Distance to Waypoint (BARB2, 004): 746 nm
Check-in December 27, 2025; 16:00 UTC
Current Position: 24 13.700’S 5 23.508’E; Timezone: UTC+0; SOG: 4.3 kt; COG: 350; TWS: 8; TWD: 155; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 0.9 kt; Current Direction: 335; Distance to Waypoint (BARB2, 005): 805 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4432 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 17761 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: Starting with this entry, I am switching to UTC+0 (e.g., Jamestown, St.Helena). I contacted Erick Galvez, an agent in Panama to help through the canal. While the virtual “inspection” can take place in advance (I will send the necessary paperwork while at Barbados), the canal will not be scheduled until I arrive. I am told because I will be going through during the high period (February 6 to March 10) and because of the ARC rally, I can expect a delay of 10-15 days. Sunset was at 18:22 (6.5E). Sunrise will be a 5:51 at St. Helena (5.75W). I should be about 5.5E, so sunrise should be 10.5*4=42m earlier, or 5:09. I went to sleep at 18:40. Because I have not seen any traffic in 36h, I have not seen a fishing trawler in several days, no traffic shows up on the over-the-horizon AIS, and the wind is so light and expected to remain so, I am going to set the alarm interval for 2h. At 3:00 a ship appeared on AIS that will pass within 1.5 nm in 1h. I got up at 4:00 as it passes. As expected, the wind was only blowing 9-12kt. I downloaded the latest GRIB. I am going to have single digit winds for the next four days from about 120 with practically zero wind tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. After my tea, I am going to switch over to the TillerPilot this morning so I can swap out the smaller windvane for the larger one. I will need to drill holes in the larger one so I can secure it with zip-ties like the smaller one. It is likely the wind will pick up a bit after sunrise. After it warms up, the wind speed and direction has stabilized, and I am sure I am in single digits, I will tack to starboard, stow the storm staysail, furl the jib, and launch the asymm. I am going to try to only fly the foresail so I can sail as close to a run as possible, so I will drop the main. This will also help keep the shoot inflated during the light winds. Hopefully, I can get an angle that put me on a NW course and out of the shipping lanes. It looks like the main lane starts about 70 nm to my E and runs NW to SE. I will hit it in about a day if I am forced due N or in a couple of days if NNW. However, there are outsiders like the one that just passed that I will encounter in increasing numbers. Clouds prevented me from seeing the sunrise. I just tallied up the fees for the canal … $4000. This included the $500 fee for the agent, the cruising permit, etc. It is 6:00 and as expected there is a “sunrise wind” of 14 kt. I am going to let this play out because I cannot put the asymm up until I tack and I don’t want to tack any earlier than necessary (to avoid the shipping lanes). I am still averaging 4.2, faster than predicted by PW (3.7). I am 820 from St. Helena and 1520 nm from Ascension, probably 8 and 15d, respectively. At 7:30 I could see the front moving in from the SE. I modified the large windvane and installed it. I had trouble with the TillerPilot. The + contact is become corroded and only makes intermittent contact. Unfortunately, I have not seen any electrical contact cleaner in a while. I will have to try to scrape away the corrosion when I have a chance. Since I do not plan to motor if I don’t have wind, I imagine the windvane will serve me fine, especially now that I have the larger blade installed. I took an inventory of the fresh food. Unfortunately, the two remaining pizzas did not make it. I have some ravioli/sauce and some pea soup that need to be used up. I will eat those in the next two days. There is also some nan. I will eat that with the two meals. This will take me to Monday. I will Make a nice meal with the smoked salmon, fresh green beans, etc. that should last me two days. On Wednesday, New Years Eve, I will make the ham, sweet potatoes, and peas. This will Last me a few days as I have bread (hopefully) to make sandwiches. This will be the end of the fresh food. As expected, it will have lasted two weeks, almost three weeks after the food was actually purchased. I should be pretty close to St. Helena by then, or somewhere downwind. It is 7:45, 11 kt wind from 124, and a SOG of 3.4. I am Just wait for single digits to start switching over the sails. At 8:00 the wind backed and I tacked N. At 8:30 I stowed the staysail. Winds are down to 8 kt. I am waiting for the front to finish passing. There is a rain storm to the NE. I am close to being parallel to the shipping channel. I have lost the current and the SOG is only 2.6. It took more than 2h to full deploy the asymm. There was a kink in the cable the caught the middle of the shoot and wouldn’t allow me to fully deploy it. Working it back and forth with different tensions finally released it. The cable has Indians kinks in it. It took about 30m to get the kinks out. I hope that a couple of weeks of pressure by the sail will help straighten it out. The SOG is 4.2 in 7-9 kt wind using just the asymm. I am headed due N (M) in a broad reach. The COG is actually about 340 (T). St. Helena and Ascension are at a bearing of about 310 (T), so I am E by 30 degrees. This will take me across the shipping lanes in a day or two, and then keep me in the lane for a week or more. The first ship is already on the AIS, about 100 nm N of me. In the long run, it will pay to reach the trade winds N, so I intend to maintain this course until I do. The crossing to Brazil is where the cost of the asymm will pay off. The nice thing is the sea is very calm, the boat steady, and I am heeled to port for the first time in months (don’t need the lee cloth on the berth). I made the ravioli at noon. It is 15:00 and the SOG has averaged 4.3 since the asymm was launched with a COG of 340 (T). I am setting a new waypoint (BARB2) at 12S 3E, about 800 nm N of my current location. It should take about 8d to reach the point. BARB2 should put me in a good position to sail on a port tack to the Brazilian coast (about 2000 nm, about 15s). The total distance sailed was 17761-17615=146 (146/24=6.0 kt avg).
Comments: Starting with this entry, I am switching to UTC+0 (e.g., Jamestown, St.Helena). I contacted Erick Galvez, an agent in Panama to help through the canal. While the virtual “inspection” can take place in advance (I will send the necessary paperwork while at Barbados), the canal will not be scheduled until I arrive. I am told because I will be going through during the high period (February 6 to March 10) and because of the ARC rally, I can expect a delay of 10-15 days. Sunset was at 18:22 (6.5E). Sunrise will be a 5:51 at St. Helena (5.75W). I should be about 5.5E, so sunrise should be 10.5*4=42m earlier, or 5:09. I went to sleep at 18:40. Because I have not seen any traffic in 36h, I have not seen a fishing trawler in several days, no traffic shows up on the over-the-horizon AIS, and the wind is so light and expected to remain so, I am going to set the alarm interval for 2h. At 3:00 a ship appeared on AIS that will pass within 1.5 nm in 1h. I got up at 4:00 as it passes. As expected, the wind was only blowing 9-12kt. I downloaded the latest GRIB. I am going to have single digit winds for the next four days from about 120 with practically zero wind tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. After my tea, I am going to switch over to the TillerPilot this morning so I can swap out the smaller windvane for the larger one. I will need to drill holes in the larger one so I can secure it with zip-ties like the smaller one. It is likely the wind will pick up a bit after sunrise. After it warms up, the wind speed and direction has stabilized, and I am sure I am in single digits, I will tack to starboard, stow the storm staysail, furl the jib, and launch the asymm. I am going to try to only fly the foresail so I can sail as close to a run as possible, so I will drop the main. This will also help keep the shoot inflated during the light winds. Hopefully, I can get an angle that put me on a NW course and out of the shipping lanes. It looks like the main lane starts about 70 nm to my E and runs NW to SE. I will hit it in about a day if I am forced due N or in a couple of days if NNW. However, there are outsiders like the one that just passed that I will encounter in increasing numbers. Clouds prevented me from seeing the sunrise. I just tallied up the fees for the canal … $4000. This included the $500 fee for the agent, the cruising permit, etc. It is 6:00 and as expected there is a “sunrise wind” of 14 kt. I am going to let this play out because I cannot put the asymm up until I tack and I don’t want to tack any earlier than necessary (to avoid the shipping lanes). I am still averaging 4.2, faster than predicted by PW (3.7). I am 820 from St. Helena and 1520 nm from Ascension, probably 8 and 15d, respectively. At 7:30 I could see the front moving in from the SE. I modified the large windvane and installed it. I had trouble with the TillerPilot. The + contact is become corroded and only makes intermittent contact. Unfortunately, I have not seen any electrical contact cleaner in a while. I will have to try to scrape away the corrosion when I have a chance. Since I do not plan to motor if I don’t have wind, I imagine the windvane will serve me fine, especially now that I have the larger blade installed. I took an inventory of the fresh food. Unfortunately, the two remaining pizzas did not make it. I have some ravioli/sauce and some pea soup that need to be used up. I will eat those in the next two days. There is also some nan. I will eat that with the two meals. This will take me to Monday. I will Make a nice meal with the smoked salmon, fresh green beans, etc. that should last me two days. On Wednesday, New Years Eve, I will make the ham, sweet potatoes, and peas. This will Last me a few days as I have bread (hopefully) to make sandwiches. This will be the end of the fresh food. As expected, it will have lasted two weeks, almost three weeks after the food was actually purchased. I should be pretty close to St. Helena by then, or somewhere downwind. It is 7:45, 11 kt wind from 124, and a SOG of 3.4. I am Just wait for single digits to start switching over the sails. At 8:00 the wind backed and I tacked N. At 8:30 I stowed the staysail. Winds are down to 8 kt. I am waiting for the front to finish passing. There is a rain storm to the NE. I am close to being parallel to the shipping channel. I have lost the current and the SOG is only 2.6. It took more than 2h to full deploy the asymm. There was a kink in the cable the caught the middle of the shoot and wouldn’t allow me to fully deploy it. Working it back and forth with different tensions finally released it. The cable has Indians kinks in it. It took about 30m to get the kinks out. I hope that a couple of weeks of pressure by the sail will help straighten it out. The SOG is 4.2 in 7-9 kt wind using just the asymm. I am headed due N (M) in a broad reach. The COG is actually about 340 (T). St. Helena and Ascension are at a bearing of about 310 (T), so I am E by 30 degrees. This will take me across the shipping lanes in a day or two, and then keep me in the lane for a week or more. The first ship is already on the AIS, about 100 nm N of me. In the long run, it will pay to reach the trade winds N, so I intend to maintain this course until I do. The crossing to Brazil is where the cost of the asymm will pay off. The nice thing is the sea is very calm, the boat steady, and I am heeled to port for the first time in months (don’t need the lee cloth on the berth). I made the ravioli at noon. It is 15:00 and the SOG has averaged 4.3 since the asymm was launched with a COG of 340 (T). I am setting a new waypoint (BARB2) at 12S 3E, about 800 nm N of my current location. It should take about 8d to reach the point. BARB2 should put me in a good position to sail on a port tack to the Brazilian coast (about 2000 nm, about 15s). The total distance sailed was 17761-17615=146 (146/24=6.0 kt avg).
Check-in December 26, 2025; 16:00 UTC
Current Position: 24 46.935’S 6 55.051’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 4.8 kt; COG: 275; TWS: 14; TWD: 145; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.1 kt; Current Direction: 265; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 317): 880 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4521 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 17615 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: I had leftovers to eat for Christmas (yogurt/banana, second to last slice of quiche, and the rest of the chicken soup), so I saved my Christmas dinner for when I’ve finished off the the fresh food and and becalmed next week. I did have a small glass of port, an apple, and part of a chocolate bar as a treat. It looks like by the end of the day tomorrow I will be out of the shipping lane. I am on the edge now, so I should see less traffic tonight. It is 17:00 and seas are what you’d expect after 24h of 15 kt wind … pretty calm. Sunset was at 20:16 (8.5E). I had to turn the VHF off because of static. I set alarms for an interval of 1h and went to sleep at 20:20. I will turn the radio back on after the first alarm. About half past midnight I was awaken because the boat had rounded up. The wind had picked up as expected and a 22 kt gust had overwhelmed the windvane (because I had shaken out the second reef earlier). I got up at 6:00. I am well outside the shipping channel now. No ships showed up on the AIS last night. On Sunday I will need to tack N, and I will likely cross back over into the channel early next week. It was very overcasted, so I could not see the sunrise. It is 6:30 and I have 18 kt of wind. It will be single digits by Sunday. I will try to launch the asymmetrical spinnaker on the port side. It will be the first time I have done that as the hardware for the continuous furling line is on the starboard. Since there is only one sheet attached to the sail, I will need to figure out how to temporarily rig the furling line on the port side. I figure it is best to sort that out when I have 6 kt wind. Sometime today I will sail into UTC+0, two time zones W of what my clocks are set to. I don’t believe I will switch the clocks. It becomes confusing because my phone will not be reset until I have cell signal again, and all my navigation is done in the phone. Barbados will be UTC-4 (6h difference from South Africa). It feels chilly now (average in the mid-60s), but I am going to miss the cooler weather as I head N. In a couple of weeks the average with be in the upper 70s. At 11:00 I saw a bird, first one I have seen in 3d. In fact, I have not seen anything living in three days. I nook a nap for an hour and when I woke up a little after noon the sun was shining between the clouds. The wind was lighter (12 kt) but the boat was sailing smoother/faster (4.8 vs. 4.4) because the sea was calm. I ate the last piece of quiche. I kept the aluminum pan thinking it might come in handy later. Although I have plenty of food in the fridge, I feel like fish, so dropped a line at 14:00. Given the lack of birds, sailfish, etc., I don’t have high expectations. It’s mostly an excuse to sit in the cockpit and get some fresh air. While sitting outside watching the fishing pole, I read two more chapters in “How to Read Water.”The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 985-880=105 nm. The total distance sailed was 17615-17456=159 (159/24=6.6 kt avg). Today I am roughly halfway from Saldanha to St. Helena, a place I may never reach (like BAR1). Not a single vessel has come writhing the range of the AIS in the last 24h. For the first time in the passage I feel like I am in blue water.
Comments: I had leftovers to eat for Christmas (yogurt/banana, second to last slice of quiche, and the rest of the chicken soup), so I saved my Christmas dinner for when I’ve finished off the the fresh food and and becalmed next week. I did have a small glass of port, an apple, and part of a chocolate bar as a treat. It looks like by the end of the day tomorrow I will be out of the shipping lane. I am on the edge now, so I should see less traffic tonight. It is 17:00 and seas are what you’d expect after 24h of 15 kt wind … pretty calm. Sunset was at 20:16 (8.5E). I had to turn the VHF off because of static. I set alarms for an interval of 1h and went to sleep at 20:20. I will turn the radio back on after the first alarm. About half past midnight I was awaken because the boat had rounded up. The wind had picked up as expected and a 22 kt gust had overwhelmed the windvane (because I had shaken out the second reef earlier). I got up at 6:00. I am well outside the shipping channel now. No ships showed up on the AIS last night. On Sunday I will need to tack N, and I will likely cross back over into the channel early next week. It was very overcasted, so I could not see the sunrise. It is 6:30 and I have 18 kt of wind. It will be single digits by Sunday. I will try to launch the asymmetrical spinnaker on the port side. It will be the first time I have done that as the hardware for the continuous furling line is on the starboard. Since there is only one sheet attached to the sail, I will need to figure out how to temporarily rig the furling line on the port side. I figure it is best to sort that out when I have 6 kt wind. Sometime today I will sail into UTC+0, two time zones W of what my clocks are set to. I don’t believe I will switch the clocks. It becomes confusing because my phone will not be reset until I have cell signal again, and all my navigation is done in the phone. Barbados will be UTC-4 (6h difference from South Africa). It feels chilly now (average in the mid-60s), but I am going to miss the cooler weather as I head N. In a couple of weeks the average with be in the upper 70s. At 11:00 I saw a bird, first one I have seen in 3d. In fact, I have not seen anything living in three days. I nook a nap for an hour and when I woke up a little after noon the sun was shining between the clouds. The wind was lighter (12 kt) but the boat was sailing smoother/faster (4.8 vs. 4.4) because the sea was calm. I ate the last piece of quiche. I kept the aluminum pan thinking it might come in handy later. Although I have plenty of food in the fridge, I feel like fish, so dropped a line at 14:00. Given the lack of birds, sailfish, etc., I don’t have high expectations. It’s mostly an excuse to sit in the cockpit and get some fresh air. While sitting outside watching the fishing pole, I read two more chapters in “How to Read Water.”The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 985-880=105 nm. The total distance sailed was 17615-17456=159 (159/24=6.6 kt avg). Today I am roughly halfway from Saldanha to St. Helena, a place I may never reach (like BAR1). Not a single vessel has come writhing the range of the AIS in the last 24h. For the first time in the passage I feel like I am in blue water.
Check-in December 25, 2025; 16:00 UTC
Current Position: 27 19.677’S 10 40.359’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 4.5 kt; COG: 303; TWS: 14; TWD: 170; Current Speed (includes effect of surfing): 1.0 kt; Current Direction: 292; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 317): 985 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4633 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 17462 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: I downloaded the most recent GRIB at 18:00. There was a significant development …the high is going to be stronger, more expensive, and come earlier than previously predicted. Single digit wind will show up Sunday morning and last until Tuesday morning. I believe I will launch the asymm on the port side and try to make some distance N. Sunset was at 20:03 (12.25E) last night. It should be at 20:10 (10.5E) tonight. The sunset was indeed at 20:10. The commercial traffic was relatively light (one just passed and a second, Rambo, 2h behind me), so I set an alarm interval of 1h beginning 20:40. The wind is going to back 30 degrees overnight, sending me further N, which is exactly what I want to do as long as the wind continues to blow strong. The seas were confused overnight. The wind was backing but still blowing strong, causing the swell and waves to be misaligned. Constructive interference produced periodic big, tall, almost breaking waves that caused the boat to corkscrew. I woke Christmas morning at 6:00 and the boat was headed WSW because the wind had backed to 30 degrees. I adjusted the windvane to a deep broad reach, slowing the SOG, but pointing her W. It was too cloudy to see the sunrise, which should be about 6:35 at 9.5E. It is almost 7:00 and still fairly dark. I made tea but am going to wait an hour for the cockpit to dry out before drinking it. I also need to make a decision whether to tack N, but will wait to see if the wind picks up and veers like it usually does in the morning. The SOG was about 5.2 overnight and it is about 5 now. I am now about the same latitude as the southern tip of Madagascar, albeit on the W side of Africa. I tried to drink my tea outside at 7:30, but without the sun it was chilly, even with my jacket and wool cap on. I can see the sun trying to break through, so will try again later. It is 9:00, still cloudy, the sea has settled down and the SOG is 4.7 in 14 kt wind that has backed a bit to 165. I had my tea and yogurt outside while I ran the engine for 15m, something I am trying to do every 3d or so, preferably when it is cloudy to take advantage of the charge. At 11:20 the seas had settled down enough that I shook out the second reef in the main. This gave me 0.5 kt and I was making almost 4.7 in 13 kt of wind in a broad reach. By midafternoon the clouds were gone. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 1101-985=116 nm. The total distance sailed was 17456-17294=162 (162/24=6.8 kt avg).
Comments: I downloaded the most recent GRIB at 18:00. There was a significant development …the high is going to be stronger, more expensive, and come earlier than previously predicted. Single digit wind will show up Sunday morning and last until Tuesday morning. I believe I will launch the asymm on the port side and try to make some distance N. Sunset was at 20:03 (12.25E) last night. It should be at 20:10 (10.5E) tonight. The sunset was indeed at 20:10. The commercial traffic was relatively light (one just passed and a second, Rambo, 2h behind me), so I set an alarm interval of 1h beginning 20:40. The wind is going to back 30 degrees overnight, sending me further N, which is exactly what I want to do as long as the wind continues to blow strong. The seas were confused overnight. The wind was backing but still blowing strong, causing the swell and waves to be misaligned. Constructive interference produced periodic big, tall, almost breaking waves that caused the boat to corkscrew. I woke Christmas morning at 6:00 and the boat was headed WSW because the wind had backed to 30 degrees. I adjusted the windvane to a deep broad reach, slowing the SOG, but pointing her W. It was too cloudy to see the sunrise, which should be about 6:35 at 9.5E. It is almost 7:00 and still fairly dark. I made tea but am going to wait an hour for the cockpit to dry out before drinking it. I also need to make a decision whether to tack N, but will wait to see if the wind picks up and veers like it usually does in the morning. The SOG was about 5.2 overnight and it is about 5 now. I am now about the same latitude as the southern tip of Madagascar, albeit on the W side of Africa. I tried to drink my tea outside at 7:30, but without the sun it was chilly, even with my jacket and wool cap on. I can see the sun trying to break through, so will try again later. It is 9:00, still cloudy, the sea has settled down and the SOG is 4.7 in 14 kt wind that has backed a bit to 165. I had my tea and yogurt outside while I ran the engine for 15m, something I am trying to do every 3d or so, preferably when it is cloudy to take advantage of the charge. At 11:20 the seas had settled down enough that I shook out the second reef in the main. This gave me 0.5 kt and I was making almost 4.7 in 13 kt of wind in a broad reach. By midafternoon the clouds were gone. The distance sailed towards St. Helena in the last 24h was 1101-985=116 nm. The total distance sailed was 17456-17294=162 (162/24=6.8 kt avg).
Check-in December 24, 2025; 16:00 UTC
Current Position: 27 19.677’S 10 40.359’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 6.0 kt; COG: 312; TWS: 20; TWD: 188; Current Speed: 1.1 kt; Current Direction: 310; Distance to Waypoint (St. Helena, 317): 1101 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 4750 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 17294 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: Note while I am actually in UTC+1, I will wait until I am near St. Helena to switch to UTC+0. Sunset should be at 19:56 at 12.25E. The sunset was actually 20:03. There was a rain storm off the starboard bow. It is 8:40 and I am preparing to sleep. There are five ships on the AIS. It seems I am near the E edge of the shipping channel and am running parallel to it, making it easier to navigate. I will have to be more careful tonight, setting sleep intervals according to the traffic. The first one is 1h. About 15 ships showed up on AIS overnight. Most passed some distance from me. Two required I stay awake until they passed (set sleep intervals less than an hour and as little as 15m). I woke at 6:30, about 10m after sunrise. It is partly cloudy and the wind was blowing 23. The boat speed overnight was only 5.2, suggesting some lighter winds and/countercurrents. The wind slowly backed overnight putting me on a course S of St. Helena and well off of BAR1, which is now 250 nm away. At 7:00 I downloaded GRIBs and three weather models. To St. Helena will be a series of painful tacks (or several inefficient longer ones) as the wind will be blowing straight there (1260 nm, 12d). I will be essentially becalmed one day early next week. To Ascension is essentially the route to St. Helena and beyond (2000 nm, 19d). I see no advantage to sailing near Ascension. To Barbados involves sailing my current course until Friday night, then tacking N to avoid high pressure trough to the S, then a couple more jibes to St. Helena, past Ascension to the SW, then due W to the coast (5200 nm, 45d). I believe the best plan is to continue my present course until the end of the week, then tack N to avoid the high, and at that point reassess. I would like to get into the trade winds further N, out of danger if winds greater than 15, then set the asymm and forget about it. I got hit by a rogue wave about 7:30 that spun the boat around. That is the first time it has happened this passage. Once I am in the trade winds I won’t have to worry about big seas. The problem with it now is I am in heavy traffic. At 8:15 the cargo ship Dione took evasive action to avoid me. There was not much I could do as I was already in a deep broad reach when she passed on the windward side of me. We were close enough that I experienced some wake as I passed her stern. Once cleared, I enjoyed my meta with the last muffin I bought a week ago when I provisioned. It came from a variety pack and I saved the blueberry muffin for last. I headed it up. It reminded me of the blueberry muffins my mother used to bake when we went camping. We would have them with Brooke Trout. I have some yogurt I need to eat for breakfast next … with the bananas that need to be used up. That will be the last of the fresh breakfast stuff … after that it will be oatmeal. While enjoying my tea in the cockpit, I noticed there are no birds. Two reasons I suppose … I am further from shore (over 200 mm) and I am leaving the upswell of the Benguela current, so there is less seafood. It is 9:00. I have abandoned the waypoint BAR1 and set a new waypoint for St. Helena (1140 nm). It is at 317 and I am sailing 306 for a better wind angle, but also with the expectation I will tack N at the end of the week. I am in the middle of the shipping lanes and have 10 vessels on AIS, but none are threatening. The wind had been blowing 16-20 since sunrise and I am making close to 6 kt in a broad reach with the help of a current. I noticed Naivasha is still 300 nm behind me, which is a little surprising as it is a larger boat in stronger currents. I cannot remember, but I think they are headed for Walvis Bay, Namibia, so they may have an unfavorable wind angle is they are trying to stay closer to shore. I am well N of Luderitz and would probably be close to Walvis Bay had I chosen to go there. I have been studying the wind patterns. In general, there are good SE winds between 6-10S and W of Ascension (14W), whereas highs often form S of 10S. I made some water for bathing and washing dishes. It is the first time I have run the watermaker since before Hout Bay. I did not rest the water, but will next time. The total distance sailed was 17294-17128=166 (166/24=6.9 kt avg).
Comments: Note while I am actually in UTC+1, I will wait until I am near St. Helena to switch to UTC+0. Sunset should be at 19:56 at 12.25E. The sunset was actually 20:03. There was a rain storm off the starboard bow. It is 8:40 and I am preparing to sleep. There are five ships on the AIS. It seems I am near the E edge of the shipping channel and am running parallel to it, making it easier to navigate. I will have to be more careful tonight, setting sleep intervals according to the traffic. The first one is 1h. About 15 ships showed up on AIS overnight. Most passed some distance from me. Two required I stay awake until they passed (set sleep intervals less than an hour and as little as 15m). I woke at 6:30, about 10m after sunrise. It is partly cloudy and the wind was blowing 23. The boat speed overnight was only 5.2, suggesting some lighter winds and/countercurrents. The wind slowly backed overnight putting me on a course S of St. Helena and well off of BAR1, which is now 250 nm away. At 7:00 I downloaded GRIBs and three weather models. To St. Helena will be a series of painful tacks (or several inefficient longer ones) as the wind will be blowing straight there (1260 nm, 12d). I will be essentially becalmed one day early next week. To Ascension is essentially the route to St. Helena and beyond (2000 nm, 19d). I see no advantage to sailing near Ascension. To Barbados involves sailing my current course until Friday night, then tacking N to avoid high pressure trough to the S, then a couple more jibes to St. Helena, past Ascension to the SW, then due W to the coast (5200 nm, 45d). I believe the best plan is to continue my present course until the end of the week, then tack N to avoid the high, and at that point reassess. I would like to get into the trade winds further N, out of danger if winds greater than 15, then set the asymm and forget about it. I got hit by a rogue wave about 7:30 that spun the boat around. That is the first time it has happened this passage. Once I am in the trade winds I won’t have to worry about big seas. The problem with it now is I am in heavy traffic. At 8:15 the cargo ship Dione took evasive action to avoid me. There was not much I could do as I was already in a deep broad reach when she passed on the windward side of me. We were close enough that I experienced some wake as I passed her stern. Once cleared, I enjoyed my meta with the last muffin I bought a week ago when I provisioned. It came from a variety pack and I saved the blueberry muffin for last. I headed it up. It reminded me of the blueberry muffins my mother used to bake when we went camping. We would have them with Brooke Trout. I have some yogurt I need to eat for breakfast next … with the bananas that need to be used up. That will be the last of the fresh breakfast stuff … after that it will be oatmeal. While enjoying my tea in the cockpit, I noticed there are no birds. Two reasons I suppose … I am further from shore (over 200 mm) and I am leaving the upswell of the Benguela current, so there is less seafood. It is 9:00. I have abandoned the waypoint BAR1 and set a new waypoint for St. Helena (1140 nm). It is at 317 and I am sailing 306 for a better wind angle, but also with the expectation I will tack N at the end of the week. I am in the middle of the shipping lanes and have 10 vessels on AIS, but none are threatening. The wind had been blowing 16-20 since sunrise and I am making close to 6 kt in a broad reach with the help of a current. I noticed Naivasha is still 300 nm behind me, which is a little surprising as it is a larger boat in stronger currents. I cannot remember, but I think they are headed for Walvis Bay, Namibia, so they may have an unfavorable wind angle is they are trying to stay closer to shore. I am well N of Luderitz and would probably be close to Walvis Bay had I chosen to go there. I have been studying the wind patterns. In general, there are good SE winds between 6-10S and W of Ascension (14W), whereas highs often form S of 10S. I made some water for bathing and washing dishes. It is the first time I have run the watermaker since before Hout Bay. I did not rest the water, but will next time. The total distance sailed was 17294-17128=166 (166/24=6.9 kt avg).
Check-in December 23, 2025; 16:00 UTC
Current Position: 27 35.942’S 12 14.920’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 5.9 kt; COG: 325; TWS: 19; TWD: 198; Current Speed: 1.4 kt; Current Direction: 280; Distance to Waypoint (BAR1, 345): 322 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 48752 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 17128 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: Sunset should be at 19:48 at 14.25E, but clouds prevented me from seeing it. At 18:00 the wind was 17 with a favorable current giving a SOG of 6.6 kt. There appears to be relatively little commercial traffic tonight, so I set alarms for 1h intervals beginning at 20:40. I did not encounter a single ship, but at 1:30 was awaken because the boat had changed speed … it was doing 7 kt in 18 kt wind. Gusts up to 17 were expected, but the wind speed was sustained. The extra wind was accompanied by the expected backing of the wind from 190 to 170, so the course had changed more westerly. The trace suggested that backing occurred 2h earlier. The course now was essentially away from BAR1 and towards St. Helena. Per my plan to go with the flow, I did not correct the course. Curious, I downloaded a new GRIB at 3:00. The updated forecast predicted the increase in wind earlier. I can expect this wind for at least the next 48h. At 3:30 I encountered the first ship of the night, the tanker Habrut that passed within 0.5 nm (2.5 ship lengths for the 1100’ vessel). It was quite enough that I could hear its massive engines. Because I was drifting into the shipping lane that wraps around Guinea, Senegal, etc., I adjusted my course more northerly, even though that slowed the boat down (I was still averaging over 6 kt). When I leave the Benguela current and head W in a couple of days, I will cut across the shipping lane and not linger. It was almost 7:00 when I got up. Sunrise must have been around 6:15, but I slept because I was wearing a mask. It was dark, mostly cloudy, the seas were bigger than yesterday, and the cockpit was wet and uninviting. I am glad I took advantage yesterday and spent most of the day outside. The wind was still blowing nearly 20, and I believe it had been doing that since about 23:00 last night (hence the bigger seas). For the second night in a row I had gotten 10h sleep, albeit punctuated by hourly checks. I had only encountered one ship last night, in contrast to the dozens that had to be avoided earlier in the passage. I am in a sweet spot, just E of the shipping lane and W of the fishing trawlers along the coast. My course is somewhere in between BAR1 and St. Helena. I suspect I will pass well W of BAR1 (370 nm away) on Friday, but I will still need to make a decision whether to continue northerly or begin heading more westerly. I have begun to run some weather models to help in making the decision, which will be weighed heavily whether I continue to have the advantage of the Benguela current and whether a high has developed in the middle of the South Atlantic. I downloaded the most recent GRIB at 9:00. It seems a high pressure trough is going to develop S of the rhumb line to St. Helena towards the end of this week, whereas winds will continue on a northerly course until early next week. This may favor continuing N to about 20S (500 nm or so), near the Namibia/Angola border, before heading more westerly. This would be perhaps Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning and would mark the halfway point between Saldanha and St. Helena, although I would probably pass N of the latter and more towards Ascension. It has now been one week since I provisioned the boat in Hout Bay. I spent 1-2d more in Saldanha than expected. I need to start thinking about the longevity of the fresh food. I cannot afford to waste anything. Specifically, I need to eat the chicken breast, chicken soup, a quiche, and two pizzas by this weekend. I have enough chicken soup for two days, but I have a package of squash soup that will make two meals with the quiche. I will eat 1/4 of the quiche and the soup each of the next four days. I will eat the pizzas the end of the week (Saturday/Sunday). This is not Christmas food, but I will save the smoked salmon for early next week, when I should be in the trade winds and have calm seas (making proper cooking easier). I am working my way through the usual pecking order of fruit … bananas/grapes, pears, citrus, and apples. I ate half a papaya, but the other half was damaged and had already gone bad. I need to finish the grapes and bananas during the next week … the pears next week. Once I clear the other fresh food out of the fridge, I will move the oranges, grapefruit, and (if I have room) the apples into the fridge. By the time I pass St. Helena, I will be out of all the fresh food besides some fruit and maybe some leftover ham. I will still have five weeks of sailing. I expect to have a piece of fresh fruit and eggs each day for the remainder of the trip, but everything else will come from the non-perishable meal packs I made at Hout Bay. By 10:30 the clouds were gone and it had turned into a nice day. At 11:30 I came upon the fishing trawler Spencer Bay. It was sailing patterns in front of me and I had no way of predicting where it would be when we crossed paths. I went to the cockpit to take control of the tiller should the vessel cross my path again. Half a nm ahead of me, just as I was about to make radio contact, the trawler stopped passing back and forth in front of me and motored a nm away to my port. At 12:15 I was on a collision course with the cargo ship Julia N. Less than 9 nm apart, I changed my course and radioed the captain to pass starboard to starboard and he confirmed. We passed about 0.5 nm apart and I resumed my course. The distance sailed towards BAR1 in the last 24h was 457-322=135 nm. The total distance sailed was 17128-16960=168 (168/24=7.0 kt avg).
Comments: Sunset should be at 19:48 at 14.25E, but clouds prevented me from seeing it. At 18:00 the wind was 17 with a favorable current giving a SOG of 6.6 kt. There appears to be relatively little commercial traffic tonight, so I set alarms for 1h intervals beginning at 20:40. I did not encounter a single ship, but at 1:30 was awaken because the boat had changed speed … it was doing 7 kt in 18 kt wind. Gusts up to 17 were expected, but the wind speed was sustained. The extra wind was accompanied by the expected backing of the wind from 190 to 170, so the course had changed more westerly. The trace suggested that backing occurred 2h earlier. The course now was essentially away from BAR1 and towards St. Helena. Per my plan to go with the flow, I did not correct the course. Curious, I downloaded a new GRIB at 3:00. The updated forecast predicted the increase in wind earlier. I can expect this wind for at least the next 48h. At 3:30 I encountered the first ship of the night, the tanker Habrut that passed within 0.5 nm (2.5 ship lengths for the 1100’ vessel). It was quite enough that I could hear its massive engines. Because I was drifting into the shipping lane that wraps around Guinea, Senegal, etc., I adjusted my course more northerly, even though that slowed the boat down (I was still averaging over 6 kt). When I leave the Benguela current and head W in a couple of days, I will cut across the shipping lane and not linger. It was almost 7:00 when I got up. Sunrise must have been around 6:15, but I slept because I was wearing a mask. It was dark, mostly cloudy, the seas were bigger than yesterday, and the cockpit was wet and uninviting. I am glad I took advantage yesterday and spent most of the day outside. The wind was still blowing nearly 20, and I believe it had been doing that since about 23:00 last night (hence the bigger seas). For the second night in a row I had gotten 10h sleep, albeit punctuated by hourly checks. I had only encountered one ship last night, in contrast to the dozens that had to be avoided earlier in the passage. I am in a sweet spot, just E of the shipping lane and W of the fishing trawlers along the coast. My course is somewhere in between BAR1 and St. Helena. I suspect I will pass well W of BAR1 (370 nm away) on Friday, but I will still need to make a decision whether to continue northerly or begin heading more westerly. I have begun to run some weather models to help in making the decision, which will be weighed heavily whether I continue to have the advantage of the Benguela current and whether a high has developed in the middle of the South Atlantic. I downloaded the most recent GRIB at 9:00. It seems a high pressure trough is going to develop S of the rhumb line to St. Helena towards the end of this week, whereas winds will continue on a northerly course until early next week. This may favor continuing N to about 20S (500 nm or so), near the Namibia/Angola border, before heading more westerly. This would be perhaps Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning and would mark the halfway point between Saldanha and St. Helena, although I would probably pass N of the latter and more towards Ascension. It has now been one week since I provisioned the boat in Hout Bay. I spent 1-2d more in Saldanha than expected. I need to start thinking about the longevity of the fresh food. I cannot afford to waste anything. Specifically, I need to eat the chicken breast, chicken soup, a quiche, and two pizzas by this weekend. I have enough chicken soup for two days, but I have a package of squash soup that will make two meals with the quiche. I will eat 1/4 of the quiche and the soup each of the next four days. I will eat the pizzas the end of the week (Saturday/Sunday). This is not Christmas food, but I will save the smoked salmon for early next week, when I should be in the trade winds and have calm seas (making proper cooking easier). I am working my way through the usual pecking order of fruit … bananas/grapes, pears, citrus, and apples. I ate half a papaya, but the other half was damaged and had already gone bad. I need to finish the grapes and bananas during the next week … the pears next week. Once I clear the other fresh food out of the fridge, I will move the oranges, grapefruit, and (if I have room) the apples into the fridge. By the time I pass St. Helena, I will be out of all the fresh food besides some fruit and maybe some leftover ham. I will still have five weeks of sailing. I expect to have a piece of fresh fruit and eggs each day for the remainder of the trip, but everything else will come from the non-perishable meal packs I made at Hout Bay. By 10:30 the clouds were gone and it had turned into a nice day. At 11:30 I came upon the fishing trawler Spencer Bay. It was sailing patterns in front of me and I had no way of predicting where it would be when we crossed paths. I went to the cockpit to take control of the tiller should the vessel cross my path again. Half a nm ahead of me, just as I was about to make radio contact, the trawler stopped passing back and forth in front of me and motored a nm away to my port. At 12:15 I was on a collision course with the cargo ship Julia N. Less than 9 nm apart, I changed my course and radioed the captain to pass starboard to starboard and he confirmed. We passed about 0.5 nm apart and I resumed my course. The distance sailed towards BAR1 in the last 24h was 457-322=135 nm. The total distance sailed was 17128-16960=168 (168/24=7.0 kt avg).
Check-in December 22, 2025; 16:00 UTC
Current Position: 29 11.713’S 14 16.293’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 5.5 kt; COG: 344; TWS: 14; TWD: 226; Current Speed: 1.5 kt; Current Direction: 030; Distance to Waypoint (BAR1, 343): 457 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 5004 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 16969 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: Sunset should be in 1h, 19:50. I am almost 100 nm offshore and about 60 nm from the boundary of Namibian territorial waters. The boat is averaging 7.0 kt straight for BAR1, which is 550 nm away, 200 nm N of Saldanha. Sunset was actually at 19:56 at 15.5E. It is 2:00 and the wind and the boat has slowed to 5.3 kt. I would raise the mainsail as planned, but I will wait for light as working in the dark in this sea state would be hazardous. It is 2:30, the wind has slowed to 15 and the boat to 5. I downloaded new data. There is less commercial traffic tonight compared to last night. The prediction is for even lighter winds than previously predicted. The winds are generally going to be in the 15-20 kt range with some periodic gusts in the mid 20s. It is 4:00 and the sails were slatting while the boat rolled because the wind had dropped to 12. The SOG has fallen to 4.2. I trimmed the sheets to help with the slatting. Sunrise won’t be for a couple of hours. I got up at 5:15, about an hour before sunrise. It was light enough to raise the mainsail. I was making 4.0 as in 11 kt wind with no help from the current (which was flowing W) as I crossed into Namibia’s waters at 6:00 will just under 500 nm to go to BAR1. It is cloudy, consistent with the change in wind. I expect this light 12/15 wind from 200 for the next 24h, when it will back to 170 and increase to 16/20. At least the sea should settle down and the cockpit will be dry so I can spend time outside. The conditions were ideal for sleep, and I slept until 7:30, when I received a “collision alert “, a fishing trawler. It kept changing it course, so there was nothing I could do until we were closer. By 7:50 it had changed course and was moving away on a heading the same as mine. For the first time since leaving Saldanha, I was able to enjoy my tea and breakfast in the cockpit. Also, it has been some time since I have felt this rested. I am going to take advantage of the relatively calm weather to cook. I have been nibbling on a roasted chicken the past few days. I am going to remove the meat and use the pressure cooker to make a stock. I have some carrots, potatoes, and onion I can use to make a nice soup. It is 8:00 and the boat speed is 4 kt in 11 kt wind, but I am only making 3 kt on as I am running against a 1 kt current. I know it is a gyro and will rotating counterclockwise. It is a beautiful morning. It has been awhile since I have had such light wind. For weeks all I have heard is the sound of the wind whistling in my ears. Now it is just the sound of the boat cutting through the water. By 11:00 the wind had picked up to 14 and the current was starting to rotate giving me a SOG of 4.5 kt. The boat has been surrounded by seabirds all morning. If I did not have so much fresh food to eat, I’d drop a line. The soup was ready by noon, which was good because the wind had picked up a bit and it would have been more difficult to cook later. After I had a bowl, I put some rice in it to soak up some of the liquid (so it would be easier to store and eat later). The wind increased to 15 and the SOG to 5.2 by 12:30. The distance sailed towards BAR1 in the last 24h was 575-457=118 nm. The total distance sailed was 16960-16810=150 (150/24=6.25 kt avg).
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Sent from my iPhone
Comments: Sunset should be in 1h, 19:50. I am almost 100 nm offshore and about 60 nm from the boundary of Namibian territorial waters. The boat is averaging 7.0 kt straight for BAR1, which is 550 nm away, 200 nm N of Saldanha. Sunset was actually at 19:56 at 15.5E. It is 2:00 and the wind and the boat has slowed to 5.3 kt. I would raise the mainsail as planned, but I will wait for light as working in the dark in this sea state would be hazardous. It is 2:30, the wind has slowed to 15 and the boat to 5. I downloaded new data. There is less commercial traffic tonight compared to last night. The prediction is for even lighter winds than previously predicted. The winds are generally going to be in the 15-20 kt range with some periodic gusts in the mid 20s. It is 4:00 and the sails were slatting while the boat rolled because the wind had dropped to 12. The SOG has fallen to 4.2. I trimmed the sheets to help with the slatting. Sunrise won’t be for a couple of hours. I got up at 5:15, about an hour before sunrise. It was light enough to raise the mainsail. I was making 4.0 as in 11 kt wind with no help from the current (which was flowing W) as I crossed into Namibia’s waters at 6:00 will just under 500 nm to go to BAR1. It is cloudy, consistent with the change in wind. I expect this light 12/15 wind from 200 for the next 24h, when it will back to 170 and increase to 16/20. At least the sea should settle down and the cockpit will be dry so I can spend time outside. The conditions were ideal for sleep, and I slept until 7:30, when I received a “collision alert “, a fishing trawler. It kept changing it course, so there was nothing I could do until we were closer. By 7:50 it had changed course and was moving away on a heading the same as mine. For the first time since leaving Saldanha, I was able to enjoy my tea and breakfast in the cockpit. Also, it has been some time since I have felt this rested. I am going to take advantage of the relatively calm weather to cook. I have been nibbling on a roasted chicken the past few days. I am going to remove the meat and use the pressure cooker to make a stock. I have some carrots, potatoes, and onion I can use to make a nice soup. It is 8:00 and the boat speed is 4 kt in 11 kt wind, but I am only making 3 kt on as I am running against a 1 kt current. I know it is a gyro and will rotating counterclockwise. It is a beautiful morning. It has been awhile since I have had such light wind. For weeks all I have heard is the sound of the wind whistling in my ears. Now it is just the sound of the boat cutting through the water. By 11:00 the wind had picked up to 14 and the current was starting to rotate giving me a SOG of 4.5 kt. The boat has been surrounded by seabirds all morning. If I did not have so much fresh food to eat, I’d drop a line. The soup was ready by noon, which was good because the wind had picked up a bit and it would have been more difficult to cook later. After I had a bowl, I put some rice in it to soak up some of the liquid (so it would be easier to store and eat later). The wind increased to 15 and the SOG to 5.2 by 12:30. The distance sailed towards BAR1 in the last 24h was 575-457=118 nm. The total distance sailed was 16960-16810=150 (150/24=6.25 kt avg).
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
Check-in December 21, 2025; 16:00 UTC
Current Position: 30 45.903’S 15 49.287’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 6.1 kt; COG: 346; TWS: 22; TWD: 226; Current Speed: 1.2 kt; Current Direction: 320; Distance to Waypoint (BAR1, 344): 575 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 5106 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 16810 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: I found the problem with the Iridium system. I was running a VPN on my iPhone and the app didn’t like it. It is 20:30 and all the comes are working again (email, iMessaging, PredictWind, etc.). The marine traffic is generally heavy, but after the next freighter passes in 30m, I should have a couple of hours. I will set an alarm interval of 30m. The wind is supposed to lighten up by dawn, but it will pick up again late tomorrow afternoon. I expect to have 160 nm days for the next 3-4 days, which should put me close to the waypoint. At that point I will need to decide if I am headed further N along the coast, or if I change course NW to St. Helena. It is 5:00. Sunrise should be about 5:50. It was a long night of 30m intervals. Perhaps 10-15 ships passed within 1-2 nm. The boat has averaged 6.8 kt over the past 10h, slowing down a bit in the early morning hours as expected. The wind vane has done a very good job. I am exactly on the PW course and 3h ahead of schedule for the course that plotted 10h ago. I will have made 165 nm in the 24h since leaving the bay and turning N around 13:00 yesterday (since I started chipping away at the 750 nm to BAR1). The wind between now and then will fluctuate 15/20 and 25/30. In general the higher winds will be during the day and lower at night, but there are exceptions. I believe PW will continue to underestimate how well the boat is performing under these conditions … she loves big wind and seas. PW suggests I will only average 4.6 kt and will take 6d to sail the 630 nm (arriving the morning of the 27. I believe I will average at least 6, taking (630/6)/24=4.4 days, arriving Christmas. I believe I will let the current and compression zone play out and when I start seeing the single digits of the trade winds and no chance of winds over 15, launch the asym for a the ride over to the Brazilian coast. That should be very comfortable. I am also not going to sweat making BAR1, but rather go with the flow of wind and current. Right now the current seems to be turning out to sea. My average speed over the past 30m has been 6.3 kt. The bilge pump has been going off in the shower sump for 20s every hour or so because the big seas are putting some water in the chain locker, but everything is operating as it should. It is 19:00 and the wind has decreased, but I expect it to build this afternoon and I will see gusts in the low 30s, so I am not going to unfurl any more of the jib right now. I will go through six time zones on my way to Barbados. The first will be about BAR1 (UTC+1), the second halfway to St. Helena (UTC+0), and the third just past St. Helena (UTC-1). I will cross one more on the way to the Brazilian coast. Brazil is in the same time zone as Barbados (UTC-3), which is 1h ahead of EST. As predicted, the wind was light all morning (12-15 kt) and the boat only averaged 4.8. But by noon it was blowing 15/20 and the boat was averaging 5.6. Since the boat was rolling and I expected 25/30 by midafternoon, I decided not to raise the main. I will raise it sometime around dawn (or whenever the seas calm down a bit) when the winds are supposed to 13/17. It is 14:30 and as predicted the wind is picking up.
Comments: I found the problem with the Iridium system. I was running a VPN on my iPhone and the app didn’t like it. It is 20:30 and all the comes are working again (email, iMessaging, PredictWind, etc.). The marine traffic is generally heavy, but after the next freighter passes in 30m, I should have a couple of hours. I will set an alarm interval of 30m. The wind is supposed to lighten up by dawn, but it will pick up again late tomorrow afternoon. I expect to have 160 nm days for the next 3-4 days, which should put me close to the waypoint. At that point I will need to decide if I am headed further N along the coast, or if I change course NW to St. Helena. It is 5:00. Sunrise should be about 5:50. It was a long night of 30m intervals. Perhaps 10-15 ships passed within 1-2 nm. The boat has averaged 6.8 kt over the past 10h, slowing down a bit in the early morning hours as expected. The wind vane has done a very good job. I am exactly on the PW course and 3h ahead of schedule for the course that plotted 10h ago. I will have made 165 nm in the 24h since leaving the bay and turning N around 13:00 yesterday (since I started chipping away at the 750 nm to BAR1). The wind between now and then will fluctuate 15/20 and 25/30. In general the higher winds will be during the day and lower at night, but there are exceptions. I believe PW will continue to underestimate how well the boat is performing under these conditions … she loves big wind and seas. PW suggests I will only average 4.6 kt and will take 6d to sail the 630 nm (arriving the morning of the 27. I believe I will average at least 6, taking (630/6)/24=4.4 days, arriving Christmas. I believe I will let the current and compression zone play out and when I start seeing the single digits of the trade winds and no chance of winds over 15, launch the asym for a the ride over to the Brazilian coast. That should be very comfortable. I am also not going to sweat making BAR1, but rather go with the flow of wind and current. Right now the current seems to be turning out to sea. My average speed over the past 30m has been 6.3 kt. The bilge pump has been going off in the shower sump for 20s every hour or so because the big seas are putting some water in the chain locker, but everything is operating as it should. It is 19:00 and the wind has decreased, but I expect it to build this afternoon and I will see gusts in the low 30s, so I am not going to unfurl any more of the jib right now. I will go through six time zones on my way to Barbados. The first will be about BAR1 (UTC+1), the second halfway to St. Helena (UTC+0), and the third just past St. Helena (UTC-1). I will cross one more on the way to the Brazilian coast. Brazil is in the same time zone as Barbados (UTC-3), which is 1h ahead of EST. As predicted, the wind was light all morning (12-15 kt) and the boat only averaged 4.8. But by noon it was blowing 15/20 and the boat was averaging 5.6. Since the boat was rolling and I expected 25/30 by midafternoon, I decided not to raise the main. I will raise it sometime around dawn (or whenever the seas calm down a bit) when the winds are supposed to 13/17. It is 14:30 and as predicted the wind is picking up.
Check-in December 20, 2025; 16:30 UTC
Current Position: 32 28.167’S 17 12.991’’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 7.5 kt; COG: 348; TWS: 27; TWD: 217; Current Speed: 2.1 kt; Current Direction: 340; Distance to Waypoint (BAR1, 346): 700 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 5208 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 16600 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: I woke up at 4:00, at the end of the first quarter of the OU/Alabama game. OU was up 10:0 and seemed to be in control. I couldn’t get back to sleep. By the end of the half, the game was tied 17:17 after an interception by Alabama that was run back for a TD. The game is almost over and it looks like Alabama will win. Since I cannot download weather maps for the entire South Atlantic while offshore, I have been studying the wind patterns over a 4w period. In general, I will want to stay N of the rhumb line to the Brazilian coast, then use the coastal winds to get past the ITCZ. How far N is a gamble since there are periodic highs in the middle of the SA. If there isn’t one, heading for St. Helena and then W works. If there is one, it will be necessary to head much further N. My plan is to take advantage of the high winds and favorable current along the African coast to about Walvis Bay, then make a decision (since there is no way to predict the weather that far out). I started the engine to leave and there is a problem. The first injector is leaking (I can see bubbles in fuel that pooled). I cannot tighten it with disassembling everything. One of the advantages of having had it apart so many times is it only took me 20m to disassemble, tighten the injectors, reassemble, and put the tools away. The injector is not leaking now. I threw off the lines at 9:00, as planned, and was underway. Once I was in the main channel, it was obvious I was going to be motoring directly against the wind (and swell). The swell was short and steep, causing the bow to plow. It was going to be slow going to get far enough off shore to get an angle to use the wind, at least 2h. It’s 750 nm to my first waypoint (BAR1), off the coast of Namibia. The seas were very confused and the boat corkscrewed violently as I approached the entrance to the bay. Within 1 nm of the entrance, the wind shifted and I could finally make use of the storm staysail, which not only gave me a kt of speed in the 15 kt wind, but stabilized the boat overall so the prop spent more time in the water. The net result was an increase in SOG for 3 to 5 kt at 2000 rpm. I reached the entrance of the bay about 10:45. The seas were becoming less confused. I figured I needed to head about 6 nm W offshore before I could safely head N towards the waypoint, but I could probably start curving in that direction sooner to make for a more comfortable ride. I checked the AIS as I left the bay, and there did not appear to be any commercial traffics in the area (except that anchored in the bay). I turned the engine off about 11:00. It was as blowing in the 20s and I just had the storm staysail and perhaps 20% of the Yankee unfurled. I was averaging 4.6 kt. I decided to wait before showing more sail until I was further offshore and had a better angle to the wind and swells. I figured that about 12 nm, so in 12/4.6=2.6h, or about 14:00. I should pick up the Benguela current, about 1 kn, about there. Since I am using the TillerPilot right now and there is no commercial traffic, I decided to go below to warm up a bit. As I expected, the boat sped up as I moved offshore, primarily because the seas became less confused (the boat was sailing more efficiently) and I started to pick up some current. I switched over from the TillerPilot to the windvane about 12:30, about the time the seas settled down. I was hungry and chilled and although I had plenty of cold food in the fridge I made some Raman noodles to warm me up. At 13:00, about 8 nm offshore, I unfurled about 80% of the Yankee, which with the storm sail gave me 6.8 kt. I expect close to 7 kt when I get the full effect of the current. By 14:00 I was doing 7.1 kt. I am almost 12 nm offshore and about to loose Starlink. Not sure I will be close enough to land to use it again until I am in Barbados. It is 14:20 and I just lost SL, as soon as I hit 13 nm offshore. Jordan texted me a few minutes before I lost the signal and sent 62 photos of the grandkids. It is 15:00 and the wind is blowing consistently 28 kt. The boat is averaging 7.5 kt with 80% Yankee + staysail. The waves are big and steep. It is clear the boat is surfing. The ride is not particularly uncomfortable. Since there are zero boats around me and I will be entering the shipping channel tonight, I am going to try to get some sleep. It is 16:00. I slept for about 45m. Still no boats on the AIS. The boat is averaging 7.5 kt and I am seeing surfing speeds of over 10 kt. The windvane is performing well. The sea is big and the cockpit is wet, with waves periodically breaking over the port quarter. It is 17:30. I have tried for 90m to connect to the Iridium system and have failed. The network seems to be unstable. I observed this once before. I will just have to wait until I am in a different satellite pattern. Some e-mails downloaded and a noticed the tracking data is up-to-date (meaning the DataHub is connecting). The last position was reported at 16:10 and SL went down at 14:20, so the data were transmitted over Iridium. At 18:00 I started to see commercial vessels appear on the AIS. At 18:30 a huge cargo ship passed a couple of hundred yards off my port on the opposite course and it was not running AIS. Even though the Iridium and Offshore apps say they cannot connect to the Iridium GO, the DataHub through 10.10.10.1 says that it is, so I am going to try to send this log post via PredictMail. That did not work. I will try a Gmail account.
Comments: I woke up at 4:00, at the end of the first quarter of the OU/Alabama game. OU was up 10:0 and seemed to be in control. I couldn’t get back to sleep. By the end of the half, the game was tied 17:17 after an interception by Alabama that was run back for a TD. The game is almost over and it looks like Alabama will win. Since I cannot download weather maps for the entire South Atlantic while offshore, I have been studying the wind patterns over a 4w period. In general, I will want to stay N of the rhumb line to the Brazilian coast, then use the coastal winds to get past the ITCZ. How far N is a gamble since there are periodic highs in the middle of the SA. If there isn’t one, heading for St. Helena and then W works. If there is one, it will be necessary to head much further N. My plan is to take advantage of the high winds and favorable current along the African coast to about Walvis Bay, then make a decision (since there is no way to predict the weather that far out). I started the engine to leave and there is a problem. The first injector is leaking (I can see bubbles in fuel that pooled). I cannot tighten it with disassembling everything. One of the advantages of having had it apart so many times is it only took me 20m to disassemble, tighten the injectors, reassemble, and put the tools away. The injector is not leaking now. I threw off the lines at 9:00, as planned, and was underway. Once I was in the main channel, it was obvious I was going to be motoring directly against the wind (and swell). The swell was short and steep, causing the bow to plow. It was going to be slow going to get far enough off shore to get an angle to use the wind, at least 2h. It’s 750 nm to my first waypoint (BAR1), off the coast of Namibia. The seas were very confused and the boat corkscrewed violently as I approached the entrance to the bay. Within 1 nm of the entrance, the wind shifted and I could finally make use of the storm staysail, which not only gave me a kt of speed in the 15 kt wind, but stabilized the boat overall so the prop spent more time in the water. The net result was an increase in SOG for 3 to 5 kt at 2000 rpm. I reached the entrance of the bay about 10:45. The seas were becoming less confused. I figured I needed to head about 6 nm W offshore before I could safely head N towards the waypoint, but I could probably start curving in that direction sooner to make for a more comfortable ride. I checked the AIS as I left the bay, and there did not appear to be any commercial traffics in the area (except that anchored in the bay). I turned the engine off about 11:00. It was as blowing in the 20s and I just had the storm staysail and perhaps 20% of the Yankee unfurled. I was averaging 4.6 kt. I decided to wait before showing more sail until I was further offshore and had a better angle to the wind and swells. I figured that about 12 nm, so in 12/4.6=2.6h, or about 14:00. I should pick up the Benguela current, about 1 kn, about there. Since I am using the TillerPilot right now and there is no commercial traffic, I decided to go below to warm up a bit. As I expected, the boat sped up as I moved offshore, primarily because the seas became less confused (the boat was sailing more efficiently) and I started to pick up some current. I switched over from the TillerPilot to the windvane about 12:30, about the time the seas settled down. I was hungry and chilled and although I had plenty of cold food in the fridge I made some Raman noodles to warm me up. At 13:00, about 8 nm offshore, I unfurled about 80% of the Yankee, which with the storm sail gave me 6.8 kt. I expect close to 7 kt when I get the full effect of the current. By 14:00 I was doing 7.1 kt. I am almost 12 nm offshore and about to loose Starlink. Not sure I will be close enough to land to use it again until I am in Barbados. It is 14:20 and I just lost SL, as soon as I hit 13 nm offshore. Jordan texted me a few minutes before I lost the signal and sent 62 photos of the grandkids. It is 15:00 and the wind is blowing consistently 28 kt. The boat is averaging 7.5 kt with 80% Yankee + staysail. The waves are big and steep. It is clear the boat is surfing. The ride is not particularly uncomfortable. Since there are zero boats around me and I will be entering the shipping channel tonight, I am going to try to get some sleep. It is 16:00. I slept for about 45m. Still no boats on the AIS. The boat is averaging 7.5 kt and I am seeing surfing speeds of over 10 kt. The windvane is performing well. The sea is big and the cockpit is wet, with waves periodically breaking over the port quarter. It is 17:30. I have tried for 90m to connect to the Iridium system and have failed. The network seems to be unstable. I observed this once before. I will just have to wait until I am in a different satellite pattern. Some e-mails downloaded and a noticed the tracking data is up-to-date (meaning the DataHub is connecting). The last position was reported at 16:10 and SL went down at 14:20, so the data were transmitted over Iridium. At 18:00 I started to see commercial vessels appear on the AIS. At 18:30 a huge cargo ship passed a couple of hundred yards off my port on the opposite course and it was not running AIS. Even though the Iridium and Offshore apps say they cannot connect to the Iridium GO, the DataHub through 10.10.10.1 says that it is, so I am going to try to send this log post via PredictMail. That did not work. I will try a Gmail account.
Check-in December 19, 2025; 19:00 UTC
Current Position: 33 01.608’S 17 597.628’’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG:0; COG: N/A; TWS: 10; TWD: 006; Current Speed: 0.7 kt; Current Direction: 199; Distance to Waypoint (Saldanha): Moored; Total Miles Sailed: 16600 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+14+50;
Comments: I slept almost 11h last night, waking up at 5. I met the driver and had the injectors to the diesel mechanic when they opened at 8:00. I was told they would be finished about 13:00. I returned to the boat and drained the day tank and changed the fuel filter. The steel top of the fuel filter was once again corroded, suggesting some water is getting to the engine. While pumping the fuel out of the day tank into the main tank, the sound of the pump suddenly changed. It seems it has failed. I have already installed the backup. This means I will need to transfer fuel from the Jerry cans directly to the day tank, and I will not have access to the 60 gal in the main tank. This is probably just as well because I gave had nothing but trouble keeping sea water out of the main tank. I am going to replumbed the day tank temporarily to empty it into the main tank by gravity. I will fill the day tank and top off the Jerry cans before leaving. This will leave me with a range of about (65/0.7)X5=460 nm. Well, it turns out the pump is not broken. It stopped pumping because the main tank was full of fuel and the lines had filled up to the level of the day tank. I pumped the rest of the fuel from the day tank into a container I got from the ship yard (actually pumped it out of the main tank while allowing thr day tank to drain into the main tank to make sure I got all of the fuel out of the day tank. Note after adding 5 gal the gauge read 5 and it read 10 after 10 gal, but 13.8 after 15 gal. I suspect that is because I had the boat healed over to the port, so 1 gal was sent to the overflow. I picked up the injectors at 16:30. The mechanic suggested I add 300 ml of ATF to my day tank to help with lubrication. I filled the three empty Jerry cans on the way back to the boat. By 17:30 the injectors were installed, I had bled the fuel line, and fired up the engine. It ran smoothly with a little smoke at first, probably burning off soot in the cylinders, then it ran without smoke. I ran the engine at all speeds for about 15m. Before dark, I had put everything away, cleaned the cabin, washed clothes and got a shower.
Comments: I slept almost 11h last night, waking up at 5. I met the driver and had the injectors to the diesel mechanic when they opened at 8:00. I was told they would be finished about 13:00. I returned to the boat and drained the day tank and changed the fuel filter. The steel top of the fuel filter was once again corroded, suggesting some water is getting to the engine. While pumping the fuel out of the day tank into the main tank, the sound of the pump suddenly changed. It seems it has failed. I have already installed the backup. This means I will need to transfer fuel from the Jerry cans directly to the day tank, and I will not have access to the 60 gal in the main tank. This is probably just as well because I gave had nothing but trouble keeping sea water out of the main tank. I am going to replumbed the day tank temporarily to empty it into the main tank by gravity. I will fill the day tank and top off the Jerry cans before leaving. This will leave me with a range of about (65/0.7)X5=460 nm. Well, it turns out the pump is not broken. It stopped pumping because the main tank was full of fuel and the lines had filled up to the level of the day tank. I pumped the rest of the fuel from the day tank into a container I got from the ship yard (actually pumped it out of the main tank while allowing thr day tank to drain into the main tank to make sure I got all of the fuel out of the day tank. Note after adding 5 gal the gauge read 5 and it read 10 after 10 gal, but 13.8 after 15 gal. I suspect that is because I had the boat healed over to the port, so 1 gal was sent to the overflow. I picked up the injectors at 16:30. The mechanic suggested I add 300 ml of ATF to my day tank to help with lubrication. I filled the three empty Jerry cans on the way back to the boat. By 17:30 the injectors were installed, I had bled the fuel line, and fired up the engine. It ran smoothly with a little smoke at first, probably burning off soot in the cylinders, then it ran without smoke. I ran the engine at all speeds for about 15m. Before dark, I had put everything away, cleaned the cabin, washed clothes and got a shower.