HAPPY CANADA DAY! ....Monday 1st July
Sunday 8:30am NZT (Sat 2030GMT) The Cape petrel I saw an hour ago together with an all-dark bird is no longer in sight now. It was definitely attracted to 'Nereida' and kept circling around before settling for a rest in the water nearby. Further N than I'd expect to see one but they are seen as far N as 25S (we're about 30S now). Also not seeing now the other bird seen yesterday also - solitary, all-dark, slim-winged, mainly gliding with only occasional flaps of wings - that was also circling around not so very far away early today.
Choice of ID for that bird seems to be between Flesh-footed or Short tailed Shearwater or Parkinson's Petrel... Similar in size and all three are all-dark birds but without clear view of bill and feet, not possible to distinguish between them. Most likely, from distribution notes and slim wings, to be a Parkinson's Petrel.
The cloud cover seems quite thin, although there is an area of dark grey cloud off to port which looks more like a rain cloud. Wind is lighter and so we've slowed down - it's not looking as though we'll be getting today the same gusty conditions under big clouds that we've had over the past few days. Forecast is for light wind over today.
Quite a big southerly swell is very noticeable, at 4m every 8-9 seconds, and then there's a small surface wind chop on top of that.
Midday 8kt of SE wind under bright but mainly cloudy sky ... slow! About to have a nap - have cooked beans for soup and will complete making it later. On reflection, realise I got to sleep late last night - not enough ... so time to make up for that.
3:35pm 12 kt of S wind and sun getting quite low already in a mainly clear sky with few clouds. Cabin temperature 22.6C/70F and sea temperature well over 24C/75F - getting warmer!
8pm Wind keeps dying - we went round in a circle just before - no wind = no steerage... Just managed to gybe around and get back on course... but sails keep flapping as wind disappears.
10.45pm - Galloping along at speed now.... in wind under a rain cloud, well heeled and noisy...
11:45pm Wind died away completely after another rain squall - went around in a circle again... Now almost back on track, but not quite - difficult keeping course when no wind to give speed - drifting NE at 2-3kt, waiting for the wind to fill back in... Speed dropping...
Seems this is the pattern for tonight... Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow....
Must get to sleep, if I can....
Monday 6am NZT (Sun 1800GMT) Bright sunny day with a few clouds around - still gusty under them, with lulls in between, since the clouds around are still big... Low DMG as a result :( Still seeing big region of wind from SE quadrant ahead for next few days - all the way to Polynesia - excellent!
____________________________________________________
A note from Allen, ZL1AYH, about the eclipse around 1800GMT on 2nd July (see photo of map here showing path):
" It will reach Chile but at sunset and the totality is shorter. In fact the Astronomers there are rather excited as it is the first time a total eclipse has ever passed over the (newer) largest telescopes in the world."
*****************************************************
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!
***************************************************
1900GMT (= 7 a.m. NZT) - end of Day 270. We made 91 n.ml. DMG, measured in a straight line between the two 1900GMT positions. A slow day yesterday - lots of light wind in between gusts under clouds.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 270 (by daily DMGs):21,925 n.ml
Distances (at 1900GMT): East Cape, N.Z.: 1344 n.ml. to SW; Tahiti: 789 n.ml. to NNE; Tubuai (Iles Australes): 512 n.ml. to NE
Position, as posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/06/30 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 29-16.17S LONGITUDE: 156-27.75W
COURSE: 055T SPEED: 5.5kt
WIND_SPEED: 15kt WIND_DIR: SSE SWELL_DIR: SSE SWELL_HT: 3.0m CLOUDS: 30%
BARO: 1024.5hPa TREND: 2 AIR_TEMP: 20.0C SEA_TEMP: 24.0C
COMMENT: Gusts under clouds still, but not too many clouds. Sunny day.
