{"id":2202,"date":"2025-12-24T13:56:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aegir-ran.com\/?p=2202"},"modified":"2025-12-24T14:16:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T14:16:13","slug":"check-in-december-24-2025-1600-utc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aegir-ran.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/24\/check-in-december-24-2025-1600-utc\/","title":{"rendered":"Check-in December 24, 2025; 16:00 UTC"},"content":{"rendered":"
Current Position: 27 19.677\u2019S 10 40.359\u2019E; 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;
\nComments: 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\u2019t 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 \u2026 with the bananas that need to be used up. That will be the last of the fresh breakfast stuff \u2026 after that it will be oatmeal. While enjoying my tea in the cockpit, I noticed there are no birds. Two reasons I suppose \u2026 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).<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Current Position: 27 19.677\u2019S 10 40.359\u2019E; 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 … <\/p>\n

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