Tuesday 11am Tahiti/Hawaii time (Tues 2100 GMT) Bright, sunny day with 20% scattered white clouds. Making over 6kt in around 20kt wind from ESE - seas are well up at over 2m so a bit rough and being tossed around a lot. Well heeled over under full genoa and two reefs in main and on course of 034T.
Downloading satellite photo showing clouds over Pacific and running generator.
Time for (my usual!) late breakfast - will have extra dried fruit and mango juice - we're in 'Equator-crossing' party mode today!
12:45pm Suddenly it's feeling very much calmer - we're gliding along and bouncing gently, not pounding into the seas as we were... The wind and seas must be from more 'abaft the beam' now... Very much pleasanter! This is true Trade Wind sailing, at last.
I've run out of toilet paper... Have been busy cutting up paper from a roll of kitchen tissue!
4pm Wind down a little, so speed nearer to 5kt now but still smooth sailing under mainly blue sky.
Chatted to Stuart Stansfield, of ABC Adelaide Radio, about this morning's Equator crossing and the last few days' sailing. (Link to podcast is on my website 'Interviews' tab)
No sign of any fishing vessels so far.
Sunset Enjoyed a small G&T with a few cashews - found two cans of tonic I'd been keeping were almost empty - corroded aluminium cans had lost most of their content - so no choice (!) - had to empty them and have a small drink (thanks for the nice gin, Randy!) Also enjoyed some blue cheese I'd found low down in the fridge - plenty for several days to come - hoping it will last long enough for a birthday treat mid-August.
Later, enjoyed a meal of chicken breast chunks and asparagus in a white sauce - a very tasty celebratory meal followed by dark chocolate and the last of the mango & dark spiced rum punch.
11pm Calculated distance off of nearest fishing vessels, on assumption of making 5kt directly heading towards us - nearest would arrive close around 7am LT ...
Wednesday 2am Not long finished a one hour radio session with Jim, WB2REM, in Florida, via a phone patch using his radio on 7163kHz and remote/internet link - a lot of people came up from all over the US and Canada and also S.Africa and US Virgin Islands. Good to chat, even if briefly, to so many sending their good wishes - thanks to all of you!
Spent a short time enjoying the cool breeze on deck - almost a clear sky with bright half-moon and the brighter stars shining from between just a few small clouds. Seas not too bad but on the beam, so being thrown around quite often.
Making fair speed, around 6kt just now - wind better than earlier tonight.
Back to my bunk for more sleep... No fishing vessels seen on AIS within at least 20 miles or so and alarm set in case any might try to come too close later.
8am Bright, sunny day - pleasant Trade Wind sailing, although a bit bumpy on close reach into 2m seas, trying still to make Easting while it's possible.
Seems ploy of heading 030T is working - fishing vessels seem to be keeping N - NW of us... Hope we continue to stay well apart... All have stayed well over 25ml away since none seen on AIS display. Ones headed S last night seem to have turned back to head N now - good!
Downloading a lot of weather faxes from Honolulu has been taking up quite some time - should be able to download fewer from now on, now I've seen what they contain. Useful to see satellite photos of cloud cover and to see position of ITCZ.
Photos show crossing Equator yesterday from S to N - at 4:18a.m. LT / 14:18 GMT (Tuesday 23rd July 2019)
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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, 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!
(I hear that some readers might need to talk to their bank BEFORE trying to make a donation to the RNLI since many US banks routinely block foreign transactions unless
they are notified in advance.)
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1900GMT (= 9 a.m. LT = Tahiti/Hawaii time) - end of Day 294. We made 122 n.ml. DMG, measured in a straight line between the two 1900GMT positions. Another good day of Trade Wind sailing without squalls.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 294 (by daily DMGs): 24,101 n.ml.
Distances (at 1700GMT): Equator: 130 n.ml. to S; East Cape, N.Z.: 3035 n.ml. to SW; Papeete, Tahiti: 1186 n.ml. to S; Honolulu: 1290 n.ml. to NNW
Position, as posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/07/24 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 02-10.06N LONGITUDE: 147-47.79W
COURSE: 031T SPEED: 5.4kt
WIND_SPEED: 15kt WIND_DIR: SE SWELL_DIR: ESE SWELL_HT: 2.0m CLOUDS: 30%
BARO: 1012.5hPa TREND: 2 AIR_TEMP: 30.0C SEA_TEMP: 36.0C
COMMENT: Bright sunny day - no squalls so far..
