Author: mtashby

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).

Current Position: 20 51.230’S 1 29.548’E; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 4.6 kt; COG: 312; TWS: 14; TWD: 168; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.5 kt; Current Direction: 310; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 318): 499 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4150 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 18188 nm; Engine Hours: 412; Estimate Fuel: 60+10+50;
Comments: Sunset should be at 18:32 at 3.5E. The actual sunset was hidden by a cloud bank. The wind was 16 with gusts of 20. It arrived earlier than expected. I was glad I had swapped the asymm for the jib. It would have been a long night dodging cargo ships and trying to keep the boat upright if the kite was still up and I was headed N. I went to sleep at 20:00. Since there seemed to be little chance of encountering a commercial vessel, I set alarm intervals of 2h. No vessels were encountered overnight. The wind was as predicted, driving the boat with a SOG of almost 5 kt. I woke a little after 4:00 with 550 nm to St. Helena. I downloaded GRIB data and explored routes to Barbados. Stopping by St. Helena is 36.5d, stopping by Ascension is 37d, and heading directly to Barbados is 36.25 days. There is not that much difference. It is basically a question of how long I sail W, when I tack NW, and whether I need to go further W after reaching one of the islands. Since it only cost a few hours to go to St. Helena, I will take that route. If I push hard, I may make it during daylight hours on Monday. The route to St. Helena involves beating up the rhumb line, so it is a good thing I am flying the jib. It is 6:00, partly cloudy, and I have 15 kt wind giving a SOG of 5.1 on a broad reach. The route has me on a port tack for 24h. The TWD should favor a starboard tack tomorrow. I saw a couple more flying fish this morning and one on the deck. I shook the second reef out of the main at 9:00, after the morning breeze, and picked up a couple tenths of a kt, averaging almost 5 in 13 kt wind. The additional main created weather helm that made it necessary to trim the sails and make a correction with the windvane. It is almost a tossup to fly more main when sailing downwind with the Yankee. In the end I discovered what I always discover … it’s just not worth running one reef when I am just using the Yankee downwind. Any advantage of the additional sail are is negated by slatting of the jib when the boat rolls. I put the second reef back in the main and spent 30m trimming the sails and adjusting the windvane to get back to where I started. The mainsail is hauled in much more than you would expect for a broad reach so as to expose as much of the Yankee as possible. In other words, the Yankee is doing all the work. I am certain this is because I cannot get a good shape of the main because of the stack pack. When I get back I am going to redesign it so I can drop it when not in use. This will make it necessary to design the lazy jacks so they are independent of the stack pack. I am also going to design it so the reefing points in the middle of the sail can be secured (to give the sail a better shape). I am breaking into the shelf-stable provisions today. I am having Kitchaei Curry with Noodles, Naan, and Raw Carrot. The last two items are “on sale” and need to be used up. I have also been working on my bottle of “Christmas” wine the past three days, so will need to finish it tonight unless I want vinegar. It is a sunny day and I have plenty of energy, so I made water to use for a bath and do a little laundry. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 606-498=108 nm. The total distance sailed was 18188-18021=167 nm (155/24=6.4 kt avg).

Current Position: 21 11.827’S 3 29.982’E; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 4.6 kt; COG: 304; TWS: 13; TWD: 175; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.5 kt; Current Direction: 310; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 312): 606 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4270 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 18021 nm; Engine Hours: 412; Estimate Fuel: 60+10+50;
Comments: Sunset should be at 18:30 at 4.5E. The sunset was actually at 18:29. It is blowing 11 from 170, driving me somewhat E, but since it would take me a hour to furl the asymm, tack, reorganize the running rigging, unfurl the asymm, and reset the windvane, it is just not worth it. At the point I am going to enter the shipping channel in 2-4d, I may tack. I am in a very deep broad reach, so I am not making the speed I could is the AWA was more obtuse. I brought the fishing line in for the night without any strikes today. I may try a different lure tomorrow. I went to sleep at 19:00. Since the OTH AIS shows no commercial traffic that will likely cross my path tonight, I set alarm intervals of 2h. It is 2:00, the wind is blowing 13, the SOG is 5.4, and I have begun heading more easterly (340). At 3:30 the boat heeled over severely. Everything went flying in the cabin. An (obviously unexpected) 20 kt gust had overwhelmed the windvane and caused the boat to round up. Once the course was corrected, I put boat in a near run. The boat was doing 7 kt in 18 kt wind on a course of 320. At 3:45 I got hit with a 22kt gust followed by 19 kt wind. The windvane struggled but kept the course. By 4:00 the wind had settled at 15 and the boat was riding comfortably. The previous GRIB said gusts of 17 between 2-3:00, then working down to single digits by dawn. The GRIB was 18h old do I updated it. The new forecast is for 12 kt winds and 15 kt gusts all day and some 19 kt gusts tonight. The wind will veer during the day from 125 to 145. This seems to be a pattern. It looks like I will reach the shipping channel by tomorrow evening (New Year’s Eve) and it will be a good time to tack. I will run some weather simulations in the morning to decide whether it is best to redeploy the asymm on the starboard or run the jib for a while. On the OTH AIS I see 2-3 ships on my stern that may come into range later this evening and 1 on my bow that may show up in the early morning hours. Once it is light, I am going to secure everything in the cabin. I also need to go on deck to make sure there was no damage when I heeled over. Sunrise should be at 5:01 (4.0E). Sunrise was in fact at 5:03. The sky is mostly cloudy and there are significant wind-driven waves. The swell still seems light. Despite heading misty N in the last 13h, I still made 36 nm on to St. Helena (and probably twice that over ground). Because I am going to see gusts of 18-20 much of the night, the AWA will be >135, and I need to furl the asymm if I am going to tack tomorrow evening, I may furl the asymm before dark and run the jib overnight. It will be easier to tack back and forth with the jib overnight if the wing direction dictates. I could drop the asymm to the deck and lash it to redeploy on Thursday (New Years). While I had my tea and yogurt in the cockpit, I watched the instruments to learn how the asymm behaves in strong wind. It does just fine in gusts up to 20 kt provided the boat is in a deep broad reach. Without an obtuse AWA, the boat heels over severely. The windvane maintains a deep broad reach so long as the wind is blowing 15 kt or so. The sail collapses in lighter wind with an AWA>160 or so. At 10:00 I downloaded the latest GRIB. I also explored possible routes forward. I have decided there are no single-digit winds predicted in the next week. Further, several periods of 20 kt winds are predicted and the wind will continue to veer in the day and back at night. Since it is inconvenient to tack with the asymm, ai have decided to drop it and fly the jib. Since the winds are picking up this afternoon, I will make the changeover before noon. This will allow me to tack to the starboard and take advantage of the wind direction to make my way towards St. Helena. At 10:30 I started switching sails. I struggled again to furl the asymm. It seems to need just the right amount of tension on the torsion cable, the right amount of tension on the sheet, and some but not too much luff. In other words, it is a two person job and I will struggle every time I deploy or retrieve it. I tacked to port right away. I lost perhaps 0.5 kt speed, but was headed NW instead NNE, so I was making more progress on. I will tack back to starboard tonight when the wind backs. I like the idea of not having the asymm up tonight when I get 20 kt gusts and really like th idea that I am getting some separation from the shipping channel. I am doing about 4.5 kt in 12 kt of wind. It will pick up tonight. The waypoint bearing is 311. This means the break even point is 311-180=131. If the wind is >131 I should be on a port tack and if <131, I should be on a starboard tack. Right now, the TWD is 160, so I am on a port tack. Note, this calculation is for magnetic (not true) compass headings. I ate my leftovers from yesterday at noon. That is pretty much the end of the fresh food. I will make one of my shelf-stable meals tomorrow, probably something to go with the naan I still need to eat. At 13:20 I saw a flying fish. It is the first one I’ve seen in the South Atlantic. I saw millions of the in the South Pacific. Perhaps it has something to do with the water temperature, which I assume is going up as I get away from the Benguela Current (which comes from southern waters) and I head for more northern latitudes. It is 15:00 and as expected the wind has increased (14) and begun to veer (170). At 15:30 the ship I was expecting from the bow passed 3 nm to my starboard. If the three to my bow, because I tacked, only one will come anywhere near me, and it should be quite a ways off my starboard when it passes. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 693-606=87 nm. The total distance sailed was 18021-17866=155 nm (155/24=6.4 kt avg).

Current Position: 22 38.565’S 4 23.847’E; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 3.8 kt; COG: 020; TWS: 9; TWD: 164; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 0.8 kt; Current Direction: 320; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 317): 693 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4345 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 17866 nm; Engine Hours: 410; Estimate Fuel: 60+11+50;
Comments: Sunset should be at 18:28 at 5.0E. The sunset was actually at 18:28 and it was glorious, mirrored on the water, which was as still as a lake. I downloaded the latest GRIB. I will have very little wind tonight, but may have enough in the morning to launch the kite. I went to sleep at 19:00. I have been maintaining a straight course with SOG 1.1 kt in about 3 kt wind for several hours. I am still more than 100 nm from the shipping channels. I see only one ship on the OTH AIS that could come close, and it is perhaps 50 nm away, so I set an alarm for 2h to see if it came within range of the AIS. I should see 7-8 kt wind tomorrow from 107-116 during the day with 10-11 kt gusts. Starting midnight tomorrow and for 48h I should see double digit winds I may be b calmed again on New Year’s Day, but for a much shorter period of time. My guess is I will reach BARB2 about the 4th. As I travel W/NW, I should have double digit winds to Brazil. It should take about a week from BARB2 to Ascension and another week and a half to the coast. The ship passed 20 nm N an 21:30. At 2:00 there was 8-9 kt wind from 120 and the SOG was 2.5. I can expect this wind and gust to 10 until dusk tonight, when I should pick up a few kt. I have only made 7 nm in the last 8h, but at least it was in a straight line. At dawn, I will raise the asymm and expect to make 4 kt or so. I woke at 4:45 and it was blowing 6-8 from 135-150. Sunrise was at 4:58 (4.75E). It was the first one I have been able to see in more than a week. I downloaded the latest GRIB. The wind is basically from the SE, which means basically I can sail due N or W. Which depends on two factors. Winds less than 135 favor N and greater than 135 favor W. The winds the next week range from 110 to 155 with no clear pattern to take advantage of. The other factor is wind speed. It looks like there may be a high developing on Thursday the 1st to Friday the 2nd. To avoid being becalmed in the future, it will pay to make it up to 11-12S (BARB2) as planned. There is another intangible, that is the shipping channels. If I continue N I will have to cross them twice. I ran PW models both N and W and the latter are clearly favored both in terms of wind speed and direction. In fact, I may have too much wind for the asymm by next weekend if I head W. I am going to have my morning tea, wait for the “sunrise wind” to settle down. The wind direction will favor N for the next 36h. Since the asymm is already set up for a starboard tack, I will head N (and as much W as possible). That should putt me in the edge of the shipping channel. I’ll tack to port then and head W. This will put me 3 degrees further N from the low that is developing SW of me (avoiding the high winds that would require U take the asymm down) and S of the high and light winds that are developing NE of me. I would also avoid most of the commercial traffic. At 7:00 I deployed the asymm. I had the usual difficulty. I studied the problem and I believe it has some thing to do with the lower swivel not turning freely. The sail is furled from the top down, so it should be unfurled from the bottom up. Next time, I will try three things … 1) furling the sail when it is not under any load so it does not wind too tight, 2) unfurling it when it is not under much load so the swivel has time to keep up, and 3) lubricate the bearing with water before unfurling. I made a good choice (so far) in heading N. I am doing about 4.3 kt in 9 kt wind (the best I ever do is half the wind speed) on a course of 340 (almost towards St. Helena [700 nm] and Ascension [1400 nm] … because the wind is 120, less than 135) I am actually on a course parallel to the shipping channel. It feels really good to be moving again. I put the fishing line out in the hopes of hooking something that is not as monstrous. I ate the last banana with my yogurt this morning. It is interesting that everything revolves around the weather, food, and stuff that is broken. Life is actually pretty simple out here. It is 8:00 and sailing conditions are near perfect … 10 kt of wind and a smooth sea. I just switched over from the TillerPilot to the windvane. There is enough wind now to use it reliably. Also, I expect the wind to veer later and the wind vane with adjust the course automatically. Most importantly, no more gear grinding noise. I am at the latitude of BARB1 (23S), but 260 nm W. This means I am pretty much on the expected pace to St. Helena, despite being becalmed. It is 9:00 and I see on the OTH AIS that the sailboat Tequila is about 30 nm N of me, on a similar course, and doing 5 kt. My recollection is the boat was a couple of days ahead of me when I left Saldanha. It appears they are headed for St. Helena. Today is a Christmas/New Year meal. I am fixing the smoked salmon, green beans, new potatoes, and opening a bottle of white wine. I believe there will be enough for two meals. I prepared the meal at 14:00. It felt festive. There is enough food and wine for tomorrow. This clears out all the fresh vegetables except a few carrots (which I will eat raw) and some onions (which I intend to use to make soup at some point). Except for citrus and apples, the only fresh fruit left is two pears (which I will eat in the next two days) and a tub of blueberries (which will be gone by the weekend). I have the ham that I will fix at some point and I have some lunch meat. I have a loaf of bread that I have tried to keep frozen (we’ll see) and some naan. As expected, the wind has veered to 160, driving me due N. However, it is supposed to back this evening. I believe at the end of the day, I am going to be able to drive W enough to miss the shipping channels. And if not, I can always tack. It is 15:00 and it feels hot. I have moved 12 degrees N from Cape Town. Some double-digit gusts from 160 arrived at 16:00. The total distance sailed was 17866-17835=31 (31/24=1.3 kt avg).

Current Position: 23 27.766’S 4 62.573’E; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 1.0 kt; COG: 006; TWS: 3; TWD: 125; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 0.9 kt; Current Direction: 358; Distance to Waypoint (BARB2, 004): 696 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4398 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 17761 nm; Engine Hours: 410; Estimate Fuel: 60+11+50;
Comments: Sunset should be at 18:26 at 5.33E. The sunset was actually at 18:26. I went to sleep at 19:20. Over the horizon AIS suggested no threats tonight, so I set the alarm interval for 2h. That will not be the case beginning tomorrow as I start to cross the shipping channels. The one potential issue is I do not know how the asymm and the windvane will handle the 4 kt wind predicted in the early morning hours. At 23:00 I was awaken because the boat had changed speed. The wind was unexpectedly 12-13 kt and the boat was doing 5.5-6 kt. When I went outside I noticed the “anchor light” was actually strobing. It has that feature, but I wired it so it only stobes if I switch some wires in the bilge, which I have not done. While technically not correct, I decided it is probably not a bad idea while crossing the shipping channels. The strobe lights up the asymm dramatically and I am sure it can be seen from some distance. By 3:00 the SOG had dropped to 2 in 6 kt wind from 90. I can expect this for the next 15h or so. At least I am not in the shipping channel. I woke up at 4:20. The boat is becalmed and actually pointed SE. There is a chance I will have a little breeze after sunrise. If I do, it will disappear again at sunset. The wind was swirling, and although the anemometer read 8 kt, it was not coming from one direction, although it was predominantly coming from 320, the exact direction I need to go. The instability was creating havoc for the asymm so I decided to furl it. That is when I discovered not one but two problems. First, the shackle on the tack had unsnapped. I had anticipated this problem and had tied an independent pendant to the tack. The second problem was more serious. One of the two screws that hold a guard on the top-down furler had worked itself loose and the guard was flopping around while working by the second one out. I could not reach the furler because of the pendant, so the first task was reattaching the tack line and making the furler taunt again. Fortunately, there was not much wind, so I was able to reattached the tack line without much trouble. The asymm was flopping around in the little wind there was, so I raised to mainsail to shadow the asymm, started the engine and attached the TillerPilot, and brought the boat around downwind. I could then work on the furler and managed to get the guard off without dropping it in the ocean. Finally, I had the furl the sail. I found if I sat down low on the bowsprit and applied downward force, I could furl the sail without the furling line jumping off the drum. Exhausted, I made myself some tea and enjoyed the last three caramel-flavored Blue Label Marie biscuits. Fortunately, I had a screw that fit the furler. I applied Loctite 242 and reassembled the furler. I thought about drilling all the way through the bracket and installing bolts and nuts, but decided I would just keep an eye on it (like the problematic bolts on the main furler. I don’t know who designs these things, but whoever decided a couple of screws without lock washers were going to stay together during the constant pounding of real use, should lose their job. It might hold up for a couple of hours for a day sail, but not for a seven week passage. At 7:20 I unfurled the jib and kept the course with the TillerPilot in a port tack. I was only making 2 kt on against a current and with fluctuating wind direction, but at least I was pointed in the right direction and wasn’t going backwards. Also, once moving the boat stopped rolling as much. According to the trace, I went backwards 3 nm and lost about 5h sailing time. I am now moving N, close to the course of BARB2, which is 700 nm away (in the last 16h I have made 50 nm. Sometimes when the wind is very light it can be hard to tell the direction because the boat itself is deflecting the wind. Also, the wing speed is sometimes not accurate. When the boat settled into its groove, I was making 2.5 kt in in 5 kt of wind, bust because I was on a close haul, the AWS was over 7 kt. I am doing better than expected. On a positive note, the top-down furler seemed to wind up the sail without putting kinks in the torsion cable, so it should be easier to deploy next time. I have discovered it is easier to furl from the bow rather than the cockpit because I can keep an eye on the drum and make sure the furling line does not get twisted around it. I finished off the first 1 kg tub of yogurt today and the next-to-last banana. I have one more tub of yogurt and a large container of blueberries. Both will be gone in a week, as planned. It’ll be instant oatmeal for the remainder of the passage. It is 8:15 and there is a rain storm developing behind me. While “upwind” it is clear, I know I am actually in a little backing hook in the front that came through yesterday and that storm behind me is actually headed my direction. I expect the wind to change direction from 280 about 180 degrees when the storm arrives. Won’t be launching the asymm again until tomorrow, when the weather settles down. In the meantime, I will squeeze what I can with the jib. I cannot afford to batter around the asymm and possibly rip it. In the middle of the chaos this morning I saw a bird, the first one in three days. It is 9:00 and the wind had started to back. I am adjusting the course to maintain a close reach. By 10:00 the wind was down to 3 kt. I hooked a very big fish at 10:10. So big is took out almost all the line under full drag and actually towed the boat backwards. After fighting it 15m, it bit through the leader. Just as well. Whatever it was to big for me to process and use. It was hooked on a very small squid that was intended for much smaller fish. I am guessing a big tuna. It is 11:30 and the water is glassy smooth. There is essentially no wind. I can see in the distance eddies caused by local pockets of breeze.the wind direction is variable … each pocket of wind from a different direction. A cargo ship passed south by 10 nm at 11:30. I turned the TillerPilot off at noon because the wind direction and speed are too variable to maintain a course. At 13:15 I noticed the water is no longer glassy. There is not enough wind to turn the boat around, so I used the engine. The 4 kt of wind seems stable from 60 and the SOG is about 1.0 at 320 in a close reach. The distance sailed towards BARB2 in the last 24h was 746-696=50 nm. The total distance sailed was 17835-17761=74 (74/24=3.1 kt avg).