Tuesday 30th November 2010 - Beautiful, sunny Day 36 - good sailing in SE Trades!

Up at 4am PST, as usual - well before dawn. A beautiful, starry, clear night sky, with bright crescent moon, lying 'on its back' and lighting up the scene!

It always takes a time to sort out the information for my noon UTC position/weather report, for posting on my website via the links there. I have to connect with a shore radio station (they have the necessary Internet connection), so that I can post my report over the radio by email via that station - that often takes a lot of time and effort - and is now becoming increasingly difficult as my distance from most of the shore radio stations slowly increases. That's why, when anyone emails me they should remember NOT to send my email back to me (delete it!) , or any other 'bumpf' for that matter.... It all takes radio time (and battery power that might be struggling to cope) to download over an often very slow, difficult connection. That said, I enjoy receiving emails!

This morning's report to Winlink looked like this (Yotreps is a NZ website that a lot of cruising boats report in to, for families/friends to keep track of them, and they make good use of the weather info given in reports like this):

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2010/11/30 12:00 UTC
LATITUDE: 01-47.20S LONGITUDE: 118-39.46W
COURSE: 195T SPEED: 5.6
WIND_SPEED: 13 WIND_DIR: SE
SWELL_DIR: SE SWELL_HT: 1.5M
CLOUDS: 1%
BARO: 1015 TREND: 0
AIR_TEMP: 25.0C SEA_TEMP: 25.0C
COMMENT: 24hr DMG:125n.ml. Beautiful clear night. Crossed Equator y'day 0825PST

While I'm connected, I download incoming emails and if I'm behind with writing up my daily log for the website, I'll usually get that done and send it off as well. Invariably, there's also weather info to look at and think about, as well as keeping on top of email queries regarding current problems I'm having to deal with onboard (such as AP & VHF problems!) to get the help I need from technical people with the expertise/knowledge I'm lacking.

While I'm doing all that, the sun will have risen and the morning radio Nets are starting up - they provide a good way of making voice contact with people. Either I'll get back to sleep or, if propagation is good, I'll check in to one or two of them and maybe help out by relaying for them. I'm getting to know several regulars on the Nets now!

I'm amazed at how well my batteries are being charged at present... With so much solar and wind power going in, they're regularly over 13V, and it's not unusual for them to reach 14V - I'm having to take care, these days, not to OVERcharge them!! Seeing 14A going into them this afternoon from solar power alone, I ran my 12V watermaker today - normally, I only run that when topping up my batteries using the little diesel generator - but that's not been run now for nearly a week!

From the clear blue sky of earlier, the cloud very slowly built up over the day - large white cumulus, this afternoon - but not much overhead now, although a line of cloud ahead, on the S horizon.... I'm wondering if I'll get any squalls at some point - always something to keep an eye out for, but so far, no sign of any.... Just lovely gentle Trade Winds sailing, under mainly wind steering, in sunshine and good wind - around 14 kt from ESE-SE, so we're close reaching at 5.5-6.0 kt on a course of 185-195T. We're heeling in swell from the SE - I took a reef in this morning to stop excessive heeling - if the boat's not well-balanced, it's difficult for the wind steering to cope and if the electronic autopilot (AP) is on, it has to work a lot harder - using more battery power... The good news of this afternoon is that the foul current we've seen fora few days now has finally given way to a slight fair current - it's always nice to see our speed over the ground (SOG - given by the GPS) showing as more than the actual boatspeed (through the water)!!

After my problems with using the autopilot later yesterday morning, I was advised to try a couple of changes to the settings - I've done that and things are a little better but still not good enough to cope with stronger conditions and more demanding course-keeping - so that is still being worked on... It's a problem talking to someone in the UK who's 8 hours ahead - my morning (9am PST) is his late afternoon (5pm GMT) & end of the work day!

This morning's 24hr DMG was 125 n.ml. with half to one knot being lost to current over the period - we would probably have made 18 n.ml. more (DMG 143 n.ml.!) otherwise. We were 1300 ml ENE of the Marquesas, 1620 ml nearly due W of the Galapagos, 1500 ml from Mexico (nearest point: Tenacatita), 2483 ml from Hawaii .... and San Diego lay due N, 2100 ml away!

As I head S, I'll probably be passing betwen Pitcairn Island and Easter Island - they lie 1108 miles apart in the S. Pacific - to the NE of New Zealand and W of Chile in S. America.

Time for tea and thoughts of tonight's meal.... sunset not far away ... Still no 'green flash' seen, although yesterday I did see the 'emerald on the sun's finger' - the rim of the sun turned green just as it disappeared over the horizon - pretty, but NOT a 'green flash', which happens a few moments AFTER the sun has disappeared!! (I've only ever seen 2, maybe 3, green flashes - the very first one was spectacular!)

Monday 29th November 2010 - Day 35

We crossed the Equator at 0825 PST - headed S towards Cape Horn (ETA around New Year 2011). Last time we crossed, I was headed N from New Zealand to Hawaii on 28th June - almost exactly 5 months ago!

About 40 ml N of Equator last night, I noticed that we were losing speed to current - around half a knot. The W-going equatorial current was no longer helping us - pity! It hadn't lasted as long as expected. We continued to lose speed - by the time we were 15 ml S of the Equator, and for the rest of the day, we were losing a knot to current .... that will cut down Tuesday morning's daily run by about 20 ml.

As I was about to cross the Equator, I was talking to Raymarine UK, checking over my AP settings, prior to testing the system with the new rudder sensor unit. Reefs had been shaken out overnight and we were under full sail. I suddenly realized the latitude had gone from N to S - looked at the sea - no line to be seen (!) - but we were greeted across by the strengthening wind heeling us under cloudy skies .. I needed to tie in the first reef to be better balanced! The AP seemed to be behaving but I needed to reef the mains'l.... we agreed to wait for an hour or so ... Of course, once I'd reefed, the wind died back down....typical! In the calmer conditions, under a clear sky, all seemed fine - the wheel wasn't moving much, but it didn't need to...

On being called again, I confirmed all seemed to be OK .... but 3 hrs later, having shaken out the reef, .... more cloud, strengthening wind .... and AP stopped coping - 'Off course' and then 'Drive stopped' messages kept popping up... things were no longer looking good! Soon after midday, I reefed back down again, hoping that would help matters - tried AP on 'Track' .. but things were no better....couldn't hold the course and kept going down .... grrr!! Back onto wind steering - I put Fred in charge... and went down below to get a late brunch...

I'd hoped to deal with VHF external speaker connections today, but now decided to leave that to another day - we were heeling and moving quite a bit in a fair swell and that makes life difficult getting to fiddly wiring connections...

I celebrated my Equator crossing later - lovely clear blue sky, sailing well, although still losing a knot to current - played music all afternoon and sang along to it, in between treating myself to some favourite foods - enjoyable! Gave Neptune a tipple - of mango juice - in thanks for a safe journey!!! (Probably the first time ever that he's tasted that!!)

Had an enjoyable session on 14305 at 2.30 pm PST after my usual check-in to M.M.Net on 14300 beforehand. Randy, KH6RC, came up to congratulate me on crossing 'the line' (He'd also heard me saying that the AP was still playing up & wanted to find out more) and then Steve, VA7SKM, and Tom, K4XV, both 'stopped by' for a chat.... It's always nice when people come on frequency to meet up.

Later, on the Pacific Seafarers Net, there was some discussion on how much they hoped to be able to keep in contact as I head further S. Randy had already said he should be able to stay in touch all the way to the Horn, and Paul, VK2HMV, and others in Australia and N.Z., said the same, with several saying they should be able to pick me up between S. Africa and Aus, on my way back to the Pacific next year. A good bunch of nice, friendly people, very concerned for my safety & well-being... Thanks for being there!

24hr DMG was 134 n.ml. up to Monday morning (noon UTC!) - not too bad, with only a few hours of foul current over that time, cancelled out by some fair current earlier.

...........................................................................................
Sunday 28th November 2010 (Day 34)

11am Finishing leisurely b'fast! Checked into Amigo, Chubasco and Baja Nets earlier - all very

friendly & caught up with a boatfriend for a chat as a result. Looking over, & downloading,

weatherfaxes and ordering more grib files for new sailing area ahead. Looking at Chile and NZ

weatherfax schedules to become familiar with what's on offer and when. Presently using KVM70 in

Honolulu for weatherfaxes, having used NMC at Pt Reyes when further north.

Sun getting out - light grey overcast giving way to well-broken white clouds - pleasant day. Cool

enough (26C) to add another short-sleeved cotton top to my cotton vest. Batteries are right up with

good wind and sun - just over 14 volts when fridge not running and 13.5V when it is - fantastic!

Solar panels putting in 10-16A at present. (Later: Had to turn off the wind generator for a time -

we were taking batteries up too high - amazing!)

Swell knocking us from time to time, heeling a bit , but nothing too bad! Speed (SOG) 5.5-6.3kt, wind has swung to ESE from SSE of earlier, so course is now 190T - we're under wind steering and

closehauled, so as wind changes, so does our course but since that's becoming more S, that's fine.

Still have two reefs in mains'l but full genoa and stays'l. Thinking about shaking out 2nd reef -

maybe after coffee!

Up since 4am (for position/weather report), so will have a nap soon.

3.10pm Had a very good sleep! Missed my usual 2230Z 'sked' on 14305 kHz! Checked in to

M.M.Net on 14300 and moved to 14305 because of problems with noise... Randy, KH6RC, in Hawaii,

helped Roy, KR6RG, take my info. Had three other stations contact me - from N. Carolina, USA,

central Canada & Baja, Mexico - a good thing, radio! Ended with a lovely long chat with 'Silas

Crosby' - Canadian boat in Magdalena Bay, Mexico.

Decided to have an early meal so made a mug of tea and then cooked ham and eggs, potatoes,

onions & tomato (fresh still - last big one!) - the food tasted good! While I was doing that, the

wind got up a bit and stayed up - I was glad I'd left the 2nd reef in...

Watched my last sunset in the northern hemisphere for several months as I began eating - next one

will be next year as I head north from New Zealand - April next year, perhaps.

As I write this, our position is 01d 05'N, 118d 24'W - so we're just 65 miles north of the Equator.

We picked up the Equatorial current around midday today. It's W-going here, so will take our

course further W of S while it lasts and may help boost our SOG. Wind is from SE at around 14 kt,

gusting to 16-18 kt or so, occasionally - the SE Trades! We're heeling somewhat and occasionally a

wave sweeps the decks, but we're making good speed - 6.4 knots and more, unless we've been

slowed by a wave hitting.

I'd hoped to have our usual Equator-crossing party in daylight - but with the good speed we're

making now, it looks as though we'll cross over 'the line' to the South in darkness or around first

light, just before dawn tomorrow... Could be good if not much cloud around - moon should still up

as sun rises. We'll postpone celebrations to later in the day. Must decide what to offer

Poseidon/Neptune....

24hr DMG to this morning was 135 n.ml - much more respectable! Reflects the better conditions

with good wind, no tacking and not too much swell to crash into too often to slow us down. We're

going to be close-hauled a lot of the way south, it seems, so any good-sized oncoming swell can

easily affect our daily runs....

Sunday 28th November 2010 (Day 34)

11am Finishing leisurely b'fast! Checked into Amigo, Chubasco and Baja Nets earlier - all very friendly & caught up with a boatfriend for a chat as a result.

Looking over, & downloading, weatherfaxes and ordering more grib files for new sailing area ahead. Looking at Chile and NZ weatherfax schedules to become familiar with what's on offer and when. Presently using KVM70 in Honolulu for weatherfaxes, having used NMC at Pt Reyes when further north.

Sun getting out - light grey overcast giving way to well-broken white clouds - pleasant day. Cool enough (26C) to add another short-sleeved cotton top to my cotton vest. Batteries are right up with good wind and sun - just over 14 volts when fridge not running and 13.5V when it is - fantastic! Solar panels putting in 10-16A at present. (Later: Had to turn off the wind generator for a time - we were taking batteries up too high - amazing!)

Swell knocking us from time to time, heeling a bit , but nothing too bad! Speed (SOG) 5.5-6.3kt, wind has swung to ESE from SSE of earlier, so course is now 190T - we're under wind steering and closehauled, so as wind changes, so does our course but since that's becoming more S, that's fine. Still have two reefs in mains'l but full genoa and stays'l. Thinking about shaking out 2nd reef - maybe after coffee!

Up since 4am (for position/weather report), so will have a nap soon.

3.10pm Had a very good sleep - clearly needed it! Missed my usual 2230Z 'sked' on 14305 kHz! Checked in to M.M.Net on 14300 and moved to 14305 because of problems with noise... Randy, KH6RC, in Hawaii, helped Roy, KR6RG, take my info. Had three other stations contact me - from N. Carolina, USA, central Canada &

Baja, Mexico - a good thing, radio! Ended with a lovely long chat with 'Silas Crosby' - Canadian boat in Magdalena Bay, Mexico.

Decided to have an early meal so made a mug of tea and then cooked ham and eggs, potatoes, onions & tomato (fresh still - last big one!) - the food tasted good! While I was doing that, the wind got up a bit and stayed up - I was glad I'd left the 2nd reef in the mains'l....

Watched my last sunset in the northern hemisphere for several months as I began eating - next one will be next year as I head north from New Zealand - April next year, perhaps.

As I write this, our position is 01d 05'N, 118d 24'W - so we're just 65 miles north of the Equator. We picked up the Equatorial current around midday today. It's W-going here, so will take our course further W of S while it lasts and may help boost our SOG. Wind is from SE at around 14 kt, gusting to 16-18 kt or so, occasionally - the SE Trades! We're heeling somewhat and occasionally a wave sweeps the decks, but we're making good speed - 6.4 knots and more, unless we've been slowed by a wave hitting.

I'd hoped to have our usual Equator-crossing party in daylight - but with the good speed we're making now, it looks as though we'll cross over 'the line' to the South in darkness or around first light, just before dawn tomorrow... Could be good if not much cloud around - moon should still up as sun rises. We'll postpone celebrations to later in the day. Must decide what to offer Poseidon/Neptune....

24hr DMG to this morning was 135 n.ml - much more respectable! Reflects the better conditions with good wind, no tacking and not too much swell to crash into too often to slow us down. We're going to be close-hauled a lot of the way south, it seems, so any good-sized oncoming swell can easily affect our daily runs....

Interesting comment from Bob McD: "BTW you've now left behind the meteorological equator where the warmest ocean is located. La Nina is making the sea about and just south of the equator cooler that normal ."... So I looked back in my logbook, to coming N earlier this year: Sea was 30.2C on 28th June at 00 54'N, 155 00W. On 27Oct last year, as crossed Equator (at 028W) headed south in S.Atlantic, sea was 31C.... Here & now: at 00 52N 118 28W, sea is only 25.3C - that's way down!!

Saturday 27th November 2010 (Day 33) We're jumping for joy! Perseverance wins the day!!

10am - darker grey clouds overcast were left behind... sunshine & scattered light cloud now. Getting a definite half knot 'push' to the S from current heading SE at present (& for some time overnight). Wind from 175T, COG 200T. Making quite good speed (~5.5kt) closehauled, in 14 knots of breeze.

Trying to figure out how to overcome 'instruments / A.P. ' always on .. Switch at chart table operates a relay which in turn switches on Raymarine instruments & also the autopilot circuit. At present, whether chart table switch is 'on' or 'off' is irrelevant - they're always on... because relay has been welded into 'closed circuit' mode. my Raymarine contact told me... So AP and instruments are being powered up no matter what I do at chart table ... So question I'm pondering is whether I can put a simple switch somewhere in the circuit to switch off power to instruments/A.P. when on radio, to stop interference as I used to be able to do from the chart table... Need to test things out by disconnecting wires in one or two places to see what's possible! Have to remove power to AP anyway while I connect up the new rudder reference unit... (but I can do that easily at the course computer).l

Midday - YIPPEEEEEE!! Problem has resolved itself! I disconnected and re-connected power lead to the relay several times - to see effect on radio noise - and switched chart table instrument switch from time to time also ..... and suddenly - instruments responded to switch.... The relay must have got re-set (or something has definitely happened!) with my powering on & off so many times ... so we're back in business again now... Perseverance (and lateral thinking!) wins the day!!!

I'm dancing for joy here! Will now get to rudder reference unit and connect it up.... Can't do any harm ... Can check AP settings with Raymarine UK as and when (Monday, probably), but will see how it behaves in relatively calm weather in the meantime.

Sailing well here, although occasionally lurching from time to time as wave hits. Wind is mainly 12-15 knots, S-SSE now - so we're gradually making a better course as we get into SE Trades.

The other good news is I've oodles of battery power! Showing 13-14V over a lot of the day, despite fridge on most of the time, radio use (for emails as well as voice) and frequent inverter use for computer. With plenty of both sun and wind power, and without AP use to take battery power, the batteries have never been so well charged when underway before! I've not needed to run the small diesel generator since Wednesday!

5pm - Grey skies clearing dead ahead, rainclouds mainly astern and abeam now. (But skies overcast again soon after)

Have connected up new rudder reference unit to course computer and tidied up wires. Rudder alignment value adjusted with wheel centred (placed mark on wheel recently when on the hard in Port Townsend. Looking through the many calibration settings, several look to be out, so will wait to Monday for discussion with Raymarine UK before starting up AP - it's all 'ready to go' now, but windsteering (Fred) is doing a good job in the steady conditions and no storms expected now, as we approach the Equator, so no immediate urgency.

I tried to send photo of the message received from the 'Darya Lakshmi' after our close encounter on Thursday night - but no joy. Will have to work on that - occasional posting of photos, however degraded they must be in order to email them, would be fun.

Message on my AIS screen came up as follows:

"Message Received from Vessel:

DARYA LAKSHMI

FRM EVERY 1 WISH U AL THE BEST.U
REACH HOME SAFE N SOUND."

Nice, friendly people!

24hr DMG was reasonable, at 102 n.ml., but we'd only been ambling along at around 5 knots while I worked on boat jobs, so not a record-breaker! at noon UTC, Galapagos islands were 1560 ml. away, on bearing of 098T snd Tehuantepec 1500 ml to ENE. Equator 275 n.ml to our south...

This is a test of sending photos with my log report. This photo shows the AIS DSC message received two nights ago from the friendly crew of the 'Darya Lakshmi'!

Friday 26th November 2010 (Day 32)

Had a great radio session Thursday afternoon, at 2.30pm PST on 14305 kHz, with lots of 'Happy Thanksgiving' and other exchanges with people as far apart as Ontario in Canada and the Baja in Mexico - all very enjoyable! Followed it up later with fresh smoked salmon steak for dinner, followed by some of Barbara's (VE7KLU) 'wine jelly' with cream cheese on crackers.

We've had to put in several tacks to keep heading S. Lost the fair current that's been so helpful for making Easting over last few days.. Got very wet in rain overnight earlier - had to change clothes - I'm running two sets - but minimal items involved, these days! Fortunately, the last time I'd put my salopettes on - so when a wave 'dumped' on me, my lower parts stayed dry... but not, of course, my hair, unfortunately...

Crossed paths overnight with the 'Darya Lakshmi' , headed to Qingdao in China, (20 days' passage!) - no response on VHF until within 4 mls - just 15 mins away from passing within a mile of us - too close for comfort, with our course varying with the wind, as it was.... They had 'Nereida' on their AIS and said they'd keep well clear... We were very close-hauled in the black darkness and banging into quite big seas and 18t of S wind. Eventually spoke to very friendly First Officer who later sent me DSC messages of good wishes for my journey from all the crew and the Capt offered fresh provisions!! (I explained why I couldn't accept - but thanked him for his kind offer!) It all ended up as a very enjoyable encounter, but had me very worried initially, getting no response to my many VHF calls and feeling obliged to light up my sails with the deck light and add the lower navigation lights to my masthead tricolour. Too often in that situation, I have visions of someone fast asleep at the ship's bridge, or simply not keeping a good lookout! I was due to check in to the Pacific Seafarers Net at that time & they stood by to make sure all ended well.

With slightly calmer seas during the day, I was able to tidy up - a few things always manage to land on the cabin sole in bumpy conditions, such as we've had the last two days or so, and it's nice to get back to being 'shipshape'. It also meant I was able to get back to the autopilot repair. I've now finished running the new wire from the replacement rudder reference unit to the course computer and replaced the unit itself but I've not yet powered the unit up by connecting at the course computer - it was getting late and time for a meal. I'm in no rush since the wind steering is working fine and I should have storm-free conditions for quite a time yet... I also want to confirm with Raymarine UK that everything is fine before I power up - I don't want to damage my only spare unit so I'm being ultra-cautious!

DMG to Friday morning was just 64n.ml., rather than the well over 110 ml actually travelled - reflecting the tacks we've had to put in, due to the generally southerly wind.

We're almost equidistant from San Diego, the Galapagos Islands and the Gulf of Tehuantepec in Mexico!

Remember to check my 'Travels' page to see my track on a map... each red 'blob' shows my daily position at noon UTC ( 4am PST - my 'local' time!).

Wednesday/Thursday 24/25th November .... Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends!!

Thought we'd finished with the ITCZ and was looking ahead to calms ... but it dropped right on top of us again, soon after sunset on Tuesday night - and stayed overnight and all through yesterday and last night - total grey overcast, frequent heavy rain, with ESE-SE wind gusting up from 10-12 kt or less to around 20kt. But no obvious lightning, except faint static crashes heard over the radio. Finally took in 2nd reef with a stronger gust - no point in being overpowered if squally conditions were to continue and we made good speed until 9pm, well after a thoroughly grey, overcast sunset when, suddenly, the sky cleared, Jupiter & stars were clear to see - and the wind, at S 6-7kt, seemed to be dying. ........end of ITCZ?

Not really! Soon after 1am, I was awake for a useful satphone call from UK to discuss details of rudder reference unit's replacement in the autopilot system - conditions were fairly calm. Went back to sleep and was awoken around 3am by nearly being tipped out of my (windward) bunk as boat heeled with coming of heavy rain again and a strong S-SSW wind - to 20 kt or so..... I was pleased I'd left the 2nd reef in, but had to furl in some of the full genoa hurriedly! The strong wind continued and the swell got up so, being on a close reach, we began crashing into the waves quite often - and are continuing to do so. Our course is good, at ESE-SE, but we've lost the helpful E-going current of the last few days.

Unfortunately, with heeling as much as we have been in the present big S swell, I found I'd left the galley seacock open from last night when it was calm and I'd cleared up... Lots of water to dispose of and cleaning up to be done.... That's one way to make sure the galley area gets a clean, I suppose - but definitely not one I'd recommend!

It's too rough to continue with running of the wire from the new rudder sensor in the aft cabin and also too rough to play around behind the chart table instrument panel, trying to fix the external VHF speaker problem. Since it's Thanksgiving today, I'm joining my US friends in spirit - and taking a holiday from work... catching up on emails and writing up this log...! Will sort out a meal with chicken, in place of turkey... close! And I've some nice chocolate for dessert. The grey rainclouds have given way to white fluffy clouds and bright sunshine... so maybe that ITCZ really is behind us now!

A bird came and roosted overnight twice, but not last night. Sat preening itself yesterday morning for quite a time before taking off well after sunrise - I got some good photos - but can't see it in my birdbook. It's all dark with quite a fine pointed beak but has a very thin white rim to its eyes and a fine white line above its beak between & below its eyes.

Have been having very useful discussions with Raymarine UK on my AP problem - seems the drive is OK but the problem lies probably wih the rudder reference unit. Took me a lot of time searching and delving under bunks to locate the spare rudder reference unit yesterday. We're awaiting the outcome once I've replaced it.

I'm thinking about whether it's possible to put a simple on-off switch between the permanently closed relay, damaged when I fused the circuit, and chart table switch for the instruments & AP (now controlling nothing), or maybe get rid of the relay completely, to be able to turn off the instruments if I want to, since they give RF noise which often interferes with radio reception - another possible job added to the list - but not very high up! I'm also not clear as to whether that idea is practical or not - more thinking/discussion needed before I touch anything there! I'm also being very careful to switch off the multimeter every time it's not in use....!

With our frequent course changes/tacking of the last few days due to wind shifts, and the often low wind strength in between squalls, it's not too surprising that we only managed a 24-hr DMG of 82 n.ml to Thursday noon GMT (4am PST - early this morning) - but that's far better than the 44 n.ml.of the mainly calm day before!

Tuesday 23rd November 2010 - busy on AP all day long.... not much sailing in calm conditions - drifted with good E-going current!

(Last night, a bird - petrel? - finally managed to roost on solar panel overnight - after many attempts to land there, with swell making it difficult!)

1am conversation with Raymarine UK - plan of action on AP repair... back to sleep...

Up early to start work - tested drive unit from course computer - seems OK - confirmed actions correct with UK - more testing.. drive still looking good - but rudder reference unit now looking suspect. Managed to short across circuit while testing AP drive motor ...40A fuse blown - no spare...!

Went to use multimeter to check fuse - 'dead as a Dodo'...! Battery gone - no spare - I can't believe that with so many spare batteries on board, I omitted getting some flat 9V ones of type used in multimeter.... Fortunately, have spare multimeter, so eventually found it & used battery from that to replace in the other one which has continuity-testing 'beeper') - to have no multimeter available would be a disaster! (Had been trying to figure out how, in absence of flat 9V battery, I could use SIX ordinary 1.5V batteries, soldered together in a container somehow, to supply multi!!)

Used heatshrink butt joint to bypass fuse and join wires together - there's another 40A fuse in same circuit so protected still... Discovered instruments now permanently on - despite switch at chart table - seems I damaged relay in blowing circuit - but no big deal - not too important, except occasionally because of RF noise when using HF radio...

Wrapped course computer in Al foil before finally replacing it (for umpteenth time...!) and grounded wrapping to conveniently close by battery negative terminal - hoping to cut out RF noise from course computer to SSB/HF radio when AP drive motor working - we shall see how well that works out when drive system is fully repaired - tomorrow, hopefully, if I can find that rudder reference unit - it's on board somewhere...!

Tidied up in aft cabin, .... main cabin .... and forepeak...., after having emptied several areas for work, or to find items...!

Rainsquall mid-morning gave passing excitement for a time.... but otherwise it was fortunate in that we were basically either becalmed or sailing gently along in small swell, so work on AP wan't made too difficult. Had to stop late afternoon with big grey rainclouds close by - we managed to skirt along the edge of them for quite a time around sunset, with me handsteering to make sure we didn't head into some nasty-looking grey-black squalls. Some lightning around - but none too close to worry about!

Paul at Raymarine UK has been excellent - very helpful, as always. He knows the system inside out, so no problem sorting out actions I needed to take to resolve my problem. I'm hoping that by tomorrow evening, all will be working fine... Just need to replace rudder reference unit & check through system settings with him .... and that should be that... Will be nice to have a reliable AP working again! Fred, my Hydrovane windsteering helper, uses no battery power, of course, and is excellent a lot of the time, especially in light conditions, even dead downwind if no big swell, but gets easily overpowered in strong gusts and if we're over-canvassed (as all windsteering systems do) - so life has become a mite difficult at times, of late...fortunately, we've not had too many strong ITCZ squalls - most unusual, that!!

We're still trying to make Easting, with a helpful E-going current quite strong at times. Should get to SE Trades fairly soon, but likely to need to get through a band of southerlies first.

No big mileages being racked up just now (marginally under 100 n.ml. to this morning and very small distance today in calms a lot of the time) - and forecast is for continuing light winds for several days - rainsqualls apart! At least the calm conditions mean it's that much easier to do jobs on board - I still want to sort out the external VHF speaker - hoping for a good outcome there, too, after receiving emailed Navico UK help the other day.

Managed to dry my washing in sunshine while working this morning. Didn't get breakfast or lunch - too busy - so enjoyed a prawn pasta tonight all the more!

More tomorrow.....

Monday 22nd November 2010

Writing this as we sail S under clear sky with bright, just-gone-full moon, long line of clouds astern, clear sky ahead.... Maybe, .... maybe, that's the ITCZ finished with??!

We've been heading E-SE over the last day or so, insofaras the wind has allowed, since finding the 'gap' in the ITCZ (around 10N, 120W) to slip through without too much drama... Think we've been quite lucky in that it's a 'La Nina' year, so the convection has been far less than in other years.... and my timing was fortunate - lightning clouds have appeared where I just passed by, I hear!

I'm still trying to get as much Easting as possible, to be set up better for the SE Trades. Making good use of an E-going current which should be with us down to near 7N or beyond.

We've had a few excitements with rainsqualls overnight and this morning, but nothing too major.....

Midday: " Sun getting out, after I was drenched (2nd shower in two days!) by latest big raincloud, with accompanying frantic winching in of genoa in the increased wind. Fairly clear sky..... but high, light grey, clouds ahead - so not finished with rain and gusts just yet...!"

2.30pm: " It's just possible we may be out of harm's way - just downloaded satpic of region - and all active convection seems to be well away from our path - big lumps to the Nand E and a few smaller ones to our W. Still some big clouds around, towering high up - but they're white or light grey, not dk grey/black!! Ahead it's looking reasonably clear now.... 24 hr forecast shows ITCZ axis along 8-9N which puts it still well S of here - but sky looking clear that way, just now... so shook out 2nd reef."

Of course, it was well after that last log entry that we encountered an area of heavy cloud and rain... I'd come up on deck in the middle of dealing with my laundry which had been sitting overnight in detergent in a big bucket in the cockpit - well and truly clean by now, I hoped... I'd prodded and pushed it every time I was close by and it was now finally dealt with and hung up to dry (i.e. drip!). It will dry for sure tomorrow, if sunny - but the wind will dry it quickly anyway - air temp is 29C! (And sea temp is 31C) I noticed a line of dark grey raincloud on the horizon ahead, with heavy rain falling in one area well off to starb'd, but thought that, with any luck, we'd just skim the end of the line of cloud and certainly not get anywhere near the rain I could see falling.... I adjusted windvane (Fred) to get as close-hauled as we could without losing too much speed...

The cloud was some distance away, so I got on with cooking my evening meal (I've been rather remiss of late - no proper meal yesterday...). As it was almost ready, I thought I'd better check on deck - line of cloud was close ahead, darker grey - and we were definitely NOT going to skirt the edge of it - but head directly into it .... Not the time to be starting a meal!! I stood in the companionway, watching our progress, ready for quick action....

The narrow line of very low, dark cloud (by now the sun had set) seemed somehow menacing and stretched right across our path, as far as I could see in either direction. The wind didn't increase unduly, so no action was required of me.... but it felt really weird as we slowly passed beneath this 'bridge' of black cloud... a few short but heavy showers.... we seemed to take forever... a low band of blackness, blotting out the sky.... Eventually, we cleared it and headed for the cloudless skies beyond.... Stars, ... a path of bright moonlight leading across the sea to the boat, .... bright Saturn high above... gentle sailing.., but headed now almost due S, with the wind having veered as we passed through ... Was this the axis of the ITCZ? It was certainly in the exact right place!!

Had 2 satphone calls this morning - but no connection - so still no Raymarine UK direct voice contact yet, although further emailed suggestion on testing drive with alternative 12V power input at course computer cable ends... when calm enough!

Quite tired, so ready for sleep, now we're sailing in calm conditions... Have been up since 4am (for noonUTC position report), waiting for call, dealing with squalls ..... and trying to catch up with overdue emails & downloading, and studying, weather info in between. Had an email from Tim at Navico UK making helpful suggestions on problem with external speaker to VHF....On tomorrow's joblist, if it's calm enough.

A little bird came flying towards us just before a heavy rainsquall hit ... looked as though it was trying to land, to take a rest - but gave up with movement of the boat in the swell. Looked just like a sparrow! So far from land... poor thing!

We're 4 weeks into our passage - but, between calms and storms and beating into the wind (and swell), have only made about 2730 n.ml (calculated from daily DMG) - that's pretty poor!! Hopefully, once we're away from the calms expected in the next week or so, things will improve. (Today's 24hr DMG was 117 n.ml.)

Nearest land is the atoll of Clipperton Island - 575 n.ml. away on a bearing of 079T. Cabo Corrientes is 1040 n.ml. to the NE and Cabo San Lucas is 1005 n.ml. on a bearing of 030T. Hawaii is 2210 n.ml. to the WNW. The Galapagos are 1705 n.ml. to the ESE. Nearest point in S. Ameria is Ecuador - 2335 n.ml., on bearing 103T.

Sunday 21st Nov 2010 - wind shifts to E-ENE and we head SE-ESE

A bird roosted on the solar panel overnight.. but had left by first light. Still seeing an occasional storm petrel darting over the waves and a soaring, graceful, blue-grey and white prion nearby.

Thought we were into SE Trades - but not yet!! Our track is a zig-zag from effect of tropical Low remnant and trough we passed through yesterday and overnight. We actually were struggling to head East late in the night with a SSE wind, so before getting to sleep, after posting position report at 5am, we tacked around - and made a far better speed and course, heading SSW. When I woke up 4 hrs later, we were heading nicely SSE with the wind having shifted to E - being under wind steering has definite advantages in that situation - I hadn't needed to do anything...! We've continued to head SE-ESE over the day - making good Easting, ready for the SE Trades when we reach them. But South winds are expected ahead before that.

A relaxing day ... very warm & humid this afternoon: sea 30C, air 29C, humidity 73%. I'd treated myself to a fresh grapefruit with breakfast in the cockpit and later enjoyed a fresh tomato with some of Port Townsend Creamery's cheese for lunch.

It was so warm & sunny, I decided to do laundry in the cockpit using an enormous "Spanish fishermen's bucket", the idea being that if the water spills, it will simply go down the cockpit drain...safer than doing it down below! I stripped off, added my clothes Into the washing in the bucket to soak in detergent and had a lovely shower - I feel great!

Forecast just received ... typical of ones of late: " INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE...09N84W TO 07N106W TO 10N122W..... NO SIGNIFICANT CONVECTION.'
Since we're presently at roughly 10N 120W, we're clearly very close to the ITCZ axis .... but all I'm seeing so far are fairly average rainclouds - nothing too dramatic.. According to the satellite picture of the clouds in the Pacific that I just downloaded, it looks as though the strong convection is now to the N and W of us.

LATER:...... Oh well, I was clearly tempting Fate with that statement! At 7.15pm, I was just noting down our position and other details ready for the Pacific Seafarers Net when I realized we were heeling rather a lot - the wind had got up.... I could hear rain... We were upwind of a large raincloud close by - and getting its strong wind effect. We'd accelerated & were making excellent speed -but heeling rather too much... time to start furling in the full genoa. Well, it's great to see your speed up at 7.6 kts or so ... but not so good when the furling line gets jammed in the winch self-tailer, so you can't furl in when you need to...!!

I'd been a bit careless and hadn't donned my headlamp as I normally do at night when going up on deck to trim the sails... the moon was so bright... Fortunately, we survived unscathed, bar the heeling and a flapping genoa for a time... and came away from the cloud & into clearer sky .... calmer but still with good wind. I was able to sort out the jam with the aid of the other winches close by.... no rolling hitch needed this time .. In the dark, I'd thought the line had left the 'jaw' of the self-tailer - and had wrapped it around a second time.... wondered why it was so difficult to winch in.... I should have stopped sooner to investigate... when winches get unexpectedly difficult to turn, there's usually a good reason...!

Our 24 hr DMG to this morning was just 81 miles - if you could see our convoluted, zig-zagging track, you'd understand why!

We're 640 n.ml W of the small atoll of Clipperton Island - a French possession, 2100 n.ml. ESE of Hawaii, 1840 n.ml.WNW of the Galapagos Islands and 1030 n.ml SW of Cabo Corrientes in Mexico.

Saturday 20th November 2010 (Day 26)

(I'm way behind on answering emails - apologies if I'm keeping you waiting for a reply - Sunday hopefully!)

Wind stayed mainly NE 14-16 kt overnight and a lot of the day, occasionally backing to NNE 20kt under a large cloud. Foul current from mid-afternoon to early morning, making us lose speed of half to one knot.

By 8.30am, the mainly clear sky was dominated by big mass of dark, threatening cloud in th E - wind suddenly gusted up to 20kt or more.... windsteering ('Fred'!) had a problem .... we kept rounding up, picking up speed and heading directly to the cloud mass... Tried to use AP to head us off wind ... couldn't cope in strong wind ... 'Drive stopped' msg kept coming up... switched off, then on, & AP ended up coping OK.... or was it Fred steering us? Anyway, all calmed down for a bit.... wind down to 15 kt. Unfurled genoa I'd just furled in a touch.... sky looked fairly clear ahead. Down for b'fast and to check in to friendly 'Chubasco' Net.

A shoal of small flying fish leapt out of sea & all flew together a short distance... several times.... clearly being chased! A graceful, handsome prion, with black cap down to around eyes, later joined by two more, was soaring near the boat & kept us company on & off a lot of the day, as did 3-4 white-rumped, small, dark, storm petrels.

10am ...Another backing of increased wind to NNE, ... the unfurled genoa was taken in again.... Decided best to leave it! Swell has increased so we're rolling around a lot in beam seas.

10.30am.... Another stronger backing of wind to NNE 20kt... we headed up... neither Fred nor AP coping... In fact, AP seemed hardly to move wheel at all... Had to handsteer for quite a time, 2nd mains'l reef taken in.... Finally, left Fred coping fine & went down to finish clearing up in galley - & to try to get that breakfast finally! A lot of grey cloud around now.... but still birds keeping us company.

Downloaded several weatherfaxes and a satellite picture of the area - showed we were clearly catching the edge of a mass of cloud (remnant of a tropical Low stationary at around 10N, 110W) and crossing a trough - pressure had dropped to 1010 hPa. By 3.15pm, there was a long line of grey rolling cloud stretched across ahead of us from E to W - no avoiding it! Fine, misty rain... Then... dolphins!! First I'd seen so far on this passage - always lovely to see but they didn't stay long. Sailing gently now, but in increased 3m seas, so rolling around quite a bit.

Tried to check in with US MM Net on 14300 at 3.20pm- impossible! Some kind of 'ham' radio contest - lots of people trying to contact each other...! Also on 14305 - so no sociable chat session possible today.

When I turned instruments back on after radio use .... we were headed W! We'd clearly passed through the trough shown on the weather maps earlier - and the wind was now from the S!! I tacked around to head E - there might be a helpful current, at least, in that direction.... but not so... We were close-hauled, banging into a confused 2-3m swell at 4knots, headed due E initially with the rain having cleared, still a grey sky but with patchs of blue..

We kept on that heading for quite a time (while I cooked some steak and onions, in fact!), to see how the wind settled down - but after finding us headed consistently NNE at 3.5kt, I decided enough was enough - we tacked around soon after nightfall and made a far better course and speed - 5knots on 200T in a SSE 12 kt wind.... We were still north of 11N, and yet were clearly out of the NE Trades and seemed to have found the beginning of the SE Trades already.

The sky had cleared to just a few wispy clouds and a bright, near-full moon.... We were gently sailing in a 2m SE swell...

DMG to this morning was 111 ml - reflecting the variable conditions met with frequent backing of wind under clouds and a lot of downwind sailing.

We're 2000 mls W of Honduras/Nicaragua in Central America now and soon to pass about 700 miles W of Clipperton Island (a French possession!)

Friday 19th November 2010

Sky cleared completely early in morning ... not a cloud to be seen... Ambling along in 9-10 knots of wind from NE with very little swell ... All very relaxing, once I'd shaken out the mains'l reefs.

Red-footed booby came by, circling the boat, ... and a white-rumped storm petrel, skitting low over the small waves.... and I found our first small flying fish on deck this morning - the first of this passage, along with a few squid that landed on deck last week.

Checked steering quadrant movement to see if cables too stiff - seems fine... Checked power connections to motor - look good and secure. Spent some time wrapping course computer in sluminium foil...

Checked in to Chubasco Net earlier - and later to Manana Net for a chat, while awaiting for call from Raymarine UK on satphone to try to sort out AP problem.. All very sociable - especially my own session later in the afternoon, on 14305kHz....

By midday, all reefs were shaken out .... wind was mainly just abaft the beam at NE 10kt, occasionally higher ... later backed frequently to NNE which meant we were broad reaching. Some scattered cloud ... bright sunshine .... making 4.5-5 kt.

Sunset - and all cloud disappeared soon after (to reappear later) - so there was lovely moonshine and a warm, starry evening. I made sure my mug of tea didn't spill tonight! Increased wind for a time but didn't last long - meant we made around 6.5 kt boat speed for a while but a definite foul current an hour later meant only 5.5 kt SOG.

24hr distance to this morning: 136 n.ml - result of speeds over 6 knots over a long period yesterday. We're nearly 2000 miles due W of El Salvador, S of Guatemala.

Lovely and warm - bare arms and legs....! Finally put fleeces and long underwear away for the duration... Thinking of doing some laundry while I'm in a sunny, warm climate!

ITCZ still looking almost non-existent dead ahead - there's the remnant of a tropical Low nearby at 110W. It seems to be stationary and dissipating - but has given slightly more northerly winds, and possibly stronger ones, than we might have had otherwise.

Thursday 18th November 2010

Started writing this as sun went down in a blaze of fiery red. Couldn't actually see the sun setting, just the colour reflected in a low cloud layer in the W.... glorious .... and, to complement it, in the East, a silvery, bright moon, in a still-blue sky...

It's been a great sailing day in not much swell. Wind has been from E overnight, swinging to NE before dawn and then back to E by mid-afternoon - so regular adjustments of windsteering vane needed. Wind strength was down last night to 9kt, got up to 16kt mid-morning but has generally been a nice 12-14 kt over day and into this evening. So for most of the day, we've made 6kt or more (under double-reefed mains'l still, to be ready for occasional gusts, but with stays'l and genoa)

I was busy from before dawn to mid-morning, with a short break for some more sleep, trying to deal with AP problem - emails back & forth between 'Nereida' and Raymarine UK.... adjusting settings.... trying system out... getting frequent 'drive stopped' msgs.. which often self-cured but not always - in which case, going into 'standby' and then 'auto' worked fine. Tried out 'track' mode to waypoint ... mostly OK but often not... began to get the impression that problem might be a mechanical fault, since drive usually stopped in exact same position each time... But felt more relaxed since AP was mainly coping fine and conditions have been calm and pleasant... Still working on it!

Checked into 'Manana Net' at 1045 and had quick chat with Randy, KH6RC, and Tom, WA6TLL, while starting late breakfast before more sleep, having put us back with Fred, my windsteering 'partner', to ensure no beeping alarms would wake me up... ... Tired!

Woke up refreshed .... and then enjoyed some time on deck. Quick check-in to US MMNet before starting my daily session on 14305 kHz at 3.30pm (PST). Had an enjoyable chat with Steve, and later Meredith, having a gentle sail south down the Baja towards Bahia Santa Maria on 'Silas Crosby'. They come up regularly and are good radio company! Also chatted to George, WA6RIK, and several others who came on frequency, among them several newcomers who were looking for signal checks. All very pleasant... lasted until 4.10pm!

Was looking forward to enjoying a big mug of tea which I'd made ready for my 'sunset watch' - came down to start drinking it - a (rare) big wave had passed by & knocked the mug over on the gimballed stove top - no tea left ...all spilled... grrr!! I'm needing to drink lots of water now - air temp is up to 27C in the middle of the day and sea temp has reached 29C.... and expected to go slightly higher.

We're about 1500-1600 due W of the Gulf of Tehuantepec - which is about to get one of its notorious 50-60kt gales come by over next day or so..... Not a time to be crossing its shallow waters!!

Being a 'la Nina' year, the ITCZ, which we're heading to, isn't as bad as usual. It's around 10N, so hopefully we should be through by Sunday ... Of course, then there's the S. Pacific Convergence Zone - I found that to be the worst one, with enormous clouds and big squalls, when I was coming north this year in June/July.... Will have to keep fingers crossed this time...!

24hr DMG to Thursday morning: 120 ml .... I'm hoping today's distance will be better, with so much of day at around 6 kt. or more.

Remember to check my 'Travels' page to see my track on a map... each red 'blob' shows my daily position at noon UTC (local 4am!).

Wednesday 17th November 2010

Reply from Raymarine was waiting for me early this morning - how to test motor using wires in to course computer.... We were happily sailing along just then under windsteering, so no immediate rush to do that. I took my time looking at a slight change of course towards ITCZ (trying to avoid active areas) when I must have inadvertently keyed an 'Auto' response - and heard the AP starting up!! Great sound...! Went on deck to try it out, and it seemed to be working - maybe differently but, I thought, OK. Sent email with news, asking if anything I should do to test it - got immediate reply from my Raymarine contact with lots of suggestions and a few more questions ...

Got out manuals to sort out my answers and actions needed (re-setting of some calibration items was suggested so I needed to remind myself how to do that).... Finally made changes, taking opportunity to re-calibrate log - it has been way under-reading since just after leaving Victoria - must have caught some gunge or maybe has growth on it, so I used SOG to set boat speed - don't think there's much current around just now. Also sat on deck with some thin spectra line & tied down the shackle on the stays'l foot to the furling gear.... I'd put two extra shackles there when I'd found the foot of the stays'l flying loose on tacking a couple of times, soon after leaving Victoria , but the genoa sheet often caught on them, getting tangled, so I'd been meaning to change things there for a time.

I stayed with wind steering to conserve battery power and eventually got to have breakfast at 1.30pm, thinking things were going pretty well, with wind having slowly increased to near 10 knots and 'Nereida' making a fair speed ..... I'd had to tie in 1st reef by then, with gusty wind making us round up under full canvas, but unfurled the stays'l to compensate - we were on a beam reach in E wind.

Then, this afternoon, I had an absolute nightmare, after chatting on usual radio 'sked' and feeling wind getting up as I finished. A BIG mass of grey, threatening cloud was off to port and giving strong wind... I put on the autopilot to head us away, with wind steering getting overpowered, thinking all now fine - but the boat started behaving crazily - violently swerving first one way & then t'other... Unbelievable...! It kept heading us up, directly for the cloud I was trying to avoid, so I kept having to take the wheel to head us off the wind...... Needed to tie in 2nd reef ... which I finally managed .... Handsteered for quite a bit then we were able to get back onto wind steering with cloud left astern and wind down a touch....

Went down below, feeling pretty low & thinking I might have to abandon RTW effort if AP so useless since I needed to be able to rely on it in times of crisis.... I went to put back the system's course computer I'd got out yesterday in order to look at wiring connections to motor. In replacing it, I noticed big sign on cover saying to mount it vertically ..... It then occurred to me - it has a gyro inside!..... no wonder it went mad!.... it was on its back instead of upright - so couldn't get directions sorted sensibly ... It'd had a major headache!! I was so relieved..... I was sure that was the problem ..... Came up & tested out when wind had calmed down a touch .... AP worked beautifully......! Better than before, in fact, with its new settings.... I felt so much better - but exhausted. Had some food and lots of water.... and got to sleep early... emails could wait...!

The cloud cover was light but about 90% for most of the day, but after that incident, late in the day, there was a gap ahead of clear sky between the big grey clouds. .. and the sky was totally clear overhead, come nightfall.

24hr DMG this morning was 97 n.ml - not very good, due to light, fickle winds earlier yesterday. We're about 1200 miles due W of coast where 'Nereida I' now lies buried in sand near Tenexpa, midway between Acapulco & Zihuatanejo in Mexico.... painful memories.

Monday 15th November

3 weeks into passage... And just as slow as very soon after I started - almost NO Wind ... at 4am this morning, 3-5 knots of wind from N-ENE, boatspeed around 1-2 knots!

9.30am Wind still only 4 knots, anywhere from roughly N to NE and so that makes it very difficult to keep the boat pointing in the right direction on a broad reach, trying to head S-SSE when only making speed of 1.0 knot!...

Solar input is up to 8-11A with the sun trying to get out from a rather overcast sky - that's good!

Just finished checking in to and listening to the 'chit-chat' on several Nets... Interesting how so many people in the USA and Canada, many on land, not just cruisers on boats, keep in contact daily by taking part in radio Nets, or simply use Ham radio to keep in regular contact with each other. I think it has to be due to the big distances so often separating people in the two countries - it's so much more popular than in Europe, where distances are so much less. Being at sea, a good distance from land, it gives me a chance to 'meet' new people, discuss problems and chat 'live' in a relaxed way, without it costing an arm and a leg, as satphone calls would do....

About to see if I can find out what the problem is with my ship's VHF radio - confirmed yesterday as not transmitting. (That's after I've finished downloading
some weatherfaxes). Means getting (with difficulty!) to behind the instrument panel yet again..... grrr! At least it's fairly calm at present. Maybe I'll be able to see why my SSB radio has lost its GPS input while I'm back there..... and have another go at fixing the lost connection between the same VHF radio and the AIS unit... I'm always amused when people are surprised at me saying I normally don't have time to read many novels while underway... there's invariably something to fix! (And getting&studying weather info, replying to emails and writing up my daily log also takes a lot of time - not to mention the small matter of keeping the boat sailing on course as efficiently as I can, in the varying wind conditions!)

Evening: Good news! The VHF radio connections are back together again, hopefully correctly! It took me ages searching through lots of folders in the aft cabin for the manual (which eventually turned out to have been neatly stowed beside the chart table in a sensible place I'd forgotten about), only to find it of not much help. My problem was that there were two possible pairs of connectors in the VHF control unit which could take the pair of red/black bare-ended wires I'd found immediately on opening up behind the instrument panel at the chart table. But on the basis of elimination, and knowing that if I did get things badly wrong, I had a spare handset, I made my choice.

Problem then was not knowing how to fix the two wires firmly in place.... I had no idea how to do it, never having played with these particular radio connections before...but fortunately, with access being so difficult, I decided to remove the connector block to get a good look at it - lo and behold, the wires were held in place by metal pieces tightened by tiny screws I'd not been able to see before - I had thought the wires were somehow gripped in the small holders by springy metal - this was much simpler! So that was finally dealt with and the wires tidied up.

"In for a penny, in for a pound" ... I delved deeper and removed the Pactor modem and HF/SSB radio front to see if I could restore the missing GPS input to the radio - another loose connection dealt with ... YES - success! Lat/long/UTC - all displayed again... I felt I deserved the dark chocolate I rewarded myself with later, after my meal!!

As I was writing this, it was all action - I had to go on deck to adjust the sails, which were flapping - the wind had veered a lot so it was now for'd of the beam and had strengthened nicely... .... Genoa off pole, sheeted in hard to leeward and mains'l also sheeted in hard! We were doing well for a bit - before the wind died and backed yet again... It's varied so much over today.

The only other thing of note was the lengthy radio session I had with contacts on 14305 at 2330 UTC. I had enjoyable chats with Canadian cruisers on 'Silas
Crosby' and 'Kasala' from their separate anchorages on the Baja and then several other people from all over the USA (from Florida to Washington to a mountain top near San Diego) came on to frequency to chat briefly also. Later, after I'd checked in wih the Pacific Seafarers Net as usual, Tom, WA6TLL, 'patched me in' - to make a phone call to a friend over the radio, using his landline - a 'first' for me!! It worked quite well, although both they and I were fading in and out at times.

Now 960 n.ml. due W of Cabo Corrientes, which is just S of Puerto Vallarta on the Mexican mainland. Made just 71 n.ml. over the 24hrs yesterday to this morning.... and we're now 57 miles from this morning's position. At our present speed of 1.3 knots for the next four and a half hours, that should give us the grand total of 63 n.ml. .....! (The wind just increased again - to 9-10 knots, so we were making 5 knots at one point - wow! But it didn't last long....!)

Sunday 14th November

Relaxing in sunshine today, coasting along in gentle swell, making 4.5kt occasionally, mostly 3.2-3.8 kt... in 7-8 kt of wind. Plenty of solar power getting in to the batteries....

Checked in to the Baja Net and was pleased to make several contacts.

Played music... and sang along to the Gypsy Kings' "El Mariachi Desperado" & the ballads of Juan Luis Cobo (from Zihuatanejo) - both highly appropriate when passing the coast of Mexico, as I am! Also Gordon Lightfoot, Jimmy Buffet, Pink Martini, Josh Groban, ... and other favourites. (It's good having my iPod connected to the radio speakers. I have two iPods - one for light music and one for classical.) I sat in the cockpit barefoot, feeling thoroughly lazy, with a mug of fresh coffee... It felt like a proper Sunday! One of the songs that came up was "You've Got to Have a Dream" (from 'S. Pacific')... absolutely!

Had to pole out the genoa overnight with the wind backing more into the north and we're virtually dead downwind now, but Fred, the Hydrovane, is coping fine... 7-8 kt of wind, SOG 3.2-3.8 kt, occasionally 4.3 kt! At this rate, the ITCZ is well over a week away... our daily runs are unlikely even to get up to 100 ml a day at this speed. I'm often needing to adjust our course with the wind continually swinging about.

Finally got out the electric drill & did a couple of small but important jobs I'd been wanting to do, ready for rough/bad weather coming up again in the weeks ahead - I put up another hook in the head, ready to take wet jackets etc. And I added a fixture to hold the top of my chart table seat leecloth in place - ready for being heeled well over to port in rougher weather. (Another 'fix' that hadn't been made strongly enough - as it turned out on this trip.) The canvas has been forever slipping down, so becoming useless to hold me in place.

At 2pm, I suddenly noticed a ship clearly visible on the horizon well astern of us - no collision danger, so no AIS alarm had gone off. I called the 'NYK Laura' several times on my VHF - no answer, so I used my handheld to call - I was answered... I asked if they'd mind me doing a radio check on the VHF - we tried Ch 06 which we'd just switched to and also Ch 16. Each time they heard me on the handheld but not on the ship's main VHF radio - as I'd suspected from my encounter with the tug and fuel barge the other night. So that's another item to add to the ongoing joblist.... A good thing the handheld is convenient, in its holder and always charged.

Wind has died right down this evening and keeps varying in direction - to just 5-6 knots, anywhere from NNE - ENE, boatspeed down to 2.2 knots regularly...

We're 920 n.ml. W of Islas Marias, off the Mexican coast - the largest of the islands has a prison and the warning is not to get too close on passing by on the coastal route south... and to ignore anyone seen swimming in the waters thereabouts...!!

24hr run to this morning's (noon UTC) position: 127 n.ml. ... tomorrow's will be a lot less!

Saturday 13th November

Another day in sailing Paradise!! ....Such a beautiful day!... Wind slowly dying down from the 20 knots or so we had around tea-time yesterday afternoon to 15 knots overnight and to just 11-12 knots by lunchtime today, mostly NE - the NE Trades (except we're now on the edge of them). With full canvas, including stays'l, we were making around 5-6 knots but by soon after sunset, only 4-5 knots, with wind backed a bit & down to 10-11 kt. Stays'l furled away since on more of a broad reach. No more surfing at the 7-8 knots of earlier and yesterday - the seas have also lain down. In fact, everything is becoming very smooth and very calm.

I went to pull in the mainsheet this afternoon and somehow the line over-rode on the winch....& not just a little bit - this was major! I'd had my eyes on the sail, to see how far I was sheeting it in and didn't notice that anything was wrong until I'd finished.... so the winch had about about eight turns tightly tangled up over each other around the drum.... The only way I could undo the tangle, since the line from winch to jammer was bar taut, was to use another line (I soon discovered it had to be a much finer one) to tie a rolling hitch near the jammer onto the mainsheet and then use another winch to take the load on that line to release the load on the tangled mess, giving myself a bit more mainsheet in the process, to help sort things out. Amazing how such a simple knot can be so important to know about - I'd never have got the line untangled any other way, short of cutting.

I found two tiny squid on deck this morning. I'd found another, a couple of days ago, but so far no flying fish... LATER: Just found two more squid which had been overlooked - calamari rings tonight, for sure!

Because I was up anyway from before sunrise this morning, I did the rounds of the several morning radio Nets I'd been told about.... all of them, just to see what they were about! The Chubasco Net was the busiest - but not with many boaters - mainly land-based people who clearly did this regularly. (All Nets tend to have a 'core' of users who know each other well.) But it did put me in contact with another boater from B.C., whom I'd been told to keep an ear out for, as being down somewhere in the Baja (Mexico). Steve, John and Meredith, on the 'Silas Crosby', are slowly heading S, to spend the southern winter in Chile. We might manage to stay in contact for a bit, but possibly not for long, with distance between us increasing rapidly. Interestingly, I also made contact with Bill, VE7WSM, on 40m, despite our distance apart, for which 20m would be expected to work best - but time of day also makes a big difference.

We're now 725 ml W of the southern tip of the Baja and Cabo San Lucas, at 23N, 123W. The moon is bright, in between a few clouds, and we're coasting gently along - no prizes for speed or 24 hr distance today, but it's very relaxed and pleasant! (We had a good 24hr run yesterday - 146 n.ml, close to the 147 n.ml. of the day before.) I thought about poling out the genoa again, but the wind angle is just not quite right. So long as we're roughly headed S, that's fine. Don Anderson was on the Southbound Net tonight, as usual, and made the comment that, being a 'La Nina' year, the ITCZ isn't something to worry about - that's good news!

I'm off to fry my calamari rings as a starter.....

Friday 12th November 2010

Another lovely day's sailing in settled weather - the kind of sailing everyone dreams about! Good wind, sunshine, small, fluffy, lined-up,'Trade wind' clouds - turning pinky-grey against a vivid blue sky as the sun began to set. Surfing downwind again, as occasional bigger swell came along - but not quite so much as yesterday since swell size down somewhat.

Under poled-out genoa for most of day until genoa was taken off pole and brought over to starboard just before sunset - the wind had veered enough to bring us closer to a beam reach so the genoa was being backed occasionally. I left the pole in place, ready for expected use again over the next few days - we're likely to be on port tack for quite a time.

I spent quite a time both over the day and this evening, simply standing in the companionway, gazing around, relaxing and enjoying the view - it felt so very good - sailing in the sunshine of daytime or under the stars and moonshine (nearly half moon tonight) of this evening.

This afternoon, I checked in as usual around 3pm PST with the US Maritime Mobile Net on 14.300 MHz. The Net Control couldn't copy me too well, so Art, K7WAH, acted as relay, as he often has. The other station who has relayed several times is Rex, KC5AGO. The Net is open 24 hrs a day and can be contacted at any time - there's always someone listening out, willing to help in an emergency, on either the Atlantic or Pacific side. At 3.30pm PST, I went to 14.305 MHz for a 'Nereida' Net - suggested by Dave, KF7HDA, of the Great Northern Boaters Net, so that I could chat to anyone who wanted to contact me. In fact, several people came on frequency and the discussion ended up being centred on radio noise. I'd hoped to have resolved all my RF noise problems with major radio re-wiring and use of ferrites, and with a noise suppressor put in place beside the autopilot hydraulic pump motor, while in Port Townsend over September/October - but not so.

George, WA6RIK, (who is very involved with the Pacific Seafarers Net) arranged for Gordon West, WV6NOA, to come on frequency to discuss a similar problem on another boat he'd been asked to help with (Gordon is a well-known Ham radio specialist). The conclusion seemed to be that the Raymarine course computer, which is connected to all the instruments and controls the autopilot, was the source of the problem. It seems frequently (i.e. on lots of boats!) to be giving out RF noise which normal methods of dealing with fail to overcome - a problem with the central processor and its associated circuitry, it seems. Modern electronics are so complicated these days that resolving problems like this is no longer so straightforward and it needs the manufacturer to sort the problem out at source with the design of their electronics. I'll be asking for their comments and advice, since for the noise to be generated specifically at 14.300 MHz, which is a safety/emergency frequency, is most unfortunate, to say the least!

Propagation was again good later in the evening for my check-in at 0330 UTC (1930 PST) with the Pacific Seafarers Net, again on 14.300 MHz - with windsteering in use and instruments turned off, I had no problem at all talking to people in New Zealand and in Australia, as well as in the USA.

We're at 25N, 123W - just over 600 mls W of Bahia Magdalena in the Baja peninsula of Mexico - a place to where whales migrate to calve each year and from where I had a spectacular dawn exit after a night at anchor early in 2005 - being surrounded by whales in all directions - an amazing sight and one of those special memories!

Thursday 12th November 2010

I'm heading more to S - if gribs & weatherfaxes are to be believed, I'll lose wind if I get too much further E over next few days. Might be best to be well W of 120W, so course changed to S or just E of S.

I've been looking at grib weather files for down to Cape Horn from here - looks as though it's a good idea anyway to stay around 120W most of way down, to set up for the High down in S. Pacific - with a few twiddles as winds dictate.

Finally unjammed the jaw opening of the pole - required a mix of fresh water treatment and careful but firm banging with a heavy spanner on the spring-operated metal 'pin' closure of jaw opening which takes genoa sheet. Oil hadn't helped, so sea-salt crystals were obviously the problem. Finally got the genoa poled out upwind successfully by sunset... Always feels so much better and stable running downwind like that - and speed definitely increases.

Seas quite big and steep now - so surfing lots - over 7-8 knots! Although we're swinging about as waves catch hold of us, it's not too bad ... and nice to see the speed!

Downloaded photo from Honolulu transmitter (KVM) showing cloud cover from 55N down to ITCZ (9-10N) and beyond. (ITCZ, the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, is also known as the 'Doldrums' for the frequent lack of wind for days on end). ITCZ looks active and wide around 135W-125W, then narrow in one section S of here, ~120W, then active and wide again around 110W - pity it doesn't stay still for long enough to help a lot with planning ahead! I just hope I can avoid the worst of the ITCZ bad weather - we'll see when I'm nearer! At the rate of 2 degrees of latitude a day (120 n.ml.), it'll take me just over a week to reach the iTCZ - I hope it's not too bad! This time last year, heading S down the Atlantic, it was really horrible S of the Cape Verde Islands - lightning clouds everywhere and lightning hitting the sea close by "Nereida"... very uncomfortable feelings! No wind, then violent gusts... nasty!

Batteries have done OK today and tonight ... with plenty of sun and wind, no problem during the day, and not too bad tonight, since on windsteering, which has been coping fine, despite the big swell, and have had good wind, so windgenerator has been putting in electrons well, until wind died a touch (down to 15-16 kt now) from 19 kt earlier. Having to keep a really careful watch on volts display all the time....

Beautiful night - some cloud but stars galore, downwind with poled-out genoa and pleasant temp - 19C air and 20C sea now - getting warmer slowly!

"Nereida" at 1200 UTC: 27N, 123W. 475 ml W of Pta San Roque, Baja California, Mexico. We made 147 n.ml. DMG over the 24hrs... better!

(See charts showing daily positions/tracks during passage using links on 'Travels' page on website)

Wednesday 10th November

It was nice to see the clouds 'lined up' along the wind direction yesterday - showing how consistently the wind was blowing -from mainly the N. Basically, we're skirting a High pressure area (the N. Pacific High) so should keep the winds astern. Effectively, we're in the NE Trades although they've yet to swing slightly more to the E than they are at present.

The cloudy weather of yesterday continued overnight, but with bigger grey clouds today, giving somewhat varying wind - in both direction and strength. We were happily under windsteering for a long time - until a 20kn gust came through - a raincloud nearby... followed by some rain, but not much. Onto autopilot, while things are sorted out, after having headed up - maybe a reef in the mains'l would be good...! We were clearly over-canvassed for the conditions....

The trouble with running downwind is that the apparent wind is so reduced, it's tempting to go with that. I always remember an instructor making the comment that the reefing should be not much different from on the wind - "What if you head up suddenly, for some reason?" he asked. I've had to gybe several times, with the changes in wind direction .... a good reason, to my mind, not to have the genoa poled out.... I've been using the stays'l from time to time again, to spill the wind onto the genoa instead. Safe and simple! As I write this, the wind is up to 20 knots yet again, from 12-14kt, and now more just E of N, from NNW. It's proving difficult to make our preferred course of 150-155T with these clouds around making the wind vary so often.

Yesterday, I decided to download a weather fax 'live' (as it was being transmitted) directly to the PC, rather than ask for it by email (they're really big files). But I found the fax 'window' just wasn't behaving.... After lots of effort, searching the computer everywhere, and also getting nowhere with putting in the frequencies manually, I decided the problem had to be a missing item - the 'GetFax ' module was nowhere to be seen among the PC folders. It used to be there - but not now.... I searched among my CDs & USB memory sticks and eventually found a copy - TG! After some copying and pasting, I finally had the fax side of things working - but what a long time it all took!

My next hiccup occurred in the dark hours of this morning when I went to post the noon UTC position report, shortly after writing it around 4.15 am local time (PST). The Pactor modem, which enables me to send emails from my laptop to the SSB radio for transmitting to a shore station on the Internet, was refusing to power up. In my efforts to conserve battery power, I'd thought of turning off the radio completely, instead of leaving it on standby as usual. I'd felt for the switch in the dark several times - and clearly must have eventually disturbed the wires from the radio to the modem. I was pretty sure I knew what was wrong - one particular connection has often come loose if disturbed - but getting to it, behind the instrument panel at the chart table, is another matter - not easy, ... very convoluted, in fact. By 6.30am, I'd just finished putting things back together at the chart table instrument panel, having spent that amount of time getting to the offending rear connection and sorting out the problem - with feelings of hopelessness for a time that it didn't seem to be happening and I'd come to a dead end... grrr!! Without the modem working, no emailing or downloading of weatherfaxes to the computer by radio is possible.

On a happier note - I cooked a delicious steak and onions, with fried potatoes and green beans, last evening - fabulous! I was enjoying it as I checked in to the Pacific Seafarers Net - amazingly, yet again, propagation was fine & I heard almost everyone clearly, as they did me. (Aussie Paul, VK2HMV, came up with a method of disposing of unwelcome rats and mice: get them to drink Coke, which they love, and they'll 'explode' from the gas inside them because they can't burp - yuck!!) I'm looking forward to another good meal tonight - it becomes an important item in the day - especially when breakfast has been delayed to midday!!

We're now at 30N, 124W .... 420 miles due W of San Quintin, in Baja California, Mexico. And we made 136 miles in the 24hrs to this morning - not as much as I'd hoped, but not too bad, considering winds of just 10-14 knots!