Sunday 4th March 2012

Morning: Plenty of bright sun in between a variety of clouds, both high and low. I'm looking for evidence of the cold front - due to pass over in the next few hours with a wind shift from WNW to WSW. We're making good speed in 25-30kt, but heading NE rather than due E or ESE - too soon to head that way, until the Low and Cold Front have passed by, together with their strong conditions.

1000 GMT/3pm LT Every now & then the wind drops - to under 25kt from 35kt ... & I wait, expectantly... no change in direction follows....grrr!! I keep checking on the wind directiion and barometer... I can't relax until the 'big event' has happened!

1200 GMT/5pm LT Overcast sky, edge of cloud layer visible ahead - still no Front come by... pressure right down at 1002 hPa (from 1015 this time yesterday) Wind 32-38kt but seas not too bad, so keeping going...

A pair of graceful grey and white petrels (Soft-plumaged) and a solitary Indian Yellow-nosed albatross seen most of the day.

1330 GMT/6.30pm LT That long-awaited Cold Front finally arrived!! ........ with torrential rain, dark grey skies and a not-too-fast (TG!) shift to SW from WNW. I thought fog had appeared - but it was just the heavy rain giving very reduced visiblity.

Half-an-hour later, wind had dropped to just under 30kt as darkness fell. We're still heading 050T - will wait until morning before gybing around and heading more E... Big swell has yet to arrive, all through tomorrow (Mon), according to weather info, so no harm staying N out of its worst maybe .... If wind stays down a bit, shouldn't be too bad.

Feeling a lot more relaxed now that's happened ... Always a worry, having had one or two nasty windshifts previously! Clearly was good to have dived N - max winds have been just under 40kt, although consistently around 35kt over the day. But with today's following seas not too big (5m, maybe 6m max) and not too close or rough, we've not had to heave to ..so far...! (Just seen wind is 36-38kt ...it's varying a lot.... not out of the wood yet! ... Later: Back down to 28-30kt!)

DMG: 142 n.ml. - strong wind gives good speed!

Some nice hot soup and catch up on sleep is the order of the day!

P.S. Strictly speaking, we passed into another time zone on moving E from 82d 30'E, which we did this afternoon, soon after 0900GMT ... so Local Time ('Nereida' time) is now GMT + 6hr

Saturday 3rd March 2012

Overnight and morning - wind light, seas fairly calm, ambling along slowly in overcast, drizzly skies, although it had been clear and starry earlier in the night. The Warm Front was passing over, as pressure fell.

Gradually, the cloud broke up to give some nice sunshine by midday and wind had increased from 15 to 20 knots - so we were sailing along very nicely at around 6 knots in seas that weren't too big - for a change (4-5m)! I unfurled as much of the genoa as I dared, to help our speed along earlier in the morning and we've been heading NE to try to evade the worst of the winds and big seas forecast for overnight and tomorrow.

While things are calm and pleasant, I've caught up with all my 'post'! All I need now is to make the connections - Sailmail very difficult still, if not impossible.

Remembered I still had some Gem squash - so enjoyed one for lunch - cut in half and boiled, with a big knob of butter added to each half afterwards- followed by some biltong (dried meat) - a S.African meal!

Winds are expected to increase over today to 30kt (presently 24 kt at 3pm), gusting to around 40kt by midnight and the Cold Front, with even stronger winds backing into the SW, is due tomorrow afternoon (Sunday) sometime - gusting to 50kt possibly, peaking overnight and into Monday morning, with seas peaking over Monday midday... maybe reaching 8-12 m, if forecast is correct... All good Southern Ocean stuff....! Heaving to looks distinctly likely.... I hope I'll be out of the worst of it...

1200GMT/5pmLT Well, the good news is that the latest weather forecast is showing us away from the very strong stuff, so my ploy of heading NE has worked out to that extent - but we're still expecting up to 40kt and seas 7-10m, so rough enough conditions for the next two days or so and heaving to still very much on the cards.... Grey clouds all over now and wind gusting up to 27 knots... Will probably have a series of short naps tonight... so will start very soon.

I made a discovery just now - wine stored in foil packs inside cardboard boxes is not as safe from damage as I'd thought. In checking that all my openings in the cabin sole, accessing bilge storage areas, were safely locked down shut, ready for the bad weather coming, I found one boxed wine totally damaged and most of its contents leaked into the bilge - pity, it was a nice wine...! Not sure why the inner didn't hold it all safely even though the outer box was damaged.

DMG: 116 n.ml. (slow overnight)

Distance to Cape Point: 2920 n.ml.; Cape Leeuwin 1680 n.ml.; Ile St Paul 170 n.ml.; Hobart 3075 n.ml. - so we're pretty well at the halfway point just now.

Cheers for now...

Friday 2nd March 2012

Having shaken out the third reef yesterday morning and then, soon after, regretting it, finding the wind was up around 25kt a lot of the day, with bigger seas than forecast often tossing us around and continuing like that into the night, I didn't sleep too well again as a result - and was nearly thrown out of my bunk at one point . So I decided to reef back down again early this morning and gybe onto port tack so as to make a course of NE for the two days, with the W winds of the morning forecast to back to WSW and then slowly veer to NW ahead of the next Front.

I felt a lot better once that was done and the boat's motion was far calmer with the SW seas dead astern. They died down somewhat over the day as well, under a blue sky early on, which slowly became partly cloudy but still with plenty of sunshine. But still we were rolling a lot at times - so no lowering of the genoa just yet...

The reason for my concern was mainly due to the nasty weather forecast - the next Cold Front is due Sunday afternoon, with building winds ahead and gales (40+ knots) & BIG seas (8-10m) following it ... especially if I stayed on my last few days' course of due E along 42S. I'm hoping that by my early change of course to NE, I'll have got far enough N to avoid the worst of the big winds and seas - although I'm still expecting to have to heave to, since the seas will surely build, as usual, as the wind increases - even at 39-40S, I'll expect winds over 30knots and seas of 5-7m or so lasting for quite a time... We'll find out soon enough!

Of course, as that all dies down, there'll be the High moving S to worry about - not to get caught out too close to its centre with no wind or a headwind... It's all a tactical game, with a lot of luck involved in the decision-making.... and the basis of that is the weather info I'm getting. I'm forever studying the grib files I download each day, trying to judge my best course of action to avoid storms or being becalmed, and I'm also getting advice from other people - which I weigh up and take into account when it suits me. Graham, ZS2ABK, gives 6-hrly forecasts each day on the radio (about to be out of range) which are helpful for trends but often underestimate wind strengths and don't normally include swell heights or intervals. Also, newly-retired Bob McDavitt sends me regular weather forecasts and suggestions using computer software and info I don't have access to - it's all 'grist for the mill' - sometimes it's correct, sometimes not, but the general trend is the most useful - a Low is on its way for sure, with strong winds, most certainly, and the Cold Front that normally comes with it always causes the winds to behave a particular way, changing direction gently or abruptly. When it happens, you know for sure - but the timing is always uncertain!

Very few birds around today, as is not unusual when it's calmer, although they did include the solitary Royal albatross that's been around for several days now, soaring as always on long, fixed wings, rarely flapping them. The birds always seem to appear in far greater numbers when the winds and seas are up!

Wind is a gentle WSW4 tonight - a Warm Front is coming through tomorrow - nothing dramatic - ahead of Sunday's Cold Front - there's the drama...

With our change of course, DMG was cut down by just 5 n.ml., compared with a straight run all the way. Today's DMG: 127 n.ml. Present position: 41 18'S, 079 06'E.

Thursday 1st March 2012 - St David's Day! Daffodils and leeks to the fore if you're Welsh...

What a difference a couple of days makes here in the Southern Ocean - we're creaming along now, in bright sunshine, under a clear blue sky, headsail poled out, goosewinged with the main, rolling in the 3-4m swell at times, making good speed ... Feels as though I'm in the Trades of the Tropics!! Never mind that the headsail is the small staysail - it's doing fine on its new pole - bought in Cape Town with strong conditions in mind but earning its keep now that there's a problem with the genoa (which I've now furled away completely). With lighter winds than yesterday, around 20 knots, gusting higher occasionally, and High pressure well established close to the N for the next few days, I've shaken out the 3rd reef in the mainsail - that's been in for a long time! (I'm always very cautious about letting out reefs... especially here in the S.Ocean, where conditions can so quickly change for the worse. In Britain, the saying goes: "Think about reefing - do it! Think about shaking out a reef - go make a cup of tea."...!!)

If the seas calm down some more, so the foredeck stays roughly level most of the time, and if the wind is kind, I'll try to lower the genoa so as to mend the rip that's appeared, replacing the sail in the meantime with the lovely new Jeckell's sail that's stowed away in the forepeak, waiting for just this to happen... The material of the old, original sails is a spectra/polyester 7:3 mix which has not stood up well to the use they've had since April 2009 - lots of sun and lots of strong winds! The original mainsail was replaced in September 2010, with a nonstop circumnavigation in mind, with one in a sturdy Dacron cloth and was beautifully made by another good sailmaker, Carol Hasse. Both the Jeckell's and Hasse lofts are small, the one being in Wroxham, Norfolk, U.K., the other in Port Townsend, WA, USA - but they have one other thing in common - all sails are made in the loft under the personal supervision of the sailmaker/owner of the company, both of whom, along with their workers, take a pride in their workmanship. (Chris Jeckell's company recently celebrated 150 years of sailmaking on the Broads in East Anglia!)

A relaxing day ... difficult for it to be anything else! Hopefully, a couple more like this, before the next Cold Front looms up on Sunday/Monday.

Near sunset ... 1200GMT/5pm LT - teatime! Seas have built up a bit as wind has increased over this morning's 17 knots. Watching many different birds swooping around nearby... mug of tea in hand. A graceful Royal .... and a pair of Sooty albatross - twice as big as the White-chinned petrels I keep seeing! Several Soft-plumaged petrels that I've seen a lot recently - spent ages trying to catch sight of their head and underparts to identify them postively in the dull light, under a sky now covered in grey clouds - gone is the blue sky of earlier!

Daily weather report (sent to Winlink & Yotreps):

TIME: 2012/03/01 12:00
POSN: 42-04.51S, 075-49.26E
COURSE: 090T SPEED: 6.0
WIND_SPEED: 23 WIND_DIR: WSW
SWELL_DIR: WSW SWELL_HT: 4.0M SWELL_PER: 6
CLOUDS: 90% BARO: 1029 TREND: 0
AIR_TEMP: 19.0C SEA_TEMP: 16.0C
COMMENT: Seas up a bit again.Wind gusts to 25+ kt. Grey cloud..

DMG:106n.ml. - down due to lighter wind early today and inefficient sailing before staysail poled out and 3rd reef shaken out.

DMG:

Wednesday 29th February 2012- 'Leap Day'!

Still very uncomfortable, with big 5-7m seas often knocking us about overnight and on until the afternoon, when things began to calm down as the wind died somewhat - from 25-30 kt to below 20kt.... but still the occasional big wave comes along, even now. It always takes far longer for the seas to calm down than the wind. I just spent quite a time in the head clearing up, after one particularly violent crash this morning sent two very full baskets and their contents leaping up from their shelf & then down onto the cabin sole - some items ending up on the far side of the main cabin.

I slept badly because of the rough seas and had a slight headache for a long time - partly also due, I think, to dehydration ... It's too easy not to drink enough in cold, rough conditions, despite bottles of water stowed in a variety of handy places...

Greg was still hove-to this morning in 30-35knot winds East of Kerguelen whereas I had been under way overnight in 25-30 knot winds... better to be 450 miles further N! He nearly lost the shaft, trying to fix the windsteering servopendulum in the 5-7m seas running. Having given himself a sore back, he'll wait to fix things in less difficult conditions - hopefully, later today or in the morning.

Again, this morning, I managed to make contact with the Pacific Seafarers Net - at 0310 GMT/8.10am LT, I spoke to Fred, W3ZU, in Florida - amazing! (I'm always pleased to hear that my signal is good and clear!) This afternoon, I finally managed a slow, poor, Sailmail connection - first for several days. Winlink has been far better for a time now - so long as I choose the right station, frequency and time of day! So today became a 'post' day - catching up on emails.

It was good to relax finally and watch the sunset scene ... a magnificent, great albatross flew close by on fixed wings, .... mainly white, with black tips to its underwings and dark upper wings with some white extending from its body. A Royal - no black on its tail. A couple of dark, White-chinned petrels flew close to the water and then soared up... Venus & Jupiter showing bright between lines of grey clouds, with a bright moon up above them.... And the ever-present swell, ... big waves, well-separated .. 8- 9 seconds apart to each crest.

DMG today: 139 n.ml. ETA Hobart - last week of March.

Tuesday 28th February 2012

Hove-to overnight again... big seas and strong wind, but I slept well, ...and the Front passed over just before dawn to give strong SSW winds, reducing to around 25 kt over the day, and showery, squally conditions... When a squall came along, usually under a big cloud, wind increased rapidly from a lull of under 20 kt to 30 kt - & we sped along...!

Greg, down near Kerguelen on 'Alcidae', had even stronger winds of 40- 45kt & stayed hove to with his series drogue this morning, whereas, being further N, with 30 knot winds, hopefully lessening, I'd decided to sail on.

Skies were partly cloudy, with plenty of sun, and showers gave a rainbow at times but the air is far cooler and sea temp is down to 16C. The boat feels colder and I put the heater on for a bit - nice! Also welcome was the hot, thick, bean & barley soup I'd made! I'll soak some beans regularly overnight now, ready for cooking the next day... good for cold weather.

This afternoon, I saw that the genoa had a small rip - it had parted along a short seam near the middle of the foot of the sail, which was half-furled. I furled it in further to cover the damaged part - we've now very little genoa to sail with. The staysail was unfurled to give us more speed - we're on a broad reach and sailing nicely at 6-7 knots in 25 kt wind. I don't fancy trying to lower the genoa in present winds and seas. Better to wait until it calms right down at some point and then I'll be able to change the sail for the lovely new one Jeckells of East Anglia made for me in December and which I have on board. I'll be able to mend the ripped area and hoist the old sail again for the rest of the passage.

I was surprised to get an email from a Czech boat - 28ft 'Singa' has Petr on board - another single-hander on a nonstop mission! He introduced himself and gave his position, well S of Cape Leeuwin. He's heading S of Tasmania & NZ and on to Cape Horn, having started from Falmouth last September. He reported lots of gear failures ... Achieving a nonstop RTW is more about the boat & equipment standing up to the test, rather than the person, it seems to me! So there are 3 single-handers in this part of the S. Ocean just now - I wonder who else?! Petr is 2000 mls E of 'Nereida', whereas Greg is under 500 mls to the S and we chat on the SSB radio most mornings now.

Looks as though we've nice sailing now for the next few days - W-SW wind of 15-25 knots, possibly becoming less, depending on what the Indian Ocean High, just to the N, decides to do.

DMG today: 100 n.ml. - not bad, considering we were hove-to for about 7 hrs!

Monday 27th February 2012 - Another time zone crossed into -it's GMT+5 here!

Made little or no distance overnight, with wind having died right down and, around dawn, found we were hove to, with sails backed after the wind had finally gently veered into the NNW. Gybed the sails onto port tack and soon we were moving again with the wind slowly but surely increasing.

By midday, we were sailing beautifully at over 7 knots in N winds of 21 knots - beam reaching. After the High pressure that was close N of us overnight, a Front is approaching, from a developing Low just SW of us which will be passing close by over today and tonight - with another abrupt change of wind direction expected near midnight and strong winds ahead and behind.... Sounds familiar...!

Sky has thin overcast - sun is trying to struggle through... Swell not too bad just now, at around 4m and well spaced...
.......................................
Well, it didn't take long for the swell to build up once the wind got up to 20 knots and over! Like a 'bucking bronco' at times, we made excellent speed at 7-8 knots. To the N, the edge of the cloud cover, and blue sky, marked the direction of the High and, to the S, solid cloud marked the Low's direction. I gradually furled in more of the genoa as the wind picked up. We are headed roughly E and the swell and seas are coming from the N and so on our beam.

I'm finally on to the last carton of Argentinian UHT milk ... opened for my cereal this morning. UHT milk lasts so well and is far superior to powdered milk, although in Australia, I came across one brand of powdered milk which was superb - couldn't tell it from fresh! If I get the chance in Tasmania, I'll stock up with some of it.

I never fail to be thrilled by the sight of a pair of albatross circling the boat - two Wandering albatross (NZ, Tristan or Snowy, difficult to say..) have been close by today - and I glued my eyes to them whenever they got really close, trying to check on their plumage details. On looking in my birdbook, I discovered that there's a possibility that the juvenile I saw yesterday might have actually been a rare Amsterdam albatross - we're just over 500 miles SW of Amsterdam Island now - a tiny speck in the Ocean, close to the volcanic remnant of St Paul's - both too far N to visit on this passage, unfortunately, unless I want to be becalmed regularly and have to motor, that is. They're right where the Indian Ocean High seems to be pinned to, just now.

(LATER) Wow! The juvenile Wandering is back .. seemingly, the pair could be its parents?.... and also a fourth albatross later this afternoon - white splashes on its upper wings - from black on tail, it's likely to be not a Royal but a Wandering...

By 5pm, the wind was gusting to 27 kt under an overcast sky, raining slightly at times & as darkness was gathering, I sat out in the cockpit, getting splashed by spray regularly, fascinated by the awesome scene - the rough seas, with 'white horses' everywhere, the big swell, the many birds circling and swooping, often coming really close by... Gave me the chance to spot 3 albatross resting in the sea together - TWO juveniles and an adult - clearly there were five altogether now! Winds were often up to 35+ knots and I'd gone up with the thought of preparing to heave to - but decided things were OK at that point and the boat was doing fine - I felt I just needed to keep an eye on the wind strength and direction over the evening ...

All very well in daylight but, by 9pm, with the wind continually gusting to 35+ knots, it was not such a comfortable feeling and I realized that in order to rest overnight, I'd have to heave to at some point.... Pity, since we were making good speed! But better sooner than later - into foulies again and up we go...

DMG: 104 n.ml. (didn't get very far overnight, with v. little wind...)

Weather report:
TIME: 2012/02/27 12:00 LAT: 41-51.40S LONG: 068-07.78E
COURSE: 90T SPEED: 6.0
WIND_SPEED: 24 WIND_DIR: NNW
SWELL_DIR: NNW SWELL_HT: 5.0M
CLOUDS: 98% BARO: 1014 TREND: -2
AIR_TEMP: 19.0C SEA_TEMP: 17.0C
COMMENT: Wind up after calm o'night,pressure down,seas rough.CF cometh!

Let's see if I can post this - radio comms proving difficult ....

Sunday 26th February 2012

Much calmer conditions this morning, after a night of NW following winds around 30 knots with much-reduced canvas. We surfed often in the big seas (~6-7m), but not too fastl! Wind backed to WSW with a cold front passing over around dawn, so I had to gybe onto starboard tack. Sky cleared nicely for a time - lovely, gentle, sunny sailing... By midday, sky was overcast and it was raining slightly in slightly increased winds - to around 23 knots.. Seas still quite big, so we have been rolling gently, on a broad reach - all day, in fact. Well before sunset, most of the cloud had cleared away. The pressure has slowly risen over the day - there's a High pressure area just N of us giving us the present nice conditions, but there's also a small Low developing to our SW which is forecast to bring some stronger winds on yet another Cold Front, with its associated wind shift, later tomorrow and into Monday night.

Spent a lot of time looking up Australian and New Zealand radio and weather info for emailing to Greg (VE0MUR) - a Canadian single-hander, who's just left Kerguelen on 'Alcidae' - he also comes up on the S.African M.M.Net each morning. I first met him on the radio when I was sailing from Gough Island (S of Tristan da Cunha) in April last year, on my way to Cape Town. Sorting out the info has been a useful exercise, ready for when I get closer to Australia - their weather info is readily available by radio and it's accurate, as is that of New Zealand. All it takes is getting the timing right for listening to their voice weather forecasts and weatherfaxes.... a good alarm is vital!

Fresh coffee as a Sunday treat!

Sunshine most of the day... Sailing along pleasantly, despite the still big seas. 5-7m, I'd say - always difficult to judge but when they get this big, I imagine looking out from an upstairs window, down into the troughs, to try to gauge how big the seas are! It's quite a long swell - often 8-11 secod interval - which is what makes it acceptable when the wind is down.

Having slowed down last night, as a precaution, when winds got to 28-32 knots just before midnight, we didn't beat any distance records today:
DMG a mere 109 n.ml.! With sunset approaching, I just furled in some more genoa with winds gusting up ... and they promptly died back! The current is cutting our boatspeed down from 6 kt to nearer 5 kt.

It was time to watch the the birds and seas as the sun went down. There was the cresent moon - shining silver bright through bright pink, thin clouds - a lovely effect! And later, there were Venus and Jupiter both shining brightly, seemingly equidistant from the Moon - Venus at 9 o'clock and Jupiter at 1 o'clock.

I'd been watching the White-chinned petrels that seem to be keeping us constant company when I suddenly realised that one of them had a lot of white on its face ... Having just thought I'd not seen any albatross for a day or so, there, gliding around on long, fixed wings, was a juvenile Wandering Albatross - chocolate brown upperwings and body, large white area on face with pale bill, pale underwings with black tips... Fabulous! A good end to a relaxing day, as I watched many more stars appear in the clear sky overhead!!

Saturday 25th February 2012

A lovely sunset - long, low, thin lines of golden cloud... As a bonus for waiting , as I sipped my tea, there was a thin silver crescent moon hanging low, with bright Venus shining above.

The day has been far pleasanter than last night...! Needing to heave to just before sunset, in winds regularly up to around 40 knots and seas becoming high and rough and tossing us about, is never a pleasant experience and yesterday was no exception, although at least I did finally get a good sleep until just before dawn. The boat's motion was not smooth because the seas were so rough, but safe in my bunk that didn't seem to matter too much. And my 'ready-made' meal was definitely very welcome before I settled down to sleep!

Interestingly, despite boatspeed being zero almost all the time, we were taken at around 2-3 knots SOG by a strong current all the time (about 14 hrs) we were hove-to - a total distance of 41 miles NNE! Some current!

The sky cleared to give a lovely sunny day and the wind died down by early morning (7a.m.) to around 23knots - and stayed at that over most of the day. The wind has been mainly W-NW, which has made for pleasant broad-reaching at a good speed, without the need to pole out the genoa, our course being E-ESE with a SW current over the daytime. (The current is clearly tidal and is presently slowing us down quite a bit whereas at other times it has been very helpful!)

I'm finally back into good Winlink connections at certain times of day (mainly via VK6KPS near Perth and YB0AJZ on Java) whereas Sailmail (which my website link comes to) has been difficult for the last few days - so send any emails to Winlink if you want to be sure I see them promptly! Otherwise, there could be a wait until I get better connections -as will happen eventually, for sure!

From the weather info I have, we should keep the present conditions, fair-sized swell included, with possibly lighter winds by early Monday, before a Low passes close S of us, bringing a Cold Front and stronger winds during the day - with the usual backing of the wind as the Front passes over. Let's hope the winds don't get up as much as yesterday!

Time for my hot stew...

DMG (noon-to-noon) .... a mere 78mls! Present position (at 1750GMT/9.50pm LT Saturday): 41 18'S, 064 10'E; wind NW 25kt (just gusted 28kt .. might furl in some genoa for overnight!); COG 105T; SOG ~5.5kt (boatspeed ~7kt)

Friday 24th February 2012

Wind had died down overnight into morning, from NNE 25knots in the evening, but would occasionally gust up.... Pressure kept dropping - to 997 at 10am - so we were clearly getting close to that Cold Front, although wind was still NE-NNE ... Sky covered in thin overcast, with slight fog early on and the sun trying hard to get through later.

Got myself so worried overnight, with the uncertainty of when exactly the supposedly strong front would come through, that I reduced sail vastly to just triple-reefed mains'l and slightly furled stays'l, closehauled - which almost stopped the boat! It was rather like being 'hove-to', except we were making about 2 knots on a close reach - lying at about 50 degrees off the wind - perfect! I decided to leave things like that, since it felt nice and steady, with none of the banging into the seas we'd had before ... and had an excellent few hours of sleep until just after dawn!

Soon after, by adding in a fair bit of genoa, we made a good speed for a time - until the wind died down again. Around midday, the NE wind had started backing, bit by bit ...to N 12 kt as pressure dropped to 993. ... All very slow and gentle - felt almost like being in a High. But almost as soon as I'd completed my daily position report, conditions quickly changed - the wind increased rapidly and at the same time we were into big seas. I got ready for heaving to, furling in all but a tiny bit of the genoa and all of the staysail and, for a time, we sped along like that, keeping the wind astern, making good progress. We were headed due E virtually on a run - so things felt quite comfortable, in winds of around 35 knots, gusting to over 40kt and occasionally dropping to near 30kt.

But soon enough, the seas built up more with the continued strong wind and it definitely felt like time to stop when our speed was regularly up to 8-10kt in 40kt winds, with seas getting rougher and sunset close. It's always difficult to get out on deck at that point, but it had to be done... Not only were we beginning to go too fast, the seas were tossing us around too much as well. I furled in the last of the genoa as we rounded to head upwind under main alone. The boat was stopped and all I had to do was to tie the wheel in position and adjust the mainsheet and preventer to hold the boom in place... 0.0 boatspeed - good. I stayed for quite a bit to watch how the boat fared in the big seas... The sky had partly cleared, sunset was imminent and there were lots of birds wheeling around in the strong winds and dipping into the stormy seas... When birds fly backward, you know the wind is definitely very strong!! ...All OK. Down below to take off wet foulies and heat up that welcome stew I made yesterday!

1630GMT/8.30pm LT: The stew was great ... and the wind is still around 37-40 kt. Not expected to die down until after dawn - a long night... Time to take to my bunk... after I've posted this, hopefully.

To my surprise, on trying 14300 kHz this morning, just before 0400GMT/8a.m. LT, I clearly heard Randy, KH6RC, on frequency for the Pacific Seafarers Net (he's in Hilo, Hawaii!) and after a short chat, he passed me over to Jane, NH7TZ, on Kauai, another Hawaiian island - incredible that we had such good propagation for that distance (over 8500ml via S of Australia, more if across the Antarctic from here). I couldn't make out John, VK4DBJ, in Queensland, Australia, nor anyone else, at all. Randy seemed to think the radio waves were using the 'long hop' rather than the 'short hop' - across the night-time region to the W, rather than the daytime region of the Earth to the E .... However it happened, it was good to hear them so clearly and to be able to chat to them after a long time absent from the Net.

DMG today, not surprisingly, low at just 92ml - likely to be even less tomorrow! A current is taking us NNE at well over 2 knots, despite zero boatspeed through the water! So far we've made about 7 miles... pity it's not in the right direction!

Thursday 23rd February 2012

1430GMT/6.30pm LT - Enjoying a cup of coffee with a chocolate brownie while I make a fresh stew ready for the bad weather probably coming up overnight and into tomorrow, as the Cold Front from a deep depression further S swings by us. It's expected to pass over with an abrupt wind change - backing from N-NNE to W-SW in what could well be a very short time - it's happened within moments before now, so I'm always half-expecting that - not very pleasant, if that does occur!

The pressure is expected to drop way down, to well below 1000 hPa, with strong winds both ahead of the front as well as behind it - so I might just decide to heave to and let it all pass over while I relax - not sure of the timing exactly, although it will possibly be mid-morning tomorrow... Soon after the front passes, there's expected to be a big swell - right into Sunday and on overnight into Monday.

The wind has been around 15knots all day, shifting from N overnight to NNE to ENE for a short spell and now it's back at NNE. We're still in wind-vane mode so as the wind shifts, we simply follow it around - makes life much simpler! Our course presently is just S of E and we're making around 5 knots - the current is cutting our speed down just now. For the next few days, the best course to take would seem to be due E.

Better go and see to my stew - so far it's got onions, potatoes, tomatoes, sweetcorn, peas, red peppers, and ham - should be good!

1500GMT/7pm LT - sunset - but nothing to see through the murky clouds.... No Venus or Jupiter today. It's just getting duller and darker... Swell is not too bad so far - it's from NE at around 3m on our port bow - slightly bumpy, but OK.

Time to see if Cape Naval's latest weatherfax is being transmitted - so far today they've managed zero out of three transmissions! When they come, they're very useful but all I've had so far has been the carrier signal and nothing else (and nothing happening now, so far... 20 minutes past the start time ... useful!).

Today's 24hr DMG: 122 .ml. Present position: 41S, 060E Wind getting up to 20+ knots... Pressure 1012 hPa.

Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Hardly a cloud in the sky from mid-morning on... but wind still NNW, at 14-20 knots, most of the day, so on port tack and close-hauled, beating into swell and wind-chop - not as comfortable as it could be. The wind is slowly veering, so our course will change more to the East, possibly to ESE, with it - we're in wind-vane mode just now, keeping our angle to the wind constant, so we`ll follow the wind as it veers.

Been carefully looking at weather charts - gribs and faxes - trying to see which way to head for the best ... Ex-TC Giovanna might be gone but the other remnant of a TS to our N and the deep Low to our SW are still objects of concern - looks as though we'll be within 200 miles or so of both of them on Friday when the cold front of the Low will also pass over us with possibly very strong winds. Until then, things look fairly calm and easy, with just Friday`s strong weather to worry about ...

Managed a couple of long, slow radio connections, to catch up with emails and weather info - not easy due to our distance from land and the shore radio stations.
Was upset to hear that my daily log reports since Day One might not have been arriving on my website each day as they ought to have done... the problem might lie with those posted via Sailmail not being accepted - a lot of time & effort wasted, if that's the case... I re-posted Tuesday's report, just in case, while I had a Winlink connection - using a station on the far West of Java, near the Sunda Strait!

Enjoyed the sunset tonight, with Venus and Jupiter so very bright in a clear sky not far above the horizon. I nearly missed seeing it, being busy on the wet foredeck retrieving a loose pole downhaul end and yet another stanchion-base line-lead which had lost a nut and bolt and so come adrift... Later, I got rid of some water which had appeared in the engine compartment - from a leaking propshaft seal, I wondered. Needs keeping an eye on and checking out.

It`s been nice to have had emails from people I know from when I sailed this way last time, looking forward to making radio contact as I get closer to Australia and New Zealand.

DMG: 157 n.ml. - helped by a strong SE-flowing current from Indian Ocean (sea temp is 20C!) over much of the time and good wind.

Tuesday 21st February 2012

Sipping a mid-morning, rare cup of much-enjoyed fresh coffee, watching the White-chins circle around as we sail nicely on port tack under clear blue skies (not a cloud in sight!) in NNW4 (11-13 knots). An awesome pair of Great albatross have also been flying very close again (almost certainly New Zealand Wandering from black on the tail end and splashes of white on dark upper wings). Wind has been increasing very slowly (it was 4-6 knots just after midnight) as the High centre moves off to the ENE but is still close.

Having increasing problems with radio connections for weather and emails - so please don't send me any long emails just now!

Just noticed that we're E of 52.5E - and so into a new time zone - GMT+4 - must change my clock!

Pressure was up at 1025 for several hours and has now dropped to 1024. So I've changed course slightly, to due E, looking ahead to the next deep Low coming this way and giving strong conditions by late Thursday into Fri/Sat. I'll change course later to 070T when the wind backs further - If I can get a little further N by Thursday/Friday , I might avoid the worst of the winds and big swell. Might even be able to avoid needing to heave to ..... An ever repeating scenario!

The good news is that ex-TC 'Giovanna' seems to have disappeared completely and her associate ex-TS 'Hilary' is a relatively small depression just E of Mauritius at midnight. So there might still be an area of heavy rain on Friday, as I get to just W of where the remnant might have travelled to, but even that might not happen... who knows?

1120 GMT/3.20pm LT: Just finished fuel transfer from jerrycans into main tank. Spent a time chasing what I thought was a 12V wiring or plug problem - but, having followed through with multimeter, clearly cable/12V plug/switch/pump were all fine electrically. Pump seems to work erratically , almost as though there's a cut-out of some kind... Left it to start a weatherfax download (which never came through) and then heard a high whining noise - the pump had suddenly decided to work of its own accord - good news but frustrating...!! So now have approx 160l of fuel in tank - plenty (@ 40l/week of remaining passage) for genset use overnight when needed - such as when transmit on radio a lot, trying to connect. Daytime, when sun is shining, we're often putting in 8-16A from solar panels plus input from windgen - which can go up to 20A or more, if strong wind.... so genset rarely used then.

1700 GMT/6pm LT What a lovely day this has been! Lovely sailing, lovely sunshine, many different birds around over the day. All very relaxing... I've changed course to 070T, heading towards 40S, 060E. Making good speed closehauled in 13 knots of wind. (See website 'Travels' page for link to chart of my daily positions on passage.) I'll see if I can post this early, when radio propagation is marginally better than later this evening.

24 hr DMG to midday (GMT): Just 99 n.ml. - due to 12 hrs of little wind overnight, when speed dropped to 2-3 knots at times.

Tuesday 21st February 2012

Sipping a mid-morning, rare cup of much-enjoyed fresh coffee, watching the White-chins circle around as we sail nicely on port tack under clear blue skies (not a cloud in sight!) in NNW4 (11-13 knots). An awesome pair of Great albatross have also been flying very close again (almost certainly New Zealand Wandering from black on the tail end and splashes of white on dark upper wings). Wind has been increasing very slowly (it was 4-6 knots just after midnight) as the High centre moves off to the ENE but is still close.

Having increasing problems with radio connections for weather and emails - so please don't send me any long emails just now!

Just noticed that we're E of 52.5E - and so into a new time zone - GMT+4 - must change my clock!

Pressure was up at 1025 for several hours and has now dropped to 1024. So I've changed course slightly, to due E, looking ahead to the next deep Low coming this way and giving strong conditions by late Thursday into Fri/Sat. I'll change course later to 070T when the wind backs further - If I can get a little further N by Thursday/Friday , I might avoid the worst of the winds and big swell. Might even be able to avoid needing to heave to ..... An ever repeating scenario!

The good news is that ex-TC 'Giovanna' seems to have disappeared completely and her associate ex-TS 'Hilary' is a relatively small depression just E of Mauritius at midnight. So there might still be an area of heavy rain on Friday, as I get to just W of where the remnant might have travelled to, but even that might not happen... who knows?

1120 GMT/3.20pm LT: Just finished fuel transfer from jerrycans into main tank. Spent a time chasing what I thought was a 12V wiring or plug problem - but, having followed through with multimeter, clearly cable/12V plug/switch/pump were all fine electrically. Pump seems to work erratically , almost as though there's a cut-out of some kind... Left it to start a weatherfax download (which never came through) and then heard a high whining noise - the pump had suddenly decided to work of its own accord - good news but frustrating...!! So now have approx 160l of fuel in tank - plenty (@ 40l/week of remaining passage) for genset use overnight when needed - such as when transmit on radio a lot, trying to connect. Daytime, when sun is shining, we're often putting in 8-16A from solar panels plus input from windgen - which can go up to 20A or more, if strong wind.... so genset rarely used then.

1700 GMT/6pm LT What a lovely day this has been! Lovely sailing, lovely sunshine, many different birds around over the day. All very relaxing... I've changed course to 070T, heading towards 40S, 060E. Making good speed closehauled in 13 knots of wind. (See website 'Travels' page for link to chart of my daily positions on passage.) I'll see if I can post this early, when radio propagation is marginally better than later this evening.

24 hr DMG to midday (GMT): Just 99 n.ml. - due to 12 hrs of little wind overnight, when speed dropped to 2-3 knots at times.

Monday 20th February 2012

1530GMT/6.30pm LT .... Just gone sunset ... a red glowing ball - which I kept an eye on as I was busy tidying up the lines in the cockpit while a pair of White-chins and a Yellow-nose circled around. Seas nothing like as calm now as I'd hoped (around 3m) - probably due to a nasty, deep Low to the SW, with its Front expected to pass over us on Friday - hopefully without the dramatic backing of the wind that so many cold fronts give.

Wind is now slowly dying, as expected overnight. Pressure is up to 1023 and the wind, presently still SW at 9 knots, will start veering to the NW at some point tonight - one reason that got me tidying up in the cockpit, since then we'll have to gybe onto port tack and it will be nice not to have to deal with a 'tangle of worms' in the dark! I furled in the staysail and released the running backstay, also partly with overnight gybing in mind, and unfurled the rest of the genoa in its place - should help our speed a bit.

Spent a lot of time today trying to get radio connections for weather info & emails. Needed the generator to boost the batteries after a prolonged session without success. Some contacts made but not good enough, although I did post my position report - sending is so often a lot faster than receiving . Finally Sailmail connected, but still with difficulty and several attempts were needed before I finally got the grib weather files I particularly wanted, to see what's forecast for TS Giovanna, the High just N of me and the Low to the SW that's likely to give gale force winds... I'm also downloading weatherfaxes regularly to see the current situation (actually with a 4-5 hrs delay, but that's near enough).

Downloading another fax now - my daily routine seems to revolve around getting weather info via faxes, emails and once- or twice-daily contact with the S.African Maritime Mobile Net (S.A.M.M. Net) on 14316 kHz at 0630Z/1130Z. Graham, ZS2ABK, keeps me updated with weather forecasts for my position from the S.A. Weather Service and, in return, gives them my weather info - useful for them to compare with their forecasts. So I've several sources of info - useful should one go down.

It's feeling definitely cooler now - air and water temperatures have dropped a lot - sea is now 14C (from 24C on Friday), making the boat feel cold, and air is around 21C maximum - so I'm into fleece layers now!

Time for a hot meal - nice to have one all ready waiting... and then a nice crunchy apple!

DMG: 143 n.ml.
Present position: 41 38'S, 052 14'E

Sunday 19th February 2012

A pleasant day, with a mix of heavy grey clouds everywhere and some sunshine in between times, with just the occasional squall to give a bit of excitement as winds suddenly increase and shift under a particularly big cloud.

Now having Sunday afternoon tea while I relax over Spider Solitaire (in much calmer conditions than this time yesterday, although still some big waves) - as I try to get a connection with a shore radio station somewhere for emails & grib weather files. The good news is that I'm regularly getting weatherfaxes from Cape Naval - they've been off-air for well over a year .... the 'new' S.Africa....

An ongoing concern is TS/TD Giovanna coming down this way (didn't dissipate but clearly found some warm sea to feed on) - but should be well ahead of me if she does - with mainly heavy rain + 40 kt winds ahead of the centre, not behind it where I am.... (I hope!)

1540GMT/6.40pm LT (local time where I am) - Sunset ... a low line of pink in the W under the grey clouds that are covering the sky, with some showers nearby. A good flock of White-chinned petrels (15-20 at least) are wheeling about us, together with the pair of Yellow-nosed albatross they often seem to keep company with. The albatross have such long wing-spans by comparison with their body length, unlike the petrels. The birds are often particularly active near the boat around sunset and also soon after sunrise.

I'm downloading a weatherfax while I watch them - it shows exactly where 'Giovanna' is - not so very far away - and I'm keeping an eye out for any possible problem. Forecast day for any 'close encounter' is next Thursday, 23rd Feb but with any luck she'll dissipate .... In the meantime, we're heading ESE but gradually slowing down as the pressure rises and the High comes our way with dying winds - likely to be becalmed in a day's time! But if seas are really calm soon, I'll be able to get the outstanding boat jobs seen to before the good NW winds which will follow behind.

Today's daily weather report (as posted to Winlink and Yotreps):
TIME: 2012/02/19 12:00
LATITUDE: 40-59.93S LONGITUDE: 048-45.59E
COURSE: 110T SPEED: 6.0
WIND_SPEED: 22 WIND_DIR: SW
SWELL_DIR: WSW SWELL_HT: 3.5M SWELL_PER: 6
CLOUDS: 85% BARO: 1016 TREND: 0
AIR_TEMP: 20.0C SEA_TEMP: 20.0C
COMMENT: Hove-to y'day for 12hrs from 11:30am.Seas less now .DMG:99 n.ml.

Saturday 18th February

A day to remember - but not for the best of reasons!

The wind and seas have both been well up - winds consistently 30-35kt overnight and then 35-40 all morning, with seas up accordingly - so yesterday's 4-5m seas became today's 6-7m (or more) with occasional small sections of white breaking crests - impressive from a distance but not good when caught by them - as we were several times. With the strong F8-9 wind, it all became too much (never mid the good speed we were making!) and got to feeling downright dangerous when, instead of maintaining our downwind course with the waves approaching our stern, we kept being taken by an oncoming wave and being turned violently upwind into it, to climb up its face, heeling a lot, sometimes getting knocked sideways by the crest with a bang.

I'd been debating whether to heave to or deploy the Jordan series drogue we carried ready - but after one particularly worrying incident that made me decide to act, I decided the quickest was to deploy the drogue which was all ready to go in its bag on the stern. We were heeling a lot from time to time and I had trouble getting the chain out of its bag - the lovely new 'galvanised' chain I'd bought in Ushuaia had turned totally rusty - but I got it out finally and sent it out, the rest of the drogue following, to stream off the bridle attached to the two strong points at the quarters. We settled down nicely and I watched the line streaming well in the big waves approaching, giving and taking up gently to keep our stern into the waves. No more rounding up into the waves, just a gentle lifting over them as they passed under us. I began to relax....

After seeing to a few small jobs, I decided it was time for a late breakfast,... I was just getting started when I heard a bang from the stern.... Once on deck, I found the drogue had disappeared... a remnant of one bridle line was to be seen, along with most of the floating (polypropylene) retrieval line attached to a stern cleat. The spectra line had obviously seen too much sunlight and must have degraded as a result... I cursed my stupidity in not replacing the two bridle lines when I'd had the chance (the thought had crossed my mind several times but each time I'd been busy with other things) .. too late now - what to do?

We were basically lying ahull in the seas and not doing too badly in fact,while the seas were being kind, but I needed to get us pointing up more into the wind and seas to be safer. Having downed the mains'l to lie to the series drogue, I now had the problem of raising the sail in the strong conditions.. not so easy, and definitely not helped by the sail, and also the halyard, getting caught behind the mast steps (I'd forgotten to tighten the string tied between them to prevent that happening) ...Up with the halyard and then down with it, trying to time things with the swell... as fast as I released one, the other got caught quite badly. I even climbed a short distance up the mast to release the sail at one point.... an interesting experience in the big swell! In the end, having retrieved two dangling lines from the water first, I started the motor to point us more upwind - that made matters so much easier, with everything coming free, & the sail was soon raised. Then it was a matter of easing the sheet and slowly bringing it in, having first fixed the wheel halfway to windward. We lay nicely hove-to in the end and I was finally able to get below to change out of my wet things - I was sopping wet from hair (forgot my hat!) to shoes (they'd got well filled as we heeled when sorting out the drogue). I had a lovely nap for an hour before finally getting some very late food.

When I spoke to Graham, ZS2ABK, on the S.A.M.M. Net a short while later, he commented that the Giovanna TS had been downgraded further and looked as though both it and the other one, were unlikely to pose me a problem next week - good news!

Pressure has been rising fast over the last few hours and I've been watching the wind die down to around 20 knots also... As soon as the seas had calmed down to something reasonable, I got us sailing again. We're now heading ESE while we can, before that High fills in completely over us and our speed drops right down - maybe for two days or more.... Sky has cleared, bright stars everywhere ... Nice to be sailing pleasantly once more!

DMG: 140 n.ml. (we were averaging 7knots for quite a time, before heaving to!)
Present position: 41S, 047E

Friday 17th February 2012

The day started quite pleasantly, with around 20 knots of NW wind, the sun a red globe under grey clouds on the horizon and clear sky overhead. But at midday, after several squalls earlier, due to passing clouds nearby, a good 40 knot 'blow' came through with heavy rain under a massive grey cloud... In between squalls, the sun got out and it was quite pleasant.... birds were all around - the usual group, including the enormous solitary Royal albatross, with white splashes on its dark upper wings and white body and head.

The cold front passed by this afternoon almost exactly at 4 o'clock- dropped in for tea, as you might say! It was heralded by 32kt winds and rain and followed by drizzle but the sudden windshift from WNW to WSW was almost painless. We deliberately had very little canvas out, making fair speed despite that, and I gybed us onto starboard tack quite easily. I also decided to change course quite a lot, in view of the forecast winds being less than was thought a day or so ago - so, hopefully, that means the swell will also be down on that predicted - 6-10m ... The waves are quite well apart (8-10sec), which makes life easier, but we are still in rough seas just now, so holding on tightly is essential when not in my bunk. (It's actually blowing 36 knots as I write this, so I'm not convinced about the lesser wind predictions!) High pressure is still forecast for this area next week, so I'll be heading ESE from now, when conditions permit, hoping to avoid being headed or becalmed...

A new concern appeared today... It seems that the cyclone 'Giovanna', which has been downgraded to a Tropical Storm, after wreaking havoc in the N of Madagascar, is still going strong - and likely to head our way by next week, as is a second one. Both expected to head SE, crossing ahead of our path but not that far away... Hopefully, they'll dissipate rather than keeping going or strengthening. A worrying factor is the sea temperature here - it's up to 24C just now - way warmer than I'd expect - and cyclones feed on warm water...

Not much by way of progress on boatjobs in these rough conditions, although I did try out all three small pumps last night - and every one of them worked! No fuel transfer is possible just now, but it's not urgent either. I ran the genset for under an hour yesterday and for half an hour just now. The wind generator is putting in lots of electrons, most of the time, as are the solar panels during the day.

Time for some hot food, I think. It gets quite cool of an evening!

DMG today: 117 n.ml.

Last night was beautifully clear and starry again with the expected band of cloud not coming over - 'Milky Way' strewn across the sky, Orion doing his usual headstand & two very bright stars above the W horizon at sunset - must surely be planets? ... Venus..? and Saturn..? Seem yellow, rather than orange or white. Venus is usually so very white. Info welcomed if anyone wants to email me!

Have been thinking and preparing a lot for expected bad weather coming up - Friday night into Saturday, strong winds, backing to SW-WSW at 30-35, gusting 40kt, as an 'active' cold front on a deep depression passes us during Friday. Bad swell coming along to add in to the same strong winds over Saturday... Decided to take down the pole and change course more to the NE for a time, to try to avoid the worst of the swell. Problem then is the following High, which I don't want to get caught in, by ending up too far N - so will have to dive S a.s.a.p., once worst of winds/swell have passed by. Somehow think we'll get caught by light winds of the High whatever I do...

Thoughts of big seas and strong winds definitely concentrate the mind on clearing up - in the galley, especially. I cooked the last aubergine and courgettes, along with fresh onion, garlic and potatoes - even found a tin of red peppers to add in to tinned tomatoes to make more ratatouille, ready for another 'stew' with ham added, thinking ahead to Fri night & Sat... With more additions, should last several days.

Oops...! Sensed the boat beginning to heel more... into foulies, hat, headlamp, ... up on deck, in the dark night... A big cloud passing over and giving very-much increasing wind... Furl in some genoa.. get wetted by spray and fine rain... As things calm down, a short while later, I see plenty of stars around - but not overhead nor ahead...a dark mass there! Speed is down rather, with reduced canvas, but - it's night, so I'll leave the genoa as is, for the time being... We're still making around 5 kt, that's fine.

Been busy today catching up with emails, making up a new logbook and experimenting with frequencies/times for radio email contact - or the lack of it! WL2K contact is difficult here, with no on-air S.African stations and I failed to make any connection after sunset tonight. Good to have Sailmail as well - their African station is fairly reliable,with a good range of available frequencies, so I'm getting daily weather grib files to add in to the occasional weatherfaxes from Cape Naval S.A. Weather Service and weather info from my daily contact with S.A.M.M. Net.

Time to eat and get a nap... 2025 GMT is 11.25 p.m. local time - we've moved over into the next Time Zone! All very confusing for the body clock!

DMG today: 133 n.ml. (always to 1200 GMT)

Tuesday 14th February

Overnight was beautifully clear and starry with the Southern Cross high above..so dawn was lovely also, and I tried radio contact, having had good success wih WL2K at sunset y'day.. but no joy at all. The depth display is still playing up on so that's still on the joblist, along with a stanchion base furling line lead which I found bits of on deck soon after dawn.

Wind died down completely by noon - to 6knots, so our speed dropped also - for a time we were only making around 2knots. But the pleasant, calmer conditions gave me a chance to get on with jobs... tied down the gas bottle more securely; re-ran the third reef line through the sail cringle and marked the end clearly - a useful job to have done; updated my new radio logbook with useful info from the old one.

Our daily run to midday was quite reasonable, at 137 n.ml.

I decided to fill the main tank from the jerrycans while the weather was good - all started out fine, with my pride and joy of a strong new portable fuel pump and hoses working well - but not for long.... Suddenly, it stopped working... Drat!!

Out with the multimeter to check on connections ... I found the 12V cigar plug was really hot and assumed the fuse inside had blown -but couldn't get inside to change it - the plug is very old anyway, so I decided to change it. Out with the stripper & crimpers & shrink connectors... search for a replacement plug... eventually cut one off something else ... Pump still not working... grrr! Find my other pumps to test them - none of them working either...how come?... Test all possible items for continuity or 12v supply with multimeter... By now feeling very frustrated.. Checked 12V outlets for power - most OK, but not all... Started organising possible power supply to pumps using alligator clips (to buss bar) in place of cigar plug. Got out manual siphon-pump...(!) Decided to leave it all, get some food and sleep and have another go tomorrow - maybe things will be better!

By then, it had turned dull and cold, the wind had veered more to the north and increased & pressure had dropped - another cold front was approaching... but at least boat speed was up. The genoa pole had to come down, after sailing by the lee for a time, and we finally gybed onto port tack in a N-NNE wind and unfurled the stays'l for a beam reach.

Overnight, a SHIP came close by - Chinese, I presumed, from its name: '83 Chung Yong'... heading SE for 'fishing grounds' . Unusual to see other ships within 200 mls!

Wednesday 15th February

4 a.m. First light in the E, clear sky, ...nearing dawn. Wind had backed to just S of W but was still up, pressure down a lot more.... Gybed the main but left the genoa goosewinged, since it seemed happy like that, and furled in stays'l.
7 a.m. Bright clear sky with thin band of cloud low in the SW. Rising wind - time to pole out genoa again... Cloud came over fast, with heavy rain, as I organised pole... but boat speed much better afterwards, in good wind rising to 20-25kt .... and the rain didn't last too long, with clearing skies following, as pressure began to rise behind the cold front.
Midday ... Action stations!! Frantic winching to furl the genoa hurriedly - clouds ... wind over 30knots... and seas well up, tossing us around.... !! We made good speed! Half an hour later, it was a bit calmer, but wind was still around 26-28kt, sometimes dropping, with clear sky overhead, but another band of cloud lurking in the distance...
The pattern continued well into the afternoon - mix of warm blue skies and of grey clouds all over - but strong wind and big seas whatever the sky... but eventually, not long before sunset, the sky cleared and the wind died to around 15 kt - but there's a band of low cloud-cover on the SW horizon, so I might not see the stars tonight...

DMG over noon-to-noon today was 106 n.ml. - down, not surprisingly, on y'day.

It's been too rough for jobs I'd hoped to do today - manana, maybe!