I had to run the engine to charge the batteries, primarily because I ran the fridge for 24h straight. I’m trying to run the fridge again overnight, but I am turning up the thermostat so its duty cycle is less, I want to find the setting that allows me to run it all the time and still have enough solar to fully charge the batteries. Unfortunately, the DC-DC charger that connects the engine’s alternator to the house battery bank is showing a “fault” and only works intermittently. I am not sure exactly what that means, but I have a spare I can swap out, but I’d like to wait until J am at anchor to do that. There is nothing worse than squeezing in the engine room while the boat is underway. One of the reasons I am recording such detail in these entries is to demonstrate just how many things go wrong on an extended passage. If someone is thinking about doing this, they should ask themselves if they and their boat are ready to deal with these issues. There’s no Home Depot at 18S 160W and Amazon doesn’t make deliveries here. The question I am asked most often is “what do you do with all your feee time out there?” Ha! I thought I might go a day without storms, but at sunset there is a squall to my port, a squall to my starboard and there’s a third bending me that just started dumping rain on me. This was short-lived, but at 18:20, just before it got dark, I was surprised by a very large and fast-moving storm. I quickly furled some more of the jib and put a second reef in the main. The wind shifted quickly from 135 to 90 as the storm approached, the back to 120 as it started to rain. The wind vane was of course affected by the change in wind direction, but I let the boat go with the flow knowing the changes were temporary. The storm was large, but not particularly energetic, but it was pretty clear that I was going to face similar storms at least CNN part of the night, so I was happy that I had shortened sail. By 18:30, the boat was moving along at 6 kt with very little sail close to the desired course. As the last of the light disappeared, I could see more storms lined up. I suspected they were all low-energy (the CAPE is supposed to be 200-300), but I was satisfied with the sail plan and retired to the cabin. I was awaken just before the 22:00 alarm. The winds had shifted to 145, 6h earlier than expected. The boat had to be put on a beam reach to point towards the waypoint and was doing 6 kt with minimal sail. In addition to rebalancing the wind vane, I had to sheet the main and would have more if not for a preventer and the fact I had no desire to move it in the dark because the boat was rolling. There did not appear to be a storm or gust that as causing this. I set an alarm for an hour to see if the change persists. Of course it did not. My best indicator that wind shifts were temporary was the drizzle/rain felt when I entered the cockpit to make an adjustment. It was a long night of second-guessing the behavior of the wind while trying to keep the boat from accidentally jibing or jumping to an unrecoverable position while rounding up. From my horizontal position in the pilot’s berth, I knew exactly what was happening at the helm from the sensations of heeling and sounds of the sails. The challenge was to resist the urge to make a correction that I knew would only be temporary and would precipitate the need to act again before I’d even settled back into the berth. It’s 00:22, the first day of my third and last full month in the South Pacific. At 4:00 I woke to deal with the course again and I noticed a 43’ sailboat had unexpectedly popped up on AIS 7 nm behind me. The sailboat was heading towards me with variable speed 3.5-6 kt. However, my speed and course has been all over the place tonight, and it I was not clear how it had gotten so close without being detected by now … did I overtake it or it me. I suspect it has been here and didn’t have its AIS on. The name of the boat finally appeared … Stet. It has maintained essentially the same position behind me the past hour. It is 6:00. Normally, I would have my tea in the cockpit and watch the sunrise. It is blowing 25 kt and spray is coming over the rails as the boat travels 7 kt, so this isn’t a good morning for that. I have made 793-730‎ = 63nm on and travelled 4952-4884‎ = 68(68/14 = 4.9 kt) since my check-in yesterday. It is 6:30 and still quite dark. I turned the Radar on briefly to confirm there were no squalls in the area. I could see Stet, still about 7 nm behind me. The weather forecasts have the wind turning southerly towards the end of the passage, with the recommendation that I pass S of Niue. All the forecasts recommend that I make some distance S now. I have adjusted my course to 240 (waypoint at 254). I am in a close reach, the first time I have sailed upwind in a very long time. The routes have me jibing midweek. It looks like Stet may be heading for the Samoa, so our paths should cross in about an hour. It was a good call to shorten the sails last night. It made it a lot easier to handle the boat in the ever-changing conditions. The models right now have the wind disappearing around Tonga on Saturday afternoon (Sunday local), but picking up again Sunday (Monday local). I don’t want to arrive Sunday because the immigration/customs office is closed. If it looks like I am arriving too early, I can take advantage of the calm to heave to and ready the boat for inspection. I am going to pass about 3 nm ahead of Stet. It is light now. There is a very dark and angry-looking front behind me. It’s going to be another day of shortened sail and no solar. This concerns me because of the issue with the DC-DC charger and the fact as did not run the fridge all night. It is 7:30. It is starting to sprinkle, but actually, upwind and down course the skies look relatively clear, so if I can outrun what is behind me, it might not be as dire as I through at dawn. In fact, the sun just cleared the top of the storm behind me. Also, I just crossed over the path of Stet, which is 4 nm behind me. At 9:30 I downloaded a new GRIB. While the route has not changed, and all six models have me headed more southbound until Wednesday, it is noteworthy that the very severe weather predicted last week to occur at the end of this week is no longer predicted. It will still blow hard and die down Saturday, but the dangerous front to the S is no longer there. On one hand I t is really hard to predict more than a week out. On the other, the route recommended really has not changed in two weeks. It is 11:00, the sun is shining, and I’m doing 6 kt in 16 kt wind in a beam reach just off the waypoint … a fine day so far. I had a look at the DC-DC charger and specifically whether there was a short like I observed before, but cannot see anything. I will note there was some drops of condensation on top of the unit, and it is possible that moisture was causing the problem. When I run the engine to charge in the future, I will also run the blower to see if that helps. In a positive note, the wind vane is doing a very good job today. By 13:00, there were practically no clouds in the sky, the first time in almost a week. By 3:00, the waves had picked up, resulting in significant rolling. Nonetheless, the boat was making good time averaging over 6 kt. The sailboat Stet ran parallel to me all day, albeit somewhat slower. I thought from its original course that it was headed to Samoa, but now it seems more likely that it is headed for Niue or Tonga. Perhaps they changed their minds after seeing the forecast that there was going to be dead air between here and Samoa for several days. The distance sailed on in the past 24h was 793-676‎ = 117nm. The total distance sailed was 5009-4884 = 126 nm (124/24 = 5.2 kt average). Note I have sailed over 5000 nm since leaving San Carlos.