Tuesday 9th November

A relaxed, pleasant day with a fair amount of cloud, but no rain, wind mainly from the north and consistently 12-15 kt. Quite a lot of radio chat .... highly sociable!

By this evening, we were 425 ml west of Ensenada, Mexico - I had guacamole to celebrate!! Ensenada is not far south of San Diego and I have pleasant memories of my first check-in to Mexico there in 2005. The Port Captain's people had kept me waiting over someone's lunch-time ('momentido' became over two hours...) on the Friday, to make a credit card payment - and then tried to tell me I'd now need to pay 'overtime' fees since it was gone 2 pm. No way...!! So I stayed for the weekend to complete my paperwork early on the Monday, only to discover that all of Ensenada was 'En Carnaval' - Shrove Tuesday was coming up and the entire population celebrated with dancing and music, with several live bands competing down the main street and in the main square until 4am each night, a fair, lots of food and other stalls, entire families, from babies to grandparents, enjoying the night's entertainment - all in total, friendly security, as I made my way back on sore feet, from so much dancing, to 'Nereida' in the early hours of each morning.

I discovered Mexican bands with their blaring brass and flamboyant costumes - I thought they must be deliberately playing slightly off-key as a joke - but then realized this was their norm!! I well remember dancing the 'pasa doble' in the jam-packed Plaza de la Republica' two nights running! And the processions with lots of floats in the daytime - with the Carnival Queen, ... King, ... and several princes & princesses...! All great fun!

My radio chats today started first thing with the Gt Northern Boaters Net on 3870 soon after 8am .... We're still just making contact, although it's getting more difficult. Went to 14340 kHz at 9am to discuss my battery problem with Bill, VE7WSM in Port Alberni, B.C.. For the second night running, I'd had a major power problem with my batteries showing a voltage way down on what was good for them. I'd been forced to start the main engine to charge them for a short time initially, in order to get the generator to start, the voltage being so low. That kills batteries - so quite a worry!

We decided that the main culprit was running the fridge overnight - the draw is 7A when it's running, so with no power going in from solar overnight or from wind (from sailing downwind), that was pulling the batteries way down . Running the radio for emailing and weather also didn't help - I'm going to have to watch really carefully at night - maybe run the genset for a short while with fridge on & while sending/receiving emails via radio, and then turn fridge off afterwards & overnight if windgen not running. It's called 'battery management'!

At 3.30pm PST, I checked in with Art, K7WAH, Net Control for the US Maritime Mobile Net (in case I couldn't contact the PacSeaNet later) - excellent copy. More discussion about batteries with Bill ... and then I was called by Mike, KE6SAM, of S/Y 'Tortue', in the Sea of Cortez near La Paz - more chatting! We thought it likely that we'd met in 2005 when I was also in the La Paz marina - a nice Mexican town.

I furled in the stays'l to prepare the pole for poling out the genoa (speed promptly went down 0.5-1 knot)... but I couldn't open the jaw at the pole end which takes the lines - so couldn't get it off its holder on deck. I've poured a kind of oil over the part and I'll have to try again tomorrow. If I still can't move it, I'll have to use the telescopic aluminium pole I have - it's much heavier but still works fine. Just much more awkward to manoeuvre than the lightweight carbon pole.

When time came (at 0315UTC) for me to try checking in with the Pacific Seafarers Net, there was no problem - Cirrus, ZL2CVJ, was clear as bell and told me I was to him also... so maybe propagation on that band is getting better at last. Possibly my being further south is a help also.

I'll write my email replies ready for sending now and then get to sleep - being up from 4am in the morning means I have to make up sleep later on. I usually download weather info and look it over at that time also .... radio propagation is usually good then so it's a good time also to connect to send/receive emails.

I was pleased to see the 130 ml 24hr run we made up to noon UTC (4am local time this morning!) - I'm hoping for even better today, with the good speed we've been making - all partly depends on how straight a course we've made. And I just love the way I keep seeing our speed shoot up to over 7 knots, as we surf gently in the following swell...

Monday 8th November

Drama during last night! The AIS woke me up with its alarm going just before 4am..... 'El Lobo Grande', a ship 'with tow', was displayed a few miles away.... crossing our path towards the coast (L.A.), with less than half a mile CPA (closest point of approach) ...Even with us under sail in normal circumstances, I call that 'collision' distance', since they might keep a straight course but we almost certainly do not, especially under windsteering, since the wind is always varying more or less & so our course always changes somewhat in direction.

I called him on the VHF radio - correction - I tried to call him on the VHF - didn't seem to be working. Grabbed the handheld over on the far side of the cabin - called 'El Lobo Grande'. He wanted to pass ahead - was towing a big fuel barge on a long tow...!!! The half mile distance of his CPA did NOT take account of his tow!! "No," I replied, "Please turn to pass astern of me. I'm under sail & have no engine available .." He finally agreed & turned to port, after complaining he couldn't see me visually, I only showed up on AIS when 3.5 mls away & he saw no radar signal (In fact, I've been told by others my radar visibility is good, but often ships' radar sets aren't tuned properly... & maybe, if he was a typical tug, his antenna was fairly low down compared with big ships so his 'line of sight' was reduced).

I turned on our deck light and steaming light to light up the sails - we became highly visible! I put us on automatic pilot to ensure we maintained a straight course to help his manoeuvring. To complicate matters, I found the wind had veered so we really needed to gybe.... Fortunately, with the stays'l set to windward previously, it was now helping by staying filled and the main was well out and on a preventer, so we kept up a fair speed. As soon as he had passed us, I centred the main, gybed the genoa so it was downwind and finally gybed the mains'l and placed the stays'l over to starboard where it was again upwind- it was doing a good job.

Problem then was that I noticed our batteries were now way down with the AP use - far too low... Tried to start the generator - voltage too low. Switched in the start motor battery - still no good. Hurriedly, checked main engine was in neutral and started it up to charge the batteries - it kicked in (relief!). I revved up and brought the battery volts up enough for the generator to start, so I was able to shut down the main engine after a bit & leave the generator running unil the batteries were well-charged - well over an hour. I put us on to windsteering as soon as I noticed he battery problem ....

Clearly we must have been low on power before the incident started, so using the AP was the last straw. My concern now is that the main batteries are damaged and no longer seem to be holding charge well. I'd just written the new position report, at noon UTC (4am PST, local time), before writing up this report, and noticed again that the batteries' voltage had dropped way down - too low again for the genset to be able to start, so had to charge them using the main engine for a short time again.... a worry. I normally keep a constant eye on our power situation, but clearly need to be even more vigilant. There's no problem when the solar panels or wind generator are charging, but overnight with little wind & no sun, that seems to be when the problem arises... even though we're using very little power and we're under windsteering.

Other news..... We've made a fair 24hr distance over the last two days to noon UTC - 133 miles and 130 mls - much better & nearer to what I'm used to expecting. Our speed is around 6 kt now, a lot of the time, so that's far better, with the wind very slowly veering from NNW to NNE now - becoming the NE Trades, in fact... mostly nice and consistent at around 16-18 kt, although dropping tonight to around 14 kt. All very pleasant downwind sailing, rocking and rolling quite a bit at times, but fairly smoot. Plenty of sunshine, although the air temperature is not yet very high, at only 16-17C so I'm still in fleeces - but out of foul weather gear....! In fact, the sea temperature has just got up to a touch higher than air temperature - at 18C!

During the day, thinking it was surely not really helping, I'd tried furling in the (upwind) staysail - our speed dropped... I unfurled it upwind again ... speed picked up.. I was surprised but pleased! It's earning its keep, spilling the wind into the (downwind) genoa but since we're likely to be on this downwind tack now for quite a time, I'll put out the pole during the day tomorrow to hold the genoa firmly in place upwind and see what difference that makes to our speed, if any, so we'll be properly 'goose-winged' - or 'wing-on-wing' as the Americans say.... Always feels good and secure like that, when going dead downwind.

We passed Los Angeles yesterday and are now passing San Diego. As I write this, we're 436 n.mls due W of the San Diego Y.C. Visitor Dock - a familiar place from several visits there!! Greetings from "Nereida" to my friends in San Diego (- and at the Arizona Y.C. in Phoenix)!

Sunday 7th November 2010

"Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day ....."!!

Gentle, if rolly, downwind sailing... blue skies... NO RAIN... good speed... good course.... It was a lovely day today - the BEST!

I put boots, shoes, gloves, jacket and salopettes into the cockpit to dry out - which they did!

I'd got worried last night when I went to cook my evening meal - turned on the hob burner - nada! Surely the tank hasn't run out already? Then I spotted the light was out on the solenoid switch. If the solenoid valve stops working, there's no gas flow possible - maybe that was the problem? (I have a spare on board) But then I remembered there's a circuit-breaker at the chart table - sure enough, for whatever reason, it was tripped. So once re-set, we were back into cooking - a relief! I've had to play around changing (or dispensing with) gas solenoid valves before now - no problem at anchor or in a marina, but no fun in a big swell at sea, especially perched in the open stern of the boat....

After a good meal , and enjoying a lovely sunset , I was ready for sleep, but was up soon after midnight with the wind having veered and dropped suddenly from SW 20 knots to just 12 knots from the WNW - pressure was up from the 1015 hPa of early evening to 1019 hPa - good news in a way, since it meant high pressure was building to the West of us, hopefully giving nice settled conditions for quite a few days to come. The wind has slowly backed more over the day - to NW and on to NNW, now tending more to N. So I unfurled the genoa fully and finally, around noon, and by now running well downwind, I unfurled the stays'l to windward. It spills the air nicely from the mains'l into the genoa and keeps it filled - a bonus of having a cutter rig, since it often avoids having to pole out the genoa and is so quick and easy to do. Our speed increased immediately, showing how effective the ploy is. I was expecting the wind to veer N sooner than it seems to be doing - and that would mean gybing in order to maintain our preferred course of around 150-155T.... one reason I was a bit loathe to pole out too soon! Gybing gets complicated and time-consuming, once poled out!

The wind has been good, at 16-21 knots all day, giving a good speed (often over 6 kt), despite the quite big quartering seas - 3-4 m from WSW-W most of the day, although by evening, down a bit, as was the wind (to 12 knots).

Solar panels were seen for some time to be giving consistenly 13-14A, peaking at 18A at noon - that's excellent, considering the low angle of the sun's rays due to the time of year! They made up for the often low wind-power input due to sailing downwind, with a reduced apparent wind as a consequence.

I also ran the motor to circulate the oil and check it was OK (!). I'd hoped 10 minutes would be long enough, but wanted the cylinder block to warm up before I switched off - and that took 15 minutes minimum- so I revved up in neutral to charge the batteries a bit, thinking that since I was using some fuel anyway, I might as well check out my emergency charging while at it! Despite the gear cables being wired to prevent forward propulsion, all worked well in neutral - good news!

Another lovely sunset to end what for me was the best day of the passage so far - I have felt very relaxed and positive .... and I'm looking forward to quite a few more days like this one. Oh - I nearly forgot - I celebrated the day with a fresh grapefruit and by cooking a large but tasty Chinook (salmon) steak, eaten with buttery potatoes and petits pois .. mmm!! Thanks again, Mike and Kathy! That's tomorrow's meal sorted, as well!

Saturday 6th November

The wind stayed W during the night and over today, but slowly continued to back... from NNW to the present SW, our course changing accordingly from due S to SE - from a beam reach to being as close-hauled as reasonable speed will allow - presently (3pm PDT), around 5 knots. We're well-heeled over, although I did reduce the genoa in an attempt to stop the excessive heeling of earlier. The stays'l is useful in these conditions and we've two reefs in the centred mains'l. wind strength is around 20knots now but got quite light overnight so our speed suffered, being on a run at that time.

At 5am PDT, I was up, as usual, making my noon UTC position and weather report .... What a beautiful night!! Such a clear sky, the stars were amazing.... and the cockpit was DRY, so once I'd trimmed the sails for beam reaching, I was able to pause and really enjoy the moment.... A short while later, seeing our speed down at 3.5 kt, I unfurled the stays'l and more genoa... our speed went up to 5.2 kt and, being still dark, I decided not to risk Providence by letting out another reef in the mains'l - and went back to my bunk for some more sleep before dawn instead....

Up at 8.20am, not so long after dawn, for the Gt Northern Boaters Net on 3870 kHz.... but the wind had backed further & the sails needed attention before I could try to contact them, which I only just managed to do - distance away is getting too much for the frequency now ...The sky was clouding over, to become totally overcast again during the day ... Friends in San Francisco that I'm now passing told me they'd had sun for the last week - but now thick fog... Clearly my timing is bad!

I'm typing this as I lie in my bunk with the boat regularly crashing into the waves (2m or more), still well-heeled over, and with seas washing the deck quite often ... but I did tidy up the odd fallen item just before, so we're fairly shipshape at present. Shortly, I'll cook some food - unless I start to do that during daylight hours, it tends not to happen - at least not when we're in rough conditions.

Clocks go back in US & Canada tonight - they changed last weekend in the UK. I'm keeping to Pacific Time (PST now, not PDT) since that's the time kept by people on the occasional radio Net I check in to for a chat. Confusingly, BST stands for British Summer Time, one hour ahead of UTC, whereas PST stands for Pacific Standard Time.. with their summer daylight-saving time being referred to as PDT - Pacific Daylight Time!

Best distance so far this trip in a 24hr period yesterday - a mere 116 n. ml !! Nothing like the 120-150 ml or more I'm used to seeing... Should improve once I get to the NE Trades.

Friday 5th November Cold, grey, fine drizzle - everything seems to be wet!

I'm so WET!! The air is so damp that nothing is getting dry with the fine misty rain that has been around for several days now. Thoroughly damp jackets, trousers, socks, shoes and boots.... Thank goodness for the vinyl coverings at the chart table - and for towels and plastic sheets to protect anything I'm touching. I need some warm sunshine!!

Wasn't expecting wind to strengthen and back today as it did... Wasn't surprised by the light variable winds we suddenly got around midday, that sent us round in circles at 0-1 knot and had me shaking out the reefs in the mains'l and unfurling the genoa... But I was surprised by the sudden backing and increase from 10 knots ENE to 23knots from NNW that had me up on deck around 4:30pm to reef down again and gybe around in order to keep heading S. Waves are getting quite big again and frequently crashing into us with a loud noise! So it's a bit difficult moving around - and my warm bunk has become even more inviting! Actually, I'm forever switching bunks, depending on the tack we're on ... and my new sleeping bag (for down to -12C!), bought in Victoria, is working out well.

Over the afternoon, our speed increased from 1 knot in the light variable winds to 5-6 knots ... and our heading was good, so that was pleasing. Of course, when the wind really strengthened later, we were doing well over 6 knots for quite a time - nice! So much for gribs and weather forecasts!!

Not a lot to report really, except that our latitude is well over the border from Oregon into California now and the rough weather coincided with passing well off Cape Mendocino - no surprise there!

Wind charging is doing well in the strong winds and solar panels are managing to put in around 4A during the day, despite the grey overcast skies.

I made a hot pasta dish during the evening, preceded by a mug of hot soup - I really needed hot food, I felt so cold and damp!

Contact with the Pacific Seafarers is difficult these days -the 14300 frequency is really suffering from bad propagation just now - and the check-in time of 0330UTC coincides with the worst of the conditions - I managed tonight to speak to ZL2CVJ, Cirrus, the Net Controller - he only just got my weather and position details.

Pity, but I finished the last of some oatmeal choc chip cookies I'd been given before leaving. Thanks, Tricia and Jim - I'd really enjoyed them!

Thursday 4th November

I forgot to mention that I saw a possible water spout near sunset yesterday, as we were in increased winds and seas. I've taken photos to examine in detail - but it looked just like a thin 'twister' of dk grey from sea up to cloud and then on, high up, there were wisps of it. I've heard enough about water spouts to know they're things to steer clear of.... This one was quite a distance away, off our path, but very distinctive. (If it wasn't a water spout, then the US Navy had just let fly a missile!!)

Overnight was very bumpy and wind stayed around 20 knots, veering from SSW to SW by 5am when I was up posting my usual noon UTC position and weather report. I was about to get back to my bunk when the wind suddenly 'switched' direction - from SW to W in no time at all, and died down almost immediately to ~12 kt, and then, soon after, to just 4-5 kt .... so, by 8am, we ended up slopping about, having had to change tack twice, shake out reefs and unfurl genoa. The light wind proceeded to circle around, making it very difficult, yet again, to steer a straight course - I had to make continual adjustments.

By 10:20, the wind was more steady, at 6-9 kt from the N, and the Hydrovane ('Fred') was able to steer a good course, beam-reaching at 3.3 kt. I was famished, not having eaten properly the night before due to the crashing about, and not yet having had a chance to get myself any breakfast, so I cooked myself a big, delicious brunch of ham and eggs with mushrooms (the last of my fresh), potatoes and tomatoes... mmm!!! Swilled down with fresh coffee....

Grey skies .... misty, fine rain ...N wind of only 6kt... Fred was well in control, despite the light wind, so I left him to it and went down below, looking forward to a good sleep. But no, ....as I finished a lengthy cleaning up in the galley, I realized the wind had veered yet again - time to tack again.... With boom preventer and staysail added to genoa and mains'l to think about, that always takes a time. Finally I got to my bunk for a welcome nap.

The good news is that since then we've been heading roughly SOUTH - yippee! - and should be able to keep on this heading for a long time to come... By early evening, the wind had got up well enough that we were making 5 kt or more. In fact, the wind started increasing more as night fell & I decided to take in a reef.

The wind continued to rise and the seas got bigger... we were going downwind now, so seeing 24kt of true wind, I thought maybe the time had come to furl in the full genoa quite a bit, .... maybe take in a second reef ... and soon after, seeing winds over 30kt, maybe best to take in the 3rd reef.....!! We now felt more under control...rather than seeing speeds of 8-9 kt as we sped down waves, swinging about in the big seas rather wildly and feeling decidedly uncomfortable. Of course, it was dark and raining, so I got soaked but being dressed properly, didn't feel too cold.

We're not far from passing Cape Mendocino, 195 ml away, which has a bad reputation for stormy weather and seas - which I experienced the last time I passed by. Tonight's weather is being caused by a small Low to the S, which should dissipate overnight and tomorrow , after which the North Pacific High should settle in nicely ..... I hope! At least we're making excellent speed now, ready for the light winds expected again by tomorrow night, probably .......... Talking about which, being 5th November tomorrow, to my friends in the U.K. ....................

HAPPY GUY FAWKES!! ..... Happy Bonfire Night! ... I hope you enjoy the Fireworks!!

Maybe I'll see a meteorite or two....

P.S. In the strong winds this evening, we've been charging nicely....

Wednesday 3rd November

10am: So nice to see a decent speed for a change!! Making over 6 knots at times, although having to head W (with a helpful tidal current) to get it - tacked around a short while ago and unfurled the staysail to help our speed.... using windsteering, on a very close reach now. With our course having gone from S to ESE in a backing wind overnight, it was time to change and head away from the coast again.. I keep finding Cape Blanco is too often the nearest point on land...

Everything on deck is absolutely dripping wet with the moist air (84% humidity!) - almost foggy but not quite. Sun almost getting through the misty layer above us.

Spoke at length with Bill, VE7WSM, on the Gt Northern Boaters Net (3870 kHz), this morning. He's trying to help me sort out, if possible, where the solar panel problem lies. Agreed to meet again this evening, after I'd carried out a few measurements with the multimeter. Means fishing out my spare length of thin wire to extend from the aft cabin fuses (in the positive lead) to the chart table regulator, to reach the end of the negative wire from the solar panels to check on their voltage, if any. At least there's enough light coming onto the panels now to get a meaningful measurement.

Although big swell was predicted, it's fairly calm now, although we're heeling a touch, so I might try to find the wind generator spare switch once I've done that, in case it's of use also. With the 30A fuse in place, I've switched the windgen on to see if it's inputting anything at all - I still suspect it's putting in something, albeit erratically and nothing like as much as it ought to be.

About to have a late b'fast before getting on with electrical jobs... - It's cold (16C in main cabin) here, so I'll have a hot drink to warm me up.... & maybe put on another fleece layer!!

2:15pm What a WALLY....... !!! I've just presented myself the supreme 'Wally of the Week' Award...... a Dunce's Hat... If I could, I'd be banished to a corner to stay there all day, if not all week...!! (Although I must admit that I keep laughing a lot!) I suddenly realized, when a red light flickered on momentarily as I was taking voltage & continuity readings on the wires to the regulator (having first spent some time checking out same at the fuse box in the aft cabin), that the switch I'd recently added to the circuit, to get rid of radio noise from RF interference from the regulator when receiving, .... was in the 'OFF' position!!! I'd totally forgotten the switch even existed.... No wonder no power was getting in to the batteries........ What a lot of unnecessary agonizing!! Many apologies to all of you who've been racking your brains over my problem - so sorry to have wasted your time!! I've been seeing 6-10A coming in, under bright but overcast skies.

It looks now, with the far stronger winds of this afternoon and evening, that the unregulated KISS wind generator is also possibly OK. That would be good news! It has been erratically putting in some power but seemingly very much less than expected (at 15kt, should input ~8-10A, and at 20 kt, should input ~15-18A). I 've been keeping an eye on how much power has been coming in under different wind conditions today. As I write this, wind has increased to 20kt (i.e. ~24kt apparent) and I've just seen input of over 18A - so maybe wind gen is OK after all and just needed stronger winds? I must keep an eye on it, clearly. Certainly good news in that my charging problem has been fast disappearing since this morning! The thermal cut-out seems to have worked fine when the winds approached 30 knots with a Front passing through around sunset (when we passed out from under a layer of cloud to clear skies). So it seems I've no need to look for the spare switch in order to compare input when using it rather than the present one, which I'd thought might have been damaged.

Good news is we've been making good speed (4-5 kt or more) most of the day and the wind swung from SW to just east of S this morning, so we've been able to sail SW. But it's now getting very 'bumpy' with wind of around 20 knots together with the expected big swell making us crash about regularly. Think I'll reduce the genoa some more, ready for overnight....

Tuesday 2nd November 2010

It's been a good day & I've felt very relaxed - especially after a good deep sleep over midday, to catch up on sleep missed overnight. And in the calm conditions later, I emptied a locker & found the missing fuses - lurking buried in the first place I'd looked, where they were supposed to be.... Murphy was laughing at me! (Unfortunately, in the fog and light wind, I could do no more to test out the reason for the lack of wind or solar power input. Jobs for yet another day.)

The WSW swell this morning, as predicted, was enormous - easily 6m/20ft!! Well-spaced out, with a period of about ten seconds, so not a worry... but fascinating to feel the wind pick up each time we rose over the tops of the waves. And FOG all day ... not so thick, but wet and cold!

After midnight, I spent 1 1/2 hrs on deck adjusting our course continually in shifty wind of around just 4 knots and then retired to the chart table to use the autopilot control there with the plotter display in view to show me which way we were headed and where the wind was... all to keep the boat pointing in the right direction, trying to make SW! In the big swell and with such light winds, the windsteering couldn't cope, nor could the autopilot, but at least I could easily keep telling it what to do so we would point the right way - but only with my constant intervention...pillow to hand, hoping for some sleep - fat hope!! It was a case of either this or sit at the wheel in the damp cold of night to keep us going sensibly in such light airs - this was the preferred option! I'd slept earlier for several hours so didn't feel too lacking in sleep. Several changes of sailtrim later and I eventually goosewinged the stays'l in the morning when the wind went to ENE for a while... We'd kept a good heading, so the effort was worthwhile and we finally got back onto windsteering, which saves such a lot of battery power. It coped fine, dead downwind at 4 kt, in 9 kt of wind with the stays'l out to windward helping the boat balance.

At one point this morning, I gybed and got a big section of the genoa wrapped wrongly around the forestay - a 'genoa wrap'!! I felt very much at risk as I crouched in the bow struggling to persuade the sail to unravel itself, along with the sheets, and get it untangled. Several times when I managed to get a bit of the sail off and wrapped the right way, the wind caught it and ripped it back the other way, the boat heeling as the sail billowed in the wind ... it was a real battle - but in the end, I won, and the genoa and its sheets were calmed and sorted properly - phew! No wonder I had a good sleep later!

If I hadn't paid so much attention to the boat, we'd either have been heading in towards the coast or going around in circles.... Steerage is a big problem with light wind and consequent low boatspeed. I re-traced my path several times...

By this evening, the wind had backed to the N and finally , by midnight, to NW - so we're now heading SSW under full canvas, making around 4 knots in 8 knots of wind on a beam reach. The fog, present all day long, dispersed with nightfall, so we've had a beautiful starry sky - I've seen meteorites and artificial satellites and the Milky Way really does look like stardust strewn across the sky. (Is that Saturn shining so very brightly, high in the W sky tonight??)

It looks to me that for several days, it's to be either more very light winds, often from S, or strong wind from S ... so heading south might still pose a problem... frustrating! Might be some wind off the two Capes, Blanco & Mendocino which we're trying to pass now..

(NOTE: My position is posted daily : Go to 'Travels' and click on "Where is Nereida?" to see where I am and have been recently)

I can't believe how slow this passage south is - previously, it's taken from 5 to 7 days maximum from Neah Bay (at entrance to Strait of Juan de Fuca) to San Francisco .... but today (Day 7, Monday), we're still trying to get past Cape Blanco beating into a SW wind! Each of those previous times, twice in October and once in May, I had winds from the north, with High pressure to my west....

Sunday 31st October (Day 6)

Around 6am, the light wind (7-8 kt) veered from SSE to SSW - better since ESE course could be laid - not fantastic but a lot better than the previous ENE! I always hate having to go north when I want to head south.... I had deliberately given myself plenty of searoom by heading W more, so heading slowly towards the coast for a time was OK. And being more west might have been the reason why the wind was not as bad as f'cast.. grib files showed a band of lighter winds here among the strong winds...

I took in all reefs and put out the staysail in readiness for the 'big blow' expected. Talk about 'the calm before the storm' - absolutely so!! We had flopped about Saturday night and into Sunday morning... but around 8am the wind began to increase and pressure dropped slightly. By 6pm it had reached 27-30 knots from the S, with building 3-4m seas. Not until 6am Monday did it suddenly 'switch off', with the wind shifting to WNW and dying rapidly to 9-10 knots. By 10am it had backed to the SW where it stayed, more-or-less, all day.

My worry is that winds will get too light for heading S after the storm - that's a definite possibility... And more strong S winds are forecast for later this week - getting S is not going to be easy!!

While waiting for the storm to hit & thinking about food for that evening, I remembered the big fresh prawns, sitting frozen in the depths of my fridge, that Kathy & Mark had brought me when they made a special trip down from Nanaimo to see me just before I left...I decided on a prawn curry - which worked fine with fresh tomatoes and onions. I had to cook the prawns anyway to peel them and had some separately before adding the rest in to the curry - they were supremely tasty!!

Can't do anything to fix solar or wind power problems just now - must wait for calmer weather!!

I'm checking in around 2230 UTC on 14300 kHz to the Maritime Mobile Net in the US - Roy, KR6RG, near San Diego, took my details and posted them on Shiptrak on Sunday and Rex, KC5AGO, in Texas, did so on Monday. Each time they checked if all OK on board and queried if my problems had been sorted out yet. It's a 24hr Net, run by volunteers, that is also there to help anyone in an emergency.

Monday 1st November

Writing this at sunset - we've been under grey skies, with lots of rain, all day - suddenly a beam of bright orange shot through the cabin - a spectacular sunset with a tiny band of clear sky on the W horizon!

It's been so frustrating today. After the 32-34 kt of overnight suddenly died down to 7 kt eventually, I've been on deck a lot of the time, shaking out reefs, adjusting sail trim, tacking, gybing... anything to try to get us to head S in a shifty wind, mainly from the S-SW which makes it impossible to sail a good course. When it came from WNW, that was great because we could head due S!! We've just re-traced our path (10 miles in total!) from earlier, and are,yet again, now heading SE - directly for Cape Blanco, in fact... We're 100 mls NW of it and from Coos River.

I'm trying to keep well clear of the coast, especially between Capes Blanco and Mendocino since they have a well-earned bad reputation for their own nasty weather and seas, but the SW wind is forcing me to head closer in. The alternative is to head W-NW, depending on the wind direction. And being close to the wind really slows us down, trying to make a reasonable course. A definite tidal current has often also not helped. Seas have calmed down a lot now from overnight - then it was really difficult to move about at all, let alone safely!

Present plan is to tack or gybe around (depending on boatspeed!) once we reach 126W - I don't wish to get closer to land than that. (I'm now seeing some shipping I didn't see when well offshore.) Present weather forecasts are not looking helpful - either strong southerlies or light fickle winds for this week, possibly combined with some big swell at times ... The frustrations look set to continue!!

One piece of good news is that I managed to stop my propshaft from spinning when we make decent speed. Since the gear cables were wired to prevent engine use in forward gear (a mistake to wire that, I now wonder?), I've been unable to engage reverse gear, as had been intended, so unable to prevent the prop from spinning. (Normally, I engage forward gear when sailing to stop the prop from turning) But in light winds on Monday, it occurred to me that it was the ideal time to tie a cord around the gearbox-propshaft connection while it was stationary - that seems to have worked ... and it's easy to remove.

As I'm about to post this, the wind has backed to SSW... I might have to change tack soon ... but first I must eat!

Saturday 30th October

Well, I'm sitting here in the calm of a beautiful night under a starry sky... Oriion and Sirius high in the SE.... with the wind just swung to the WSW from W a short while ago - but only around 10 knots so far.... We're close-hauled since the sudden wind shift woke me from sleep with sails flappping. Genoa is still full to give us some speed in the light conditions .... I put in 3rd reef before getting to sleep in readiness for blow, even though that slowed us down .... (We were headed S, but now SSE.) Pressure has increased to 1016 from 1005 12 hrs ago, showing H building to SW of here - but Low is swinging around it, aiming at us possibly!!

The morning started quite well with the sighting of an albatross soaring powerfully by!! Great excitement on board "Nereida"! Unmistakable from the many seen in the Southern Ocean earlier this year ... long, 'elbowed' wings, grey-and-white uppers and white underparts and big, cruel-looking beak. I'd heard of people seeing them in N. Pacific (Al on 'Dogbark' in the Single-Handed TransPac of '06 mentioned seeing them up here) but I'd not seen any until my first one seen in the South Atlantic in '08, on my way from Luderitz, Namibia, to St Helena. Later, in the afternoon, a sooty shearwater, or similar, came by - all dk brown with black wing tips and yellow beak... Must get out my birdbook on 'Albatrosses, Shearwaters "& Petrels..."!

The depressing news of today is no input fom the solar panels .... regulator showing no input from panels although it's still showing battery bank volts OK. Fuses in circuit are OK - but I managed to drop one 20A fuse to between the wires below - impossible to get to so far... grrr! Seems I need calm weather to check wiring at panels themselves. Maybe water has got to connections there?? Unscrewed fuse box to look at wiring more closely - seems OK.
Still no joy on wind generator - input still looking erratic - occasionally inputs power with temporary 20A fuse in place (not strong enough .... but still not found missing spare fuses!), mostly nothing... so far have come up with no bright ideas there. Seems like a wiring fault - but where?? Only possibility I've thought of is thermal cut-out in switch on wires down from generator- could have suffered when fuse blew in strong winds of the other night. I actually have an identical spare switch buried away in the forepeak, so must check that in calm conditions sometime soon and maybe try replacing it.

Sun got out late in the afternoon... nice!

Spent an age this morning letting out sails in the lighter wind and tidying upthe mess of lines in the cockpit and sorting out a tangled staysail sheet. It was so much calmer going downwind with NW wind, instead of beating into SSW wind...

Took down courtesy flags etc and ensign - also flagstaff - might lose it and not needed - no ensign flown as would get shredded by so much wind over 7 mths!!

This evening - wind died right down - lovely clear starry night with barometer rising .... Cleared everything ready for expected big storm - but in higher pressure and calm conditions right now!! Easy meal of beans and crab (thought I was picking out a tin of tuna ... but no matter!!).

Sat all geared up, ready to jump up on deck and furl in genoa when wind rises ... staysail 'ready to go' in placeof genoa - better in strong wind and sea conditions.... We're in the 'dangerous quadrant' of coming storm - so when it comes, plan is to head SE to avoid worst of it - maybe...! Decided must try to get some rest - doubt I'll sleep, but must rest at least. (Back to top!!!)

LATER ( SUNDAY 1130UTC): Wind is slowly continuing to back and rise - now from 200T at 14-15 knots, pressure 1017 hPa.... Will post this while still calm out here!!
(Posting noon UTC position to Winlink very soon - 0500 PDT here! We're 188 mls due West of Newport, Oregon at present)

Friday 29th October

Big decision of this evening was: Do I tie in the 3rd reef, well in advance of stronger winds expected, or do I first cook myself the mushroom omelette I really fancied for tonight?...!!

Omelette won, on basis that air pressure was not yet down anywhere near the 1008 hPa I'd been told to look out for by Bob McD (front possibly not arriving until near dawn), winds were rising but not above mid-twenties yet, boat was doing fine ... and I needed energy and a feeling of well-being for the reefing job! I really enjoyed the omelette but needed the cooker strap to hold me in place safely in the bumpy conditions while I cooked. The reefing went well in the darkness - despite the occasional wave splashing me. I took on board the idea given to me by Ian just before I left - to use a winch on the opposite side of the cockpit to help in the reefing (I'd run out of winches on that side with the genoa, staysail and running backstay all taking up one each...) My new Helly Hansen foul gear (given by Pauline of Force Four during my Southampton Boat Show visit) has been proving very useful in the bad weather since leaving and the seas have definitely been testing its waterproofness!

Suddenly realised this afternoon that the wind generator wasn't putting in anything. I got quite depressed for a while, thinking I was going to have a major power problem without it, and then I remembered I should check the fuse .... the 25A fuse had blown - presumably with strong winds first night out from Strait. I know I've spare fuses somewhere .... but could I find them? ... more cause for feeling down... I did find ones at 15A rating, so was able to confirm eventually that the generator is working fine. Initially, I wondered if wiring were dodgy since, even with fuse in place, and before it too blew in good wind of today, we were putting in good power for a time and then nothing...or nearly so. But I think maybe it was the fuse failing erratically that gave that impression. So problem now is to find missing fuses and make sure I shut down the generator if wind gets up above 30 knots. I might have to dispense with fuse and join wires together to give supply to batteries - dangerous since could damage wiring if unprotected.... But without its input, we're going to run short of power regularly....

Well, I had a good sleep this morning and I'll get some now - it might be a busy night if the front arrives early or winds get up a lot more. Presently we're going well under triple-reefed main, well-furled genoa and staysail at 4.5 knots on 235T in 23 true knots of SSE wind.... The front can't be far away since pressure has dropped now to 1009 hPa (from 1016 this afternoon and 1010 an hour ago).

Thursday 28th October

What a contrast!

Rough seas and winds, getting up to 30 knots on occasion, all night long ... a bumpy ride! And then suddenly, mid-morning, pressure rose, winds were from the SSW rather than SSE-SE & we were into very light winds and struggling to make speeds over 2-3 knots, changing tack with the fickle wind direction to get best advantage and avoid being forced north...... But oh so slow, even with all reefs shaken out and full canvas... but quite a lot of sunshine and blue skies in between clouds.

Great excitement at one point - winds increased rapidly and veered, only to turn into a typical 'cloud effect' - heavy rain came & went,.. wind died ... and died ... as a dark grey cloud moved away - and we ended up, yet again, wallowing around! Kept light winds all day, with the occasional shower for excitement, and on into the evening...

Forecast is to continue light on Friday, with a very stormy weekend - a DEEP Low headed this way and a deep trough tagged on - so two 'hits' on their way: on Saturday and on Sunday... Can't be avoided since the system is so extensive... Maybe the forecast will turn out wrong - that wouldn't be a first!! But if right, there's some big swell coming on Sunday/Monday.

Amazing how gusts always come after reefs have just been shaken out.

Decided I must eat better, since important to keep up energy levels, so had a 'proper' meal tonight - but the lazy way - a pre-cooked meal in a vacuum-packed foil pouch - delicious meat, potatoes and gravy with the last of some fresh broccoli I added in. Followed by dessert of dried cherries and prunes - added in a Mars bar for good measure - totally decadent!!

Will have to tack around soon, to avoid going too far west, towards the centre of the forecast storms. Wind is SSW 10 knots just now and we're due west of Grays Hbr, about 100 miles off, so a fair amount of sea-room, although I prefer to stay outside the continental shelf until past Oregon..

Wednesday 26th October

With more slopping about overnight in the middle of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, getting absolutely nowhere, I finally decided to accept we weren't moving anywhere until the ebb would begin, just before dawn, and took to my bunk for a few hours of good, if broken, sleep (broken a few times to check around) while there were no ships around. With boatspeed of 0.0 and SOG of 0.1-0.2 kt in a slight flood tide, it felt safe to relax, knowing the AIS would give a loud warning well in advance if any ship were to threaten to come too close. I'd hardly slept the first night and needed to be ready for bad weather still expected.

On checking on deck at first light, it was great to find the light NW wind had gone to the SSE - together with the ebb tide, we were finally able to drift along at all of 1.1 kt and gently make our escape in a pink dawn, speed slowly improving as the tide and wind both increased. Just before noon, we were making 5 kt in 13 kt of ESE wind and the Strait was finally behind us.

Soon after, in watery sunshine, I found us surrounded by lots of different birds - there must have been a big shoal of fish around us! Brown shearwaters (?) with black face, wing-tips and tail and a yellow beak.... gulls with silver grey upper wings edged in white, grey face, white underparts.... and one distinctively-marked bird (prion?) - dark grey wings with a zig-zag of rose-pink, a black cap on its head, white underparts except for dark chin.... (Identifications, anyone?) I enjoyed the feeling of being back at sea, sailing in the fresh air and enjoying the birds - despite the cold air and the rather rough seas! But I was glad of a mug of hot soup later!

But I had work to do - the wind increased rapidly as we sailed away, further off shore - and with 22-26kts eventually, and a dropping barometer, I was kept busy taking in firstly reef 1 and, soon after, reef 2. The strong winds, with corresponding seas, had arrived...! Hit by a 30-knot rainsquall, as darkness fell, I decided three reefs sounded good, along with a vastly reduced genoa, using the staysail instead!! Boatspeed dropped initially, but picked up later... The wind has gone more to the S, but I wanted to head well offshore anyway, so that's fine for now....

We could have strong conditions like this for several days - I'm looking forward to warmer air as we head further south!

Tuesday 26th October

3pm local time (PDT) - marked the end of Day One - with none of the strong winds forecast ... Instead plenty of flopping about and changing of sail-trim, especially later today, in very light winds of mostly 2-4 knots. So instead of being well clear of Cape Flattery by this evening, I still have well over 15 miles to go - and then it will be a time before I can turn to head south, even with favourable and strong enough winds. At least I'm getting a very helpful ebb tide again tonight.

Most of the small distance made today has been the result of the ebb tide carrying us, needing a lot of effort on my part, trying to keep the sails filled and the boat pointing in the right direction, especially when the tide changed to flood and tried to take us backward .... Not a good feeling when you see the boat has slowly turned around, having no steerage, and is pointing East instead of West ... 7 months too soon!!

I really feel at risk knowing there are rocky shores in places along the Strait and engine power isn't available to help when the wind is so light ..... so I've tried to keep us right in the middle, both of the Strait and, coincidentally, the dividing lane down the middle of the shipping lanes. I've put out several 'Securite' calls to shipping around, to let them know of my situation. The fact that I'm transmitting on AIS (the Automatic Identification System which uses a VHF radio frequency) has been a help - they can see me on their display, with my speed & course, just as I can see them. I shall try to keep well north of Cape Flattery and Tatoosh Island, with its invariably rough seas and nasty Duntze Rock not far off.

I got especially worried last night, several hours after leaving Victoria Harbour entrance, when I first realized that the wind seemed definitely to be dying (I'd put in all 3 reefs before leaving, expecting 25-30 knots or more!). Having stayed close inshore on a long port tack to maximize the favourable current and then tacked around to clear Albert Head, I was now likely to be taken either on to the rocks at Race Rock or through the narrow, rocky channel between the island and mainland, in the strong ebb current. While there was still enough wind to do so, I tacked out into the middle of the Strait of Juan de Fuca - and with increasingly light winds most of the time, that's where I've been ever since.

Present speed over the ground (SOG) is all of 1.7 knots with zero boatspeed showing on the instruments - possibly the rotating speed impellor isn't turning, having got clogged up, or we really aren't making any way & are just being taken by the ebb tide - that's very likely since the wind strength now is only 4 knots! The most I've seen since leaving is 12 knots... we managed a superb 4-5 knots around midday when the wind gusted up for a short while!

The first two times I tacked the staysail, it flew up in the air - the shackle pin at its foot had come undone. Fortunately, it was still daylight and I was able to pull the sail down in the relatively light wind and secure it both times - but I then tried to make sure it wouldn't happen again by attaching two more shackles to hold the tack down more securely. By then, there were some very steep and short seas, with the strong ebb tide running against the opposing wind down the middle of the Strait, so sitting on the foredeck, figuring out how to fix the problem & then do the job, got a bit cold and wet!

It was altogether a cold, wet, grey afternoon, but I was given a lovely, warm farewell by friends and well-wishers - some in the towboat, skippered by helpful Mark of 'Prince of Whales', and others standing at Ogden Point to see me across my official start line ... and Glenn Wakefield, despite the weather, even made a much-appreciated, special effort to come around from Cadboro Bay in his newly-antifouled boat 'Westwind' - complete with her new mast. It was good to see him there, sailing alongside 'Nereida'. I felt very trepidatious, expecting some strong weather right at the start of my long voyage, so it felt great to have so many supportive, helpful people around at such a time. Thank you, all of you.

This is my last Internet session for 7mths or so - just a quick note to say I'm planning to leave from Victoria Hbr entrance Monday afternoon - around 3pm, to catch the strong Springs ebb from Race Rock and on westward...  Will be tough going against the expected headwind but storm will have abated by time I exit Strait of Juan de Fuca and swell should lessen quickly over Wednesday.
Mark on a 'Prince of Whales' RIB  will be towing me from the dock to the start line from Ogden Pt to just outside Macaulay Pt (a lit green buoy - in case I return in darkness!) 
On Saturday, Campbell of Trotac kindly came by on his day off work to resolve a problem with my watermaker and Mike at Coast Industrial Parts Ltd generously went out of his way to help with a last-minute problem with my propane supply to the galley - grateful thanks to both....
And the staff at Milestone's Restaurant, here beside the Empress Dock where "Nereida" has been berthed, have kindly plied me with coffee and friendly comments while I've made use of their wi-fi Internet connection!!
I'd like to thank the people who have helped me while here in Victoria (especially Tony & Coryn, Shaun & Penny, Ian & Susan, all of whom have given me a lot of their time)  -and all those who have come by, or emailed me, with their good wishes for a safe and successful voyage.  I hope to be back here in May/June next year!

I'll be posting daily positions and regular news updates, as usual when on passage, here to my website.

Au revoir from Jeanne on "Nereida", in Victoria, B.C.
 

Tuesday 19th October 2010

I'm delaying leaving Victoria - the weather forecast for the next five days shows a deepening Low system tracking in, giving very strong headwinds from the S in a couple of days' time, in conjunction with very light winds inshore over Wed & Thurs, making it difficult to exit from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Frustrating since I'm totally ready to go.... but there's no point in beating my brains out, tacking madly in big seas and getting nowhere for several days right at the start of my journey, following on from problems sailing out of the Strait in the very light winds I'd be seeing.

So suddenly I'm able to relax, catch up on sleep and do a few less important but nonetheless useful jobs before getting away - maybe by Monday.

Tony Gooch is my official 'starter' and 'finisher' (on behalf of the World Sailing Speed Record Council) and he wired my gear cable the other day - I can use the engine in neutral or astern but not in forward gear, although in an emergency I can cut the wire if I need to. (I'm not going for a speed record but they are the people who 'validate' round the world nonstop attempts, solo or otherwise.) A little 'black box recorder' has been installed on board - my GPS position will be recorded every 300 m of my journey. This particular one was on board the 6.50m mini used recently by the Franco-Italian skipper, Alessandro Di Benedetto to complete a 268-day single-handed round the world voyage - so maybe it will bring me luck!

I've had welcome help over my stay here, since arriving on Friday 8th October from visiting friends near Gibson's Landing, at the entrance to Howe Sound, north of Vancouver, from people who have taken me shopping for provisioning and Glenn Wakefield has come by to help in a very practical way several times. We first 'met' over the radio in the S. Atlantic when he was attempting to sail from Victoria westabout nonstop in 'Kim Chow'. He was on his way towards the Falklands and Cape Horn as I was heading NW to St Helena from Namibia early in 2008 and we've stayed in contact since then. We've a lot in common, having both lost our boats in a circumnavigation attempt, and both trying again to succeed this time around - he's preparing a new boat (S&S 42 'Westwind II') for his re-attempt which he hopes to start in July next year....

I'm also getting a lot of friendly support from local people and visitors here in Victoria.

Quite apart from provisioning for 8-9 months, in readiness for my expected 7 months at sea, I can now turn off the solar panels' input, to avoid the RF noise the regulator generates, and a proper switch has been installed between the start battery and domestic bank, to avoid the use of 'jump leads' as I had to recently when I had charging problems from Cape Town to Hawaii. My hot-air diesel heater is now working again (it had a 'leaky' connection to the fuel tank so fuel drained back into the tank from the feed pipe when not in use), I've just received a replacement VHF handset for a faulty, corroded one and I've replaced the mainsheet which was chafed in two places. I serviced the final (big) winch on Sunday and today stowed the bow anchor in the cockpit locker. Since I've time in hand now, I'll be able to deal with the loose fixings holding my chart-plotter/radar display in place.... and maybe also organize boat paperwork/manuals/info more usefully. The boat is looking far more tidy now I'm ready for passagemaking.

It's been so very calm here that I took photos of the lovely nearby lit-up Parliament building reflected in the still marina waters - a beautiful effect!

I just hope that once this Low pressure system has passed by, I'll be able to get out and away before the next one comes in - normally very soon after. In the meantime, I'm really enjoying my tidy, well-organized boat, after all the mess resulting from the work done in Pt Townsend!

The old Empress Hotel faces the waterfront and marina where I'm berthed.  I went inside on Wednesday - amazing!   Worth spending more time exploring... The Bengal Room was fabulous, with Indian artefacts and interior design... ... All from the turn of the 19th century, by the look of itl.

Tuesday 5th October
Back in the water, at last, on Friday, for final sail adjustments and work.  Removed all cabin doors and several bunk cushions, together with dinghy, outboard,
folding bike, etc, etc, to leave behind until my return next year...  Will simplify access to below bunks in case of problems, make moving around in rough seas easier and give better stowage..
 Even less wind today than when I left Port Townsend on Monday...  grrr!!!    Left Orcas  Island at sunrise and negotiated narrow Pole Pass with bated breath....   I'd cleared out of USA at Friday Hbr on Lopez Island and then cleared into Canada on reaching Vancouver - very friendly, helpful officials in both places. 
So very nice to be back in the water after several days of delays due to more work needed - a badly leaking chainplate needed an urgent repair and waiting for a rudder sealing ring to arrive very much later than expected also didn't help ... Everything seems to take so much longer than hoped for - I'm a perpetual optimist where timing is concerned...! 
I'd forgotten just how good it feels to be back on passage ....  always the expectation of the unknown.... a great feeling of freedom and escape ..... until, that is, I found problems with the radar, VHF radio and charting software.. to add in to a non-firing, newly-'fixed' heater I'd discovered on a cold Sunday night !!!  Oh well, ....  C'est la vie en bateau!!  Hopefully, I can sort them out before I leave.

Photos...of calm sea, penguin guillemots (?) about to dive below the surface and sealions hauled out on an islet - all on the approach to the San Juan Islands from the Strait of Juan de Fuca.....  a beautiful sunrise over Orcas Island looking back to Pole Pass and the approach to Vancouver from Pt Grey, with snow-capped Rockies as a backdrop.

Just received 'Happy Equinox' good wishes from Bob McDavitt! I'd been noticing the full moon and I'm hoping by the next one to be on my way.... Always nice to start passages with good moonlight.

Life has been pretty hectic of late - so much to do - & quick trip to UK (spent 3 days in all at So'ton Boat Show), while needed & very useful, didn't help!!

But I'm feeling quite optimistic with progress - actually may have achieved a dry boat with portlights having been pulled out and re-positioned, being now well- bedded in sealant. Also achieved major re-wiring of SSB/HF radio and solar panel regulator, among many other jobs done - so might be able to hear people as of now, without stopping the boat & switching off all instruments etc to avoid RF noise generated (not been too convenient!). I should actually see a decent solar input from now on also...! Spent time this afternoon balancing new Kiss wind generator rotor blades, ready to replace old generator tomorrow - if not raining.... Also now have both diesel heaters working and have organized getting hot water from immersion heater (will need to keep a good eye on battery voltage when using inverter for that) - useful for cold climes... Another plus is avoiding getting seawater into heater (diesel) daytank and also into freshwater tank by improving vent systems . One bonus of recent long, often rough, passages is finding all such problems before taking off on next (very long!) passage.

Saw my sails being worked on today - Carol Hasse and her crew at Port Townsend Sails always do an excellent job and I've had equally good riggers (Dan & crew at Pt Townsend Rigging) advising on, and implementing changes to, rig & reefing system - I've high hopes of reefing being a lot easier & less problematic from now on, especially with them having found cause(s) of my earlier persistent chafe problems.

Had lots of queries answered by helpful technical people at Southampton Boat Show - very productive time was spent there and urgent instrument repairs were seen to speedily by Raymarine & Simrad. Met all four new 'top' people at Najad who sounded very supportive - total change of ownership & top management there, which looks to be good for the company's future.

My proposed RTW nonstop route in outline: I'll probably need to leave from Victoria (B.C., Canada) as soon as a depression has passed by to get the 3-day weather window needed to get safely down past the Washington/Oregon coasts to the California border and better weather at this time of year. I usually plan to stay ~70-100 mls offshore initially, to avoid the continental shelf and fishing boats, and expect to end up rounding C. Horn early in the southern high summer of the New Year - then it's ENE from there, hoping to avoid nasty conditions around Cape Horn & near the Falklands, aiming for 40S or further north in the S. Atlantic and then on eastward (40S worked well for me ealier this year from S.Africa to past Aus - see my track via 'Travels' page on website). Then I'll pass S of Tasmania and N.Z. to pass the last two of the 'Five Gt Capes'.... I hope the weather S of N.Z. won't be too bad at that time of year (it's a bit shallow there...!) Then from N.Z. it's north to Cape Flattery & the Strait of Juan de Fuca - I hope the position of the N. Pacific High is more favourable than on my recent passage north, since I won't have the option of motoring in any calms encountered.... Back to Victoria - in May, if I'm very lucky, but could well be June.

I need to get back in the water, off the hard - next Tuesday, I'm hoping - so headsails' work (new anti-chafe patches) can be completed. I'd hoped to leave here well before the end of the month but it looks like being a few days later than that, but that's not too bad. Need to go sailing for 2-3 days to check all systems out & calibrate items before heading in to Empress Dock for final preparations for starting from Victoria Harbour just as soon as I'm ready - before next full moon, I'm hoping.

Jeanne
"Nereida"
Port Townsend, WA, USA

28th August - 4th September

Generally lovely sunny weather - but temperature has been dropping rapidly at sunset to give very cold evenings and nights.  (Photo shows Pt Wilson LH, just north of Port Townsend)
 

Work has gone far more slowly than I'd planned, with a major hiccup in dealing with the Sigmar heater when a lot of fuel siphoned out of the main tank into my bilges... now dealt with and the fuel feed and tank venting system improved to prevent a recurrence - but not pleasant and wasted two days... Heater finally finished with and working fine.

My servicing of winches is almost complete, although a winch part bouncing into the water one evening wasn't exactly welcomed...! Luckily disaster was averted because I had a similar gear cog wheel in my spares....! Once I'd got the centre hole slightly enlarged, we were back in business....

Cleaned and oiled my tools and found someone to adjust the settee cushions and velcro fixings to make them more practical..

Secondary alternator alignment turned into a simple 'fix' by adjusting drive pulley position with a spacer. A new 'Kiss' wind generator arrived from Trinidad - it's a great generator - silent but powerful, very simple in design & designed to be easy to mend with readily-obtainable parts anywhere (not that I needed to do much over the ten years I had it!). Main engine has developed an oil leak from its front seal - being replaced under warranty - but had to contact Cape Town to get new engine registration sorted out - the ten hours' time difference makes for difficult phonecall timing - I had to set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night...!

Hauled out on Wednesday - prop anode had totally disappeared, screws included!! Berthing here is becoming a problem since they're renewing many of the marina docks in the next few weeks.

Internet is also a bit of a problem - I'm having either to go to the local supermarket or the riggers nearby to get wi-fi access.

Invited out two evenings by local boaters - both very enjoyable, sociable evenings - made a nice change from working on boat!

'Hams' Aaron and Owen came with the suppressors Aaron had made up to instal in the power leads close to the autopilot hydraulic pumps... They seemed to make a definite difference in the RF noise heard over the SSB radio - I'll know for sure when I get back out to sea since there's a lot of noise in the marina here. I could make another suppressor for the fridge noise with the bits Aaron left with me - just a bit of soldering needed.

Visited Port Townsend Sails to discuss the sails Carol Hasse had taken away to be looked at in her loft after our sail last week to see how they performed in action. All three are in need of repair but the mains'l is particularly bad with UV degradation and chafe, closely followed by the stays'l. I've decided to dispense with my 'stack-pack' sail cover system for my RTW attempt - the lazyjacks have been an ongoing nuisance in strong winds, especially when tangling with the battens or going downwind, and are best made more easily movable to the mast. Also, the sail cover on either side of the boom has made it frequently impossible to see what's going on when I'm reefing so, since I shan't need a sailcover whilst solidly on passage for 7 months or so from October, it's best got rid of. I'm also adding cheek blocks to the boom for reefs 2 & 3 which should make it easier to reef and give a flatter foot to the mains'l - a good thing in strong winds.

Single-hander Seattle friend Harry ('Rhiannon'), last seen when leaving St Helena in April 2008, came over from Everett to visit... We enjoyed the live Friday night music and a tasty burrito in the Pt Townsend Brewery garden nearby....

Saturday started a long holiday weekend here (Monday 6th September is Labour Day in USA and Canada). I started the day off in relaxed fashion, after deliberately sleeping in for a change, with a visit to the locally-famous 'Blue Moose' cafe for a leisurely cooked breakfast accompanied by reading a novel before spending a lot of time chasing around getting extra bits and pieces for my toolbox. Also bought quite a few clip-on ferrites for further noise suppression in instrument cables and some brush-on liquid which I painted over Aaron's soldered joints to protect the electrical connections from corrosion.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, I'll be trying to get as much work done myself as possible as well as organizing people here to get on with work while I make a short visit to UK where I'll get to the Southampton Boat Show on Friday and Saturday. That will be useful for discussions with people to get a few more boat problems resolved, I hope, before returning to Port Townsend the following weekend, planning to finish off boat jobs in readiness for my October start from Victoria. 
 
 
 

'Big Mitch' ferried me out to "Nereida", at anchor in Hanalei Bay on Kauai, before sailing around to Nawiliwili.

Hanalei Bay, home of Puff, the Magic Dragon....

The Hokule'a was visiting Nawiliwili the day I left to sail north.  A traditional Polynesian craft, keeping alive the art of navigation by waves and stars alone...!

Grand daughter was visiting the skipper..... 

Red-footed booby comes to roost on pulpit of "Nereida" overnight - no mean balancing act, considering the seas at the time!

Cormorants on a floating tree trunk in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.....

Among many other jobs, thorough winch servicing was needed on arrival from Hawaii, after a total of well over 20,000 miles from England - nice to have clear blue skies and warm sun!

Low-water at the nearby haul-out in Pt Townsend

Typical Victorian house in Port Ttownsend

Port Townsend is a 'wooden boat town' : the lovely 'Martha'.

Lots of work still to be done...

The week has been a busy one, with a fair amount achieved.  The  rig has been checked thoroughly and re-tensioned, with various other improvements also made or in the pipeline after lengthy discussions, in the light of my recent experiences, with Dan of Port Townsend Rigging.  It looks as though the last of my chafe problems might have finally been resolved after the 2nd reef line was discovered to be wrongly lead inside the forward end of the boom - I do hope that'is the end of those long-running problems....

It also looks as though the secondary alternator re-alignment might have an easy 'fix' since the primary engine alternator drive pulley can be slightly adjusted in position - enough to align the two, hopefully - we'll find out if that works on Monday.  The diesel heaters have also been dealt with - disturbingly, the small diesel tank in the forepeak was found to have a lot of seawater in it - presumably having got in via the air vent which must now be looked at to see if something can be done to avoid that... maybe the pipework can be routed differently or a stop-valve added....  but in the meantime, the burner had corroded - so no wonder it didn't want to light, especially if it was now being fed with water...!

I've been giving a lot of thought to electrical and radio problems - with help today from Aaron and Owen, two local 'hams' from the Port Ludlow A.R.S.,, who kindly volunteered to help me & spent quite a time trying to work out how to get rid of RF interference.   I'm feeling quite optimistic on that front now - but need to test it out when a few more 'chokes' have been put in place on some data cables and power leads, to add in to the suppressors which are being placed in the autopilot hydraulic pump power leads.  Re-routeing the coax between tuner and  radio also had a definite and positive effect.  

Sailmaker Carol Hasse came out for a test sail yesterday to look at the sails and systems on board -  the sails are now in her loft, ready for repair and adjustments and the outing, as I expected, proved very useful - she has such a lot of good ideas and a wealth of experience....

I'll be servicing the winches on and off over the weekend and for several days  (there are eight in all!) - doing the job thoroughly takes time, but I quite enjoy doing it - and it's lovely to hear them purring in action after a good cleaning and greasing!! 

But tonight I took time off to enjoy an hour or so of Pt Townsend's regular Friday night entertainment - live music at the Pt Townsend Brewery's little garden, close by the Boat Haven.