Tuesday 10:30am Tahiti/Hawaii time (Tues 2030 GMT) TC Erick comes closer - due to pass N of us tomorrow afternoon.
Downloading latest batch of weatherfaxes and checking latest gribs.
Also getting regular text updates over the day on Erick and Flossie from Honolulu and Miami.
As of now, seems our position is fine - clearly don't want to get too close, of course, and expect Erick to pass to N of our position tomorrow. Was good to see it heading WNW instead of due W yesterday...
Will almost certainly heave to sometime today, to make sure of being well S as Erick passes by - and that will leave just Flossie to worry about...
12:50pm Rain just came in - so I had to stop the job I was doing on the mainsail... Probably a complete waste of time (and tape), but I just felt I had to try to do something to reinforce where it was torn along the leech - below all the previous leech edge repairs (between batten pocket and third reef point).
Started with sail repair tape (only have spinnaker lightweight tape left now) but that proved very difficult to get nicely into place ... perched high up and with the boat rolling around all the time. So I reverted to Gorilla tape around the edge and onto both sides of the sail - at intervals along the edge. Was adding some more sail repair tape over the torn sail edges in between - but then the rain came in. Might help for a few days of sailing.. or might come completely undone very quickly - but at least I've done what I can to try to improve things...
Time for a short siesta before some lunch.
10:15pm Beautiful night with a refreshing breeze and almost no cloud. Just turned the wheel to gybe around and heave to - boat's bow is now pointing ENE-E-ESE in N-NE wind of 12-15kt and we're drifting due S at about 0.5kt - I just 'stopped the boat' by heaving to. The wind had dropped and has been highly variable for last few hours, and with TC Erick approaching, the wind will be shifting a lot, so it's simpler like this - we'll follow the wind around as it changes direction with Erick's approach.
It feels very calm and peaceful now. Think I'll sleep well tonight.
As I went towards the wheel in the cockpit, I had to stop and admire the night sky with its many stars - and just then, a meteorite flashed across - awesome!
Wednesday 5:20am Drifting still, at 0.7kt, hove-to in very little wind - under 5kt - with first light of dawn beginning in a mainly clear sky with very thin cloud in places overhead but big clouds over E and S horizons. Bow pointing NE-ENE but we're drifting SW, so the wind, what little there is, is from NE quadrant. rolling a lot in swell from N - Erick is getting closer to N of here and sending a swell our way - coming onto us just for'd of our beam, hence our rolling so much.
5.35am Pink-topped clouds in E - sunrise beginning... Drifting due S just now in N swell - not very big but close. Full daylight now but no sign of sun as yet - behind those big clouds on horizon ahead.
Back to my bunk for more sleep.
8am Bright, sunny day with still little or no wind - blades of Superwind not turning and we were drifting (backwards!) WSW, just changed to W, at well under 1kt, bow pointing NNE, rolling in 1.5m swell, hove-to.
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"QSO Today" podcast of interview with Eric, 4Z1UG, is at:
https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/VE0JS
Link to the Adelaide ABC interview about my Equator crossing is:
https://www.dropbox.com/l/scl/AABxD90n-HB3iQfK-iF5EdSDK2zXs4iF3DU
Link to the Far North (Queensland) ABC interview (2 days ago) goes out on air this morning and link will be posted once available.
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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 301. We made 21 n.ml. DMG, measured in a straight line between the two 1900GMT positions. Drifting, while mainly hove-to since last evening.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 301 (by daily DMGs): 24,752 n.ml.
Distances (at 1700GMT): Cape Flattery LH: 2559 n.ml. to NNE; Honolulu: 808 n.ml. to NNW; East Cape, N.Z.: 3438 n.ml. to SW; Papeete, Tahiti: 1706 n.ml. to S
Position, as posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/07/31 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 10-52.56N LONGITUDE: 148-59.42W
COURSE: 273T SPEED: 0.9kt
WIND_SPEED: 4kt WIND_DIR: E SWELL_DIR: N SWELL_HT: 2.0m CLOUDS: 50%
BARO: 1010.9hPa TREND: 1 AIR_TEMP: 31.0C SEA_TEMP: 36.0C
COMMENT: Hove-to, avoiding hurricane Erick, passing by to N today.
