Sunday 10:30am NZT (Sat 2230GMT) Overcast sky has given way to broken cloud so seeing some blue sky and bright sunshine.
With the cabin temperature reaching just over 20C/68F, I've removed two top fleece layers and a thick lower one - at last! Nice to have less thicknesses on - not such a Michelin man now.
Reduced sail earlier in 20+ kt wind from N - down to 1st 'reef' mark in genoa and 2nd reef in main. Seas rough still and washing the decks frequently.
1pm Back down below after long session on deck under cloudy sky - sunshine gone. Wind 25kt, gusting 35kt - was definitely over 30kt. We had been really well heeled for quite a time. Very difficult moving around or doing anything with big seas on the beam banging into us and rolling us around, especially when heeled like that. Decided time to reef down mainsail again - to 3rd reef... and also furled in genoa some more. Decks were frequently under water - toe-rails especially were often well awash as seas came onto us and heeled us over.
Expecting wind to begin to back towards NW soon. Will try to follow it around (how I miss Fred when doing that!) so we end up heading NNE, finally.
The Low that was threatening next Tues/Wed, and losing me sleep, seems to be less of a worry now and is expected to head more ESE so we should, hopefully, be able to keep well out of its way as it passes us.
Think I need a short nap to make up for lost sleep...
3:40pm Happy that Aurora is now back receiving weather and other emails. Had been getting "No mail on server" messages which was clearly not so since weather downloads come in several times each day. Presently catching up with download of 16 emails...!
9pm Seems the Low that was threatening is possibly no longer forecast to cause a major problem....
Monday 4am NZT Wind has died down a bit but seas still up. Totally overcast sky with moon's position just discernible by faint patch of light from above cloud layer - not managing to light up sky to any useful extent ...pretty dark on deck.. Wind on the beam more, from NW-WNW direction. Boat only making 4kt in the lighter wind. Will release the reefs in daylight - only 4 hours away. Thought about unfurling to full genoa but found more wind than expected, so leaving until daylight also.
Water sloshing around in the head below the washboard - will need to remove that when light enough - presume it's from cockpit hard top which is leaking around the damaged port pane in the windscreen - was letting in water often when waves washed over it yesterday in the rough seas.
7am NZT (Sun 1900GMT) Very dull, overcast sky. Wind from NNW now and seas still very choppy with only a 5-second interval but down from last evening. Wind supposed to be around 23-26kt, according to weather files, but seems to be quite a lot less - nearer 12-15 kt, I'd say. We're only making around 4kt so will shortly untie a reef and unfurl some genoa, hoping to pick up speed.
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While sailing around the world, I'm trying to raise funds to help support the superb life-saving work done by the RNLI (Lifeboats) in Britain each and every day of the year, regardless how bad the weather. In fact, the worse it is, the more likely they are out there, helping someone in distress - whether a swimmer, surfer, small boat or big ship, night or day, summer or winter. They are all volunteers with normal day-jobs who respond immediately to a call and it is a charity - no government funding - so they rely on our help to fund their intensive training and maintain their equipment.
It would be great if you would take a moment to click on the Lifeboats link here (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Jeanne-Socrates2), if you'd like to show your support for my efforts at sailing solo, nonstop, unassisted around the globe, trying to set a World Record as the oldest person to do so, by donating something towards the great work the RNLI do every day. If a lot of people put in even a small amount, it all adds up... Thanks a lot! If you can help, it will be very much appreciated. Let's see if we can reach my target!
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1900GMT (= 7 a.m. NZT) - end of Day 263. We made 117 n.ml. DMG, measured in a straight line between the two 1900GMT positions.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 263 (by daily DMGs): 21,277 n.ml
Distances (at 1900GMT): Wellington, N.Island, N.Z.: 928 n.ml. to SW; East Cape, N.Z.: 700 n.ml. to SW; Christchurch, S.Island, N.Z.: 1066 n.ml. to SW; Tahiti: 1391 n.ml. to NE
Position, as posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/06/23 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 34-23.83S LONGITUDE: 167-36.49W
COURSE: 071T SPEED: 4.2kt
WIND_SPEED: 15kt WIND_DIR: NNW SWELL_DIR: NNW SWELL_HT: 3.0m SWELL_PER: 5s
CLOUDS: 100% BARO: 1015.5hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 20.0C
COMMENT: Sailing: ENE in NNW wind - down a bit... Seas still lumpy and rough but less so