Friday 11am More slow movement overnight and probably for most of today but at least our speed is now more often around 3kt rather than yesterday's 1kt.
Seas are down to 3m, well spaced, and there's slightly broken cloud cover overhead. We're making ESE on a very broad reach in the light wind.
Weather forecast shows we'll be in this High ridge for another couple of days - but with wind from W quadrant, which is good for heading E.
1:50pm Fred is having a headache again - I'm needing to fix the ratio knob (gear control) firmly again - wiring I did a day ago had clearly loosened again so knob is moving about slightly and Fred can't steer a course properly.. Back to the stern (sugar scoop) with wire and pliers again....
3pm Dull, grey, overcast sky now. Wind from NW so making ESE at almost 4kt - getting speed up with slight increase in wind!
Spent a time with Fred - used a sturdy, thick cable tie as well as some more well-tensioned wire (lots of twisting with pliers) to hold ratio knob firmly in place but not convinced he's feeling good still. Seemed to have a problem steering downwind - not the easiest of points to sail to so I'm giving him a rest and will try again a bit later. I checked that the rudder pin was well-secured in place while I was there - looking good.
Still trying to get back to the sail material I'm working on.
6pm Sun has gone down - dull twilight with a lot of light grey cloud around.
Been busy checking on where water is leaking slightly into boat - might have some more work to do to minimise it.
About to enjoy some more of my stew - good to have a nice meal ready and waiting...
Then to my bunk - need to catch up on sleep again.
1900GMT (=2300LT) - end of Day 163. We made 77 n.ml. DMG, over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. Light wind giving speeds of only around 3kt over the day doesn't lead to a good DMG.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 163 (by daily DMGs):14,585n.ml.
Distances (at 1900GMT): Cape Leeuwin LH (SW Australia): 2467 n.ml. to ENE; Melbourne (VIC, Aus): 3604 n.ml. to E; SE Cape of Tasmania LH: 3526 n.ml. to ESE; Cape Agulhas LH (S.Africa): 2043 n.ml. to WNW; Kerguelen Isl: 477 n.ml. to SE; St Paul Isl: 696 n.ml.to ENE; Halfway point (55 18'E): 342 n.ml. astern!
Position & weather report, for 1900 GMT, posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/03/15 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 42-02.85S LONGITUDE: 062-53.60E COURSE: 098T SPEED: 4.0kt
WIND_SPEED: 14kt WIND_DIR: WNW SWELL_DIR: WNW SWELL_HT: 3.0m CLOUDS: 30%
BARO: 1022.9hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 18.0C SEA_TEMP: 20.0C
COMMENT: Wind up a bit. Seas closer - rocking about a lot.