Highlights of the last few days of my three-week passage from Kauai, Hawaii....

Tues evening:
'Happy Birthday' sung to me by the Pacific Seafarers Net choir! Thank you all so much for that - a lovely surprise!!

Wed 18th Aug (Day 20) Heading to Cape Flattery ..... Vancouver Island not so very far off

Wind got up to around 25 knots from NNW by midnight, seas big ... Vancouver Island only 90 ml away... reduced visibility with fog lurking, some shipping.
Made contact with Darlene, KL7OYC, near Ketchikan, Alaska, on Gt Northern Boaters' Net - last saw & spoke with her in 2006! Also Barbara, VE7KLU, Net Control for GNBN in Sidney, B.C., later, with Bill, VE7WSM, in Port Alberni, relaying.
Occasional storm petrels seen, also bits of kelp seen floating - sure sign of land!
Wind became flukey - dying and then increasing several times, over day - but fairly consistently from NW, so course directly towards Cape Flattery could be held. Seeing a definite tidal flow - sometimes helpful, other times not!
Spectacular deep red sunset, with overcast sky clearing from the west to give clear sky overhead, bright half-moon shining on sea which finally has phosphorescence with frequent vivid bright sparks in disturbed water beside the boat, under a bright, starry sky.
A lot of time continuing to be spent with emails to & fro, dealing with radio reception problems and what I must do to resolve them on landfall... I'm determined to fix that problem!

Thursday 19th Aug (Day 21) Unexpected brief landfall to see friends in Neah Bay!

Broad reach with full genoa in NW4 (around 11-14 knots) but dying over morning. Clear sky but dense cloud layer over Vancouver Island preventing me from seeing its mountains, even when closer later.
Chatted to 'W.E. Ricker', a Canadian Fisheries vessel carrying out a hake survey and later took VHF DSC call from 'John P. Tully', Canadian CG vessel, to warn me of a Panamanian tanker a distance ahead, just then leaving traffic lanes at end of Strait of Juan de Fuca and shortly to make a turn ahead of me, across my path.... Plenty of shipping now.
Feeling v. tired for lack of proper sleep - two nights with increasing shipping around, so not able to relax for long... and another busy night coming up...
Birds a-plenty on sea at entrance to Strait - flock of tiny grey/white waders and lots of sea-ducks which would skitter across the surface, rather than take off, or dive suddenly ....murres & penguin guillemots. I'm suddenly seeing birds I'd forgotten about since last this way in 2006!
Motorsailing east now in light wind from west.... came across a big area of kelp in deep water. Help! Get out of there as fast as possible, while avoiding big clumps where seen. Kelp is nasty stuff (normally a warning of shallows) and it's not good news if the prop hits it, the stem being really hard & woody.
Incredibly, got a call from 'Kokopelli' as taking photos of Cape Flattery in distance... Canadian boatfriends I'd last seen in 2008 ... now in Neah Bay - I just had to stop and see them....!! Spent two hours in Neah Bay - turned out Richard was helping to bring a boat up from San Diego, in company with 3 others, all of whom it turned out I'd met previously in B.C. or in Mexico - what a lovely, unplanned landfall ..... and in bright sunshine!! Such an incredible coincidence - they'd not long arrived themselves and heard me on VHF talking to a tug heading west towing a barge, to agree avoidance tactics...
So last leg of this journey now.... eastbound along Strait of Juan de Fuca on edge of traffic lanes, thick fog & cloud obscuring Vancouver Island, in Canadian British Columbia, to my north and lovely Washington (U.S.A.) coastal scenery, with Olympic range of mountains, to my south in lovely sunshine ... but feeling cold with a water temperature down to almost 10C (50F)!!
A beautiful sunset. Ferries crossing N-S between Victoria and Port Angeles adding to stream of E-W traffic I'm having to keep a constant eye on as I head past Dungeness Spit (so many British place-names hereabouts...!) and on towards Pt Wilson and Puget Sound, as dawn beaks...

Friday 20th August .... Final landfall in Port Townsend, WA, USA

Avoided early morning rowers out training in calm water inshore - preparing for Wooden Boat Show (10/11 Sept) racing, no doubt.

Arrived 0745 at fuel dock just inside Port Townsend Boat Haven - after my third attempt to get through mud of shallows close to entrance at dead low water - and it's not even Springs yet!! Twice I approached slowly, knowing there could be a problem, and had to back away hurriedly as the water got a mite too 'thin' and we started to ground.... Wind had died completely so I had no problem coming gently alongside with lines and fenders at the ready, stepping off to tie up and await opening of fuel dock so I could re-fuel before moving to a slip. It was lovely to hug friend Kathy who came by soon after, before work.

I'd already contacted people for a long list of jobs needing attention on board and spent the rest of the day in discussions on electrical, mechanical, sail, rigging and other problems - all to be sorted out over the next 2-3 weeks or so, so the boat will be in good order for my mid-October departure from Victoria, B.C., Canada - just 35 miles to the NW of here. I've plenty to keep me busy now! But I'm looking forward to getting together with friends I've not seen for quite a while, in between the work.

Sun 15th Aug

I've been sitting watching the wind display, in patchy fog, with the sun struggling to get out, waiting for the wind to pick up from its present 3-5 knots...! But at least it's from the West now - a major change, so that's good news for heading east to B.C. and Washington! Trying not to run the engine too hard, to conserve fuel.

Earlier, I managed to free the first reef line from the boom end where it has been stuck fast for a time - so now the main can be fully hoisted - for when we get wind enough to sail properly! I also took the opportunity to mark the lines near the jammers - always useful.

By evening, we got sailing, at last! I'd turned off everything - autopilot, motor, instruments, etc - as usual, so I could hear on the Pacific Seafarers' Net - and despite making only 4 knots SOG, left the motor off, hoping it would get better.... which it has. The wind has very slowly increased so we're now beam-reaching at about 4.5-6 knots - great!

Fog looks set to come down again overnight.

Mon 16th Aug Seeing ships quite often on AIS - but well clear.

Grey, murky sky - but boisterous, fast sailing!! Occasional glimpse of a hint of blue in the afternoon, with a weak sun struggling to show itself for a short while.... but no fog...

By early morning, the wind had increased to NNW 4-5 , at around 16 knots, so I tied the first reef in the mains'l and furled in the genoa a touch also - we were still making over 7 knots! Seas have increased to just over 2 m with the constant good wind, but that's not too bad. I've switched my berth to the starboard side now, being on port tack, since we're heeling more and getting occasionally knocked about in the bigger waves.

I've been spending a lot of time recently, 'talking' by email to various people about my RF interference problems on the radio and how to solve them. With help from several quarters, and in particular from Jerry, KL7EDK, a Winlink sysop who has been particularly helpful with lots of emails to & fro, I now have a clear idea of why I've the problems - and, most importantly, what I need to do in Port Townsend to improve the situation. I just need time and patience to sort it all out. My transmissions have never been a problem because of the excellent, dedicated radio 'ground' I insisted on Najad installing - glassing in a large copper sheet on the inside of the hull and connecting it to a large sintered bronze ground-plate on the outside of the hull, all then connected to the tuner directly beneath the backstay antenna with a wide copper strap.. The problem has been with terrible, noisy reception - but, hopefully, not for much longer....!

Time for the Pacific Seafarers Net check-in at 2025PDT (0325 GMT).... The two other boats ahead of me that I know have now made landfall ('Khulula' on Vancouver Island and 'Marcy' in Sitka) - but I still have several days to go.... Maybe the 20th, all being well. (Actually very late for Net check-in - had to take in 2nd reef in mains'l plus furled in genoa some more but still making 6.5 - 7 knots - wind and seas have definitely increased - and night will be falling shortly...!!)

DMG: Sun 15 Aug: 104 n.ml. Mon 16 Aug: 128 n.ml

Distance to Pt Townsend at noon PDT todaty: 525 n.ml.

Wednesday 11 Aug - sunset....

A pair of fast-flying, prettily-marked prions flew around just before sunset - I got dizzy trying to follow one of them to get a good look at it, they flew so fast, circling the boat, around & around.... Maybe these were the birds I've been seeing circling & hearing twittering overnight? Far more likely than Leach's petrels to be behaving in that way...

And then, as I looked around at the sea, as a vivid deep orange sun sank out of sight, the spout of a whale caught my eye - then a broad grey back at the surface... and then another spout - but from a short distance away from the first - TWO whales were cruising south, not far away!

And all the time, we've been sailing along nicely - at around six knots ... It's been a good day!

I nearly missed my 'sched' with the Pacific Seafarers Net - and was glad I hadn't when I was relayed a message from a friend of a friend that the said friend had been taken in to hospital - I just hope he'll be well enough to be out soon. A kindly 'ham' in Alabama ending up relaying between the two of us to pass messages, since we couldn't hear each other too well - the HF radio can be very useful at times and there are a lot of helpful people out there!! I also got an emailed message via yet another mutual friend to let me know - it's a small world, with Kauai connecting via "Nereida" with Port Townsend!!

Thursday 12 Aug
A whale surfaced just two boat lengths away!! I heard it blowing when I was in the galley - and came up in time to see its broad grey back come up to the surface, heading the same way as us, really close by.... I rushed for my camera - but it must have decided to dive deep and head away - nothing more was seen of it... but I kept a look out for ages, just in case. Exciting!

Another good sailing day - so nice not to have to turn on the motor over the entire day! I studied the latest weather info overnight - and decided to change course before dawn to get further East while that was possible in the S-SSE winds - heading for the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I hope that tactic works! The idea is that in a day or so, I'll be forced to sail more north anyway in more E winds because the High is moving north with me so I'll be keeping winds from the SE quadrant for some time yet.... until the High dissipates and then I'll be in light winds for a time.... That's if the forecasts are correct!

While it was still fairly calm, I transferred a lot of fuel from jerrycans into the main tank, using a little 12V pump to make it easy. It's so nice to have the filler cap right beside the cockpit locker - one of my many changes on this boat. I didn't want any chance of repeating seawater getting into the fuel from a leaky cap on the side deck, as happened to me on a similar journey (to Sitka from Kauai) in '06! (Another change was adding a sight-glass to the main tank, showing exactly where the fuel level is - very reassuring to be able to see exactly how much fuel is in the tank.)

Near sunset, there was a big flock of fast-flying prions around... and a sky full of nasty-looking dark grey clouds - a big change from the clear sky earlier!

Fri 13th Aug
Overnight, the wind died right down to just 6 knots - so on seeing under 3 knots SOG showing around midnight, we began motor-sailing - and had to keep on for the rest of the day, with occasional hopeful stops - but never for long. The wind was highly variable with some big clouds around. By midday they cleared to give nice sunshine - but the air feels COLD, especially in the breeze! Air temp: 22C, sea temp: just 17C - and going down... (to 15C on Saturday, with air temp 19C).

Saturday 14th Aug
Another frustrating day of being forced to head NNE-NE, motor-sailing, when our rhumb-line course is due East. The fact that this was expected doesn't make it any the less frustrating!! As usual, I've been spending a lot of time downloading, and poring over, weather info - gribs and weatherfaxes... We're still struggling to make sensible headway.... heading close-hauled into winds and swell from a generally E direction - but there's finally light at the end of the tunnel - it does look as though by late tomorrow, at least, after increasingly light winds until then, we might actually have good wind allowing us to lay our course under sail alone directly to the Strait of Juan de Fuca - and, most importantly, the wind looks set to continue that way, with this frustrating H finally moving to where it's meant to have been!! In fact, the 4-day forecast is showing a massive H centred south of the Aleutians, giving a nice Northerly airflow to help me to get East. Presently, it looks as though landfall in Port Townsend might be around 20th August .... we'll see!

As I'm about to post this, around local midday, I'm seeing the wind varying ... just saw it die down to ESE 3 knots for a while .... so maybe that wind change is on its way...

24 hr noon-to-noon DMG: Thurs: 133 n.ml. Fri: 133 n.ml. Sat: 104 n.ml.

We had our first rainshower for a time on Monday night - but not much. Coincided with veering of the light wind from E to S-SSW ... had to furl in headsails with such light wind - we'd been motor-sailing, as usual. But very soon after, the wind backed again to SE so seems it was just a cloud effect.... Unfurled stays'l yet again. Pity - I'd been hoping it was the West winds I want setting in.... but from the weatherfaxes and gribs, the High is set to move north with us for the next several days - bad news since it means we'll have to get much further North before we dare turn East, or we'll end up being headed - seems likely to me that will happen for a short time anyway if I don't want to end up in Alaska!

Tuesday was generally fairly calm, with continued light SSE-S wind. I decided it was time to chop up the four butternut squash still on board from S.Africa and cook them (they make a lovely soup) - they've lasted the five months since leaving Cape Town remarkably well! Definitely good for long-term provisioning! I was pleased the other day when the butane gas to the stove ran out in calm conditions as I was about to make tea ... It's such a pain changing the European-style butane cylinders under any circumstances but I've been very lucky since N.Z. - this is the second time it's happened in calm seas so the change-over was not too bad, except for the totally rusted tanks being nasty to handle. I much prefer the highly practical US propane system which has a very simple, easy-to-operate, pipe/tank connection. And at least the aluminium tanks I installed don't go rusty. (I was amazed to learn that it's against regulations in the EC to fill tanks made of Al! I couldn't get the new US tanks filled until I got to S. Africa... In the US, they have to be tested every so often to ensure they're safe, rather like dive-tanks, but there's no provision for that in the EC regulations.)

A few small birds (possibly the Leach's petrels seen before) were flying around with lots of twittering again overnight - they seem to be attracted by the navigation lights. Every time I came up on deck, I could see and hear them - I wondered if they ever rest!

Wednesday ... What a lovely day today!! The wind strengthened early morning, so the motor is finally off and we're now having a lovely sail in relatively smooth seas - we're actually making over 6 knots regularly under sail, which is so nice to see!! The sun is managing to get out from the light cloud cover, added to which, a large, mixed group of dolphins and Dall's porpoises came by this morning and played around for quite a time, some around our bow and others jumping straight up into the air before falling back in - just like schoolkids released on holiday! A lovely sight!

I spent a time today looking over my major (nonstop) passages since leaving Guernsey last September ..... and doing some calculations!

5-16 Sept '09: Guernsey to Lanzarote ................ 1484 ml...... 11.5 days
10 Oct - 9 Dec '09: Lanzarote to Cape Town .................. 6298 ml .... 61 days
9 Mar - 10 May '10: Cape Town to Nelson, N.Z. .................. 7575 ml..... 62 days
3 June - 10 July '10: Pt Underwood, N.Z. to Oahu, Hawaii .... 4590 ml .... 35 days
29 July - ?? Aug '10: Nawiliwili, Kauai to Pt Townsend ......... 1562 ml .... 13 days...and still counting! Distance to finish: 1136 ml... ETA: 19/20 Aug

24 hr (noon-to-noon PDT) DMG: Tuesday 10 Aug: 113 n.ml. (heading N then NE effectively reduced overall distance made good)
Wednesday 11 Aug: 138 n.ml. (all in a more-or-less straight line! ... and with better wind this morning.)

Days 7-11 from Kauai ..... and a lot more to go, by the looks of things, with a very large High pressure area in our path to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

I seem to be forever checking our course, speed and wind direction - none of which ever seems good...! Frequently, we're down to ~2.5 knots - so then I turn the motor on for some gentle motor-sailing, but even that needs wind in the sails, so often we're heading in a direction well away from our preferred course. Sometimes the wind is so light I furl in the headsails and try to make our course under motor alone, heading into what little wind there is.... but there's a limit to that - only so much fuel on board! We still need to get further N before safely being able to 'turn the corner' & head E 'for the barn door'.

I'm constantly downloading weather faxes and grib files, hoping to see better news - but, if anything, it's getting worse - the H is forecast to be moving N with us! Which means a delay in finding the good SW-W winds, which will later turn NW-N closer to the coast. (Wind since early Saturday has been E-NNE, mainly 7-9 knots). I keep calculating fuel consumption.... and trying to figure out how many more days of (gentle) motoring are available to me to get through the light winds still ahead.

If I weren't so impatient to get to Pt Townsend the sooner, to get much-needed repairs underway, I could simply amble along under sail alone and just go with the flow.... it would be much simpler! "Things will change within a few days, once the High is south of us," I wrote in my last report... Fat chance!!! I was expecting this passage to take over 3 wks, but it looks as though it could take even longer.

Frustrations apart..... what other news? Well, I have, most unusually, enjoyed several sessions of sitting in a warm cockpit with a mug of tea or coffee to hand, enjoying a good read. The sea has been generally very calm, with just gentle waves and no big swell and it has frequently been sunny. Air and sea temperatures have slowly been dropping - and, for the first time since11 days out from N.Zealand in June, at 29S, the daytime air temperature of 24C, is just a bit higher than the sea, 23C (we're at ~42.5N).

Occasional birds have been seen - several small, white-rumped, dark petrels (Leach's?) were near us overnight and yesterday, with shrill twitterings as they fluttered close to the boat, and a large, all-dark bird (except for its pale beak - Flesh-footed Shearwater?) came gliding by yesterday - could have been a Black-footed albatross if it weren't for the pale beak. It looked very similar to White-chinned petrels seen in the Southern Ocean.

No old glass floats, with or without the string netting around them - but I did go chasing twice after what turned out to be black plastic mooring balls!

Occasional ships have crossed our path - one saw no good reason to change course slightly in order not to head across our bows at night, passing about one mile off.... AIS is sooo useful... but I may have a problem with my VHF radio - seems to have been getting broken transmissions several times ... Is it their equipment... or my connections...??

Our course has so often been a zig-zag as the wind has shifted, or I try to head nearer our preferred course, and the light wind has rarely enabled good boatspeed with us being invariably close-hauled, so it's not too surprising to see increasingly poor daily runs.... hiding more frustration as I constantly try to make what speed I can!

Daily DMG over Thurs 5th - Mon 9th Aug: 122, 125, 119, 108, 97 n.ml.

Wind's dying yet again - we're down from 5.5 to 3.7 knots in 7 knots of E wind ... and that's with a slight fair current!! Oh well.... I'd better find a new book to read to take my mind off it...

Tues/Wed 3rd/4th August (Days 5&6) one tropic bird and one black plastic ball!

Not a lot to report these last two days ... except to say that, while there was good wind on Tuesday, the wind has slowly been dying over today to not very much (~ 7 knots by afternoon) and so the sea has calmed down and we're hardly heeling at all. Also, as the pressure has increased with getting closer to the N. Pacific High, the sky has cleared to give sunny blue skies by day - & bright Venus and lots of stars by night. Overnight on Tuesday, I spotted a brightly lit boat about 3-4 miles astern which was not showing on my AIS screen, only on radar.... A time I'm glad I'm transmitting on AIS, in case they have that. Either way, it seemed to keep well clear & I presumed, from its behaviour, that it was a fishing boat. Most commercial ships should be transmitting on AIS.

I've been so much more relaxed in the pleasant, warm conditions - gradually shaking out reefs and unfurling the headsails to keep our speed up, but eventually having to start the motor to increase our speed from around 3 knots - not something I'll be able to do the next time I pass this way headed north, since that will be purely under sail - hopefully by next May, as I head back to Victoria, B.C., to complete my RTW attempt - fingers crossed!! I've even been relaxed enough to enjoy reading a novel ('Midshipman Bolitho' - by Alexander Kent - fascinating - and following on nicely from the first three I've not long finished in the Patrick O'Brien series, set in the same era). It's also been calm enough for some proper cooking of evening meals (I still have onions and potatoes from N.Z., .... possibly from Cape Town...!). Things will change within a few days, once the High is south of us, I'm sure! But the good news for the moment is that we seem to have a small fair current - our SOG is slightly greater than our boatspeed - always nice to see!

I caught the occasional glimpse of a quite large bird gliding in the distance yesterday - but it never came close enough to the boat to see if it's an albatross or not - I've heard people say they've seen them when on passage here but I wouldn't like to say what this bird was. At least in the Southern Ocean the albatrosses come right up to the boat so you can identify them easily. But a lovely white Tropic bird did pass by for a short time just before midday today, inspected the boat and dived for a fish, before flying off.

I got all excited this evening just around sunset - I spotted quite a large ball floating on the surface of the sea - but when I circled around to close on it, it turned out to be a large black plastic float and not the glass ball I was hoping for. It had obviously been floating for a time, with lots of gooseneck barnacles hanging down from under it. I'll keep looking while the sea's calm.... it would be nice to find an old glass float and, by all reports, they do still seem to be around.

DMG: Tues: 132 n.ml. Wed: 138 n.ml. (Shortest distance to Port Townsend, by Great Circle route to the Strait of Juan de Fuca: 1770 n.ml. at noon )

I'm not able to head directly for the Strait of Juan de Fuca yet because the wind direction is still from the E, so our COG is only just E of due north still. Once we're a bit further north, the winds should veer to the SW around the High and then we'll be able to change to a better course.

Monday 2nd August (Day 4 to Pt Townsend)

Well, the red-footed booby stayed overnight Friday and put in a couple of appearances on Saturday - but nothing more has been seen of it - we must be too far from its usual haunts now. I did catch sight of one flying fish early today but have seen no other wildlife.... a noticeable lack of that.

Weather has been mainly pleasantly sunny and warm, although beating into wind and waves as we head north means it's invariably 'bumpy' which, together with being heeled over all the time, makes for difficult moving around down below. We've had the occasional squally raincloud but not often over the last couple of days. Winds look set to be good for the next day or so (presently E5, at 18 knots) but likely to get light by Thursday and stay that way for several days as pressure increases and we get close to the Pacific High, so I'll probably be using the 'iron sail' a bit then, to make faster progress.

It's been fairly relaxing on board and I've been catching up on both sleep and emails, while also giving thought to the boat repairs and work needed when we make landfall .... Every day, I check into the Pacific Seafarers' Net, giving my position and weather, and I've also been taking part in the Hawaiian Afternoon Net - an excuse to chat to people! Radio use has become an important part of my daily routine, keeping me in contact with people - either by voice or for emails (and weather).

Later (in the dark night): Well, I should have known it would happen - it's been far too relaxing & pleasant a day today.... Just got hit by a major squall as we passed under a dark raincloud... Boat well heeled over, wind steering suddenly having problems coping, so sails flapping as we head up and apparent wind hits 30 knots.... As I set to, winching in the genoa, seas crashed over the decks & canopy and I gasped as cold water landed on my back & head..... No, I hadn't thought to put on a jacket as I went up on deck.... we're still almost in the warm Tropics, at 30 N.... but night-time seawater showers in strong wind are definitely chilly and I was glad to change into dry clothing on getting back down below soon after, when things had calmed down again....

24hr noon-to-noon runs (DMG):

Sat: 126 n.ml. Sun: 132 n.ml. Mon: 137 n.ml.

Friday 39th July 2010

Left Nawiliwili yesterday near sunset - after visiting Hokule'a - a polynesian double canoe (built 1974-75) visiting Kauai looking for future crew members.. No engine and only traditional navigation using sky and waves (but a transponder run by solar panels on board to keep track of them!) Got a very nice, big send-off (shell being blown!) as I passed by on my way out of harbour.

Departure was delayed by need to mend tear in sail where top batten broke on way north from NZ and by need to re-position and tighten nuts holding autopilot drive arm in place on rudder post. Only when inspected closely did I realize it had risen up on way from NZ - just when I thought that particular problem had been resolved. Also winches were checked over and one greased (it was dried out and squealing).

I'd refuelled and provisioned with Tom's help (K4XV) (he and his wife Suzanne have been very welcoming during my time here) and other help was given by nearby cruiser Charlie and Kauai 'ham' Jane (NH7TZ) - all very much appreciated by me. I must also mention help freely given by friendly Carl Andersson - a Swede who took my start battery up to Napa for charging when I found it flat on arriving back from a quick visit to UK. Once I'd changed the genset seawater pump (not as difficult as I'd feared it might be) and the engine start battery was replaced fully charged, I was then able to run the main engine to charge the domestic battery bank sufficiently to start the genset - which was then run for a long time to charge the batteries - and all because the 110V input to the boat from shorepower was not working in my absence as it should have been ... grrr!! Carl also kindly did an 'emergency epoxy repair' on the hull where I'd found bare concrete on the dock edge on coming in to Nawiliwili the previous time in the dark .... Thanks a lot , Carl.... And also Tom, Jane and Charlie.

Sailing conditions just now are highly variable - with occasional large rainclouds, we're going from light wind to strong wind - and I'm constantly having to resist the temptation to let out more canvas in the light winds and resulting very slow boatspeed...! I think I might finally have learned that lesson.... at least overnight....

Three weeks' passage is what I'm expecting to the Strait of Juan de Fuca which separates Canada (B.C.) from USA (Washington State) at the S end of Vancouver Island. But timing will be rather dependent on the position of the N.E. Pacific High pressure area - I have to sail around that, with maybe some motoring through or around the 'no-wind' middle if caught out by that.... Time will tell...

I thought I'd lost a red-footed booby which had decided to rest on the pulpit and preen itself at sunset - no mean feat keeping its balance on the metalwork in the big swell knocking us about. But I just noticed it had moved to nearer the cockpit (where the boat's motion is slightly less). It's quite handsome with all-white plumage, except for broad black wing tips, blue beak, black eyes and bright red legs & feet.

Left Honolulu at 6.30 a.m. local time (Hawaii time is 10 hrs behind GMT/UTC)..... on Thursday 8th July (local date) - I've finally accepted the consequences of crossing the Date Line just before midnight on Saturday 5th June (4 days out from N.Z.) so I'm having to repeat a day in my calendar to get into sync ...!!! As I left, I thoroughly enjoyed my first mug of freshly brewed coffee for a long time...with fresh milk bought in Honolulu ....!

Had to motor to get away from Honolulu and the wind-shadow of Oahu. Not until gone 1 p.m. local time did we get clean air and find the 20 knot NE Trades - 15 miles WSW of Kaena Pt -the extreme NW point of Oahu. After that, I had a fabulous sail all the way over over to Kauai, reaching Nawiliwili soon after sunset, with the intention of stopping just for a few hours to delay my arrival in Hanalei until daylight.

I wasn't keen to heave to for several hours on a lee shore, which I'd be on when sailing on around the north end of Kauai towards Hanalei, and by stopping in Nawiliwili, I'd be able to see something of the marina which I had been considering for leaving "Nereida" in for a short while. It also gave me the chance to meet up with Tom, K4XV, for a chat since he lives not too far away.

This was a very dark, night entry with the good-sized NE swell coming right into the small bay leading to the entrance near shore at the end of the long breakwater. The red lights of the transit were very useful for getting the entry right but once inside the harbour it was a bit difficult to see where I was going and got quite worrying at times when I spotted unlit large buoys close to my path. There was a big question mark over my proposed tying-up place - sure enough, Tom contacted me to change to coming in to an empty marina berth ... Being in an unfamiliar place, I had to go very slowly and be particularly careful to get that right - even more so when I saw the size of the space I was coming in to (a bit on the small side!!) and gathered that the docks and posts between the pairs of boats were concrete - not floating docks and not 'cushioned' with rubber along their edges in any way.... except for some tyres, nowhere near the sharp corner on the approach. One of the few times I was happy to use my bowthruster to help getting in to a difficult berth without too much damage!

Tom stayed to chat for a while and it turned out that he might be able to help me with the problem I'm having charging my laptop (the plug-in point is damaged) - he's a computer technician - useful! As an ex-cruiser himself, he was happy to stay and talk 'boat-talk' for quite a while....!!

I slept for a few hours and got up before dawn to leave for the sail around to Hanalei Bay. It got quite 'interesting' manoeuvring the boat away from the dock unaided, with the wind trying to blow the bow off so we kept touching this big square concrete post close by the stern on the one side... and an unprotected concrete jetty on the other side... and almost no space to spare...! Fortunately, just then, the wind was not too strong so, with a bit of 'manhandling' - quick hopping about from the stern to push us off the post, to the dockside to stop fenders getting caught on a couple of tyres, to the wheel for a touch of steering going very slightly astern... helped eventually by the wind continuing to blow the bow off so we finally turned gently in a direction I wanted to go (unusual that - Murphy was clearly asleep just then!!), we managed to leave the berth without adding any more scratches to the hull ....

As if that weren't enough, just as I was leaving the breakwater entrance, it started raining heavily - and that turned into a long squall accompanied by 25+ knot winds. Having raised the mains'l inside the breakwater, I now had to take in the third reef hurriedly! When the squall finally passed over, there was a most beautiful rainbow as compensation for the stress!

The grey clouds cleared away eventually and after a bit of initial motor-sailing, I was able to cut the engine and enjoy a leisurely sail around the NE end of Kauai, gradually easing the sheets to end up downwind on the final approach to Hanalei past the Kilauea lighthouse - first time downwind over the entire passage from New Zealand!!

I was confirmed by the SHTP Race Committee over the VHF to have crossed the Race Finish Line off Princeville Bluff around 2 p.m. local time and by 3 p.m. I was finally anchored (took a time because the pin was stuck fast with salt so I couldn't release the anchor from the bow roller - good to have people nearby come to my rescue!! I must have circled around my proposed anchoring spot at least half a dozen times...!). I then sat in the cockpit with my helpers, taking in the beautiful scenery around the bay and relaxing in the sun, enjoying the feeling of having finally arrived - I was in good time for the evening's Awards dinner .... It felt good... and even better later when I met up with so many friends I'd not seen for a time and I enjoyed meeting some of the Racers I'd talked to over the radio but had never met face to face.

I'll be pausing my reporting now until I start on my next passage to head north to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and on to Puget Sound, after a short 'holiday' here in beautiful Hanalei Bay in between dealing with a few 'boat jobs' over the coming week or so (engine oil-change, generator seawater pump replacement & oil change, etc, etc)...... I feel like taking time out to relax for a change... although I also, unfortunately, have 'paperwork' to catch up on, having been at sea for such long periods since last September (and away from London all that time) !   There's so much to organize and think about by way of repairs etc if I'm to re-start my nonstop, solo RTW attempt in October....

Failed generator seawater pump to be replaced with new (and old one serviced with new seal etc as a spare)...

  ......  Alternator belt shredded by misalignment in system ....   

.........     Just a couple of the many jobs to be seen to before I'm ready to 'jump off' again in October!!!   Never say life on board is dull or boring....  There's always a challenge of some description!!  (And Murphy is never far away...)

Some more photos taken recently (click on any photo to enlarge it).   First one shows my dilemma in an 'oh-so-dark' anchorage shared with a fish farm off Port Underwood, New Zealand, when looking for shelter from a storm near Cook Strait at beginning of passage north to Hawaii...   Should I believe the chart plotter or radar? ....  I managed to split the difference!!  (Notice where the proposed anchoring spot lay... )   Looks as though radar needs calibrating - another job on the list...

4 June  : One of many magnificent albatross that kept "Nereida" company while heading north from New Zealand :

21 June :  SPCZ squall!

25 June:  A lovely flying fish was unlucky enough to land in the cockpit overnight :

The last four days to Hawaii from New Zealand mainly passed with good, vigorous sailing: often 'creaming along'... 'in the groove' ... in good E wind, occasionally backing or veering slightly, often in big seas, and with glorious sunny days with nights full of stars - Southern Cross visible simultaneously with the Great Bear!

Passing the 'Big Island' of Hawaii there was a very strong SSW current which slowed us down badly - we lost 2 knots for quite a time and, when crossing due West of the channel that divides the 'Big Island' of Hawaii from the island of Maui, it was such a bumpy ride that water from the galley sink spilled and gave me a major mopping-up session...!! And overnight, as I knelt in the cockpit busy winching, I got totally drenched by seas whooshing over the cockpit canopy and landing on top of me - I was dripping everywhere when I eventually made my way down below to change my clothes!!

The wind came up after sunset on Wednesday, having died right down mid-afternoon - thought I'd lost the Trades, with light wind from NNW.... was not what I was expecting, but it didn't last very long.

I've had to change my landfall plans - it was to be the supposed Port of Entry of Nawiliwili, on Kauai, but after lots of effort and phone calls to investigate for me, Tom, K4XV, who lives close by and is a regular Net Control for the Pacific Seafarers Net that I'm checking into daily, finally got the answers he'd been looking for. As a non-US citizen, I can't clear Customs etc on Kauai but needed to make for Maui or Oahu. Fortunately, I'd changed course slightly for Honolulu on Oahu a day or so earlier, when Nawiliwili was beginning to sound dubious, and while it was possible to lay the course, even though I was already on a close reach.

In the final night's approach to Oahu, a ship came right across our bows - no response to radio calls beforehand and I wondered if they knew we were there!! I switched on the deck light to make our sails highly visible - just in case someone was awake and looking out...!

So I made landfall at Ala Wai marina today just after 2p.m. Hawaii time, near Pearl Harbour, on Oahu, to clear US Customs and Immigration after a 36-day passage from New Zealand. Cruisers I know from San Francisco met up with me there and helped get things done - it got rather fraught, with needing to go quite a long distance from the marina to find the right Customs Office and to be there before 3 p.m. if I wanted everything done, but the officers kindly stayed on beyond their closing time as we lost our way by car and by 3.45 p.m. I had my Cruising Permit as well as having cleared Customs and Immigration. Refuelling was easily achieved, although lengthy - I was right by the pump!

The friendly Agriculture/Quarantine officer came by just as I was trying to contact the SHTP Racers for their evening Roll Call - as the new 'Comms Boat', I needed their 'numbers' to send in to the Race Cttee, as I had done that morning, ...but nothing heard but lots of static - in a marina surrounded by masts it was impossible to make contact... I was taken for some food shopping and a meal and was then theoretically free to continue sailing to Hanalei Bay on Kauai. That's where I was headed to initially and where the Single-Handed TransPac Race is finishing- just a few racers left to finish. They've had more than their fair share of light winds and are looking forward to getting stronger Trade winds perhaps over the next few days on their final approach.

I was feeling rather tired after little sleep over last night, then up several times for sail trimming in gusty winds, followed by early morning Roll Call .... then kept busy with preparation for landfall and contacting officials about arrangements for Clearance.... so I decided not to leave until just before dawn but to get a few hours' sleep first, after posting this...

Noon-to-noon daily runs:

Monday 5th July: 135 n.ml. Tuesday: 154 n.ml. Wednesday: 143 n.ml. Thursday: 141 n.ml. (arrived Honolulu midday - local date: Wed 7th July...)
Distance to Hanalei from Ala Wai marina: 117 n. ml.

Happy Fourth July to my US friends!!

Sunday 4th July 2010 (Day 32)

(Onboard I'm still in NZT! The actual date today is really 3rd July and actual 4th July, in position where "Nereida" is now, is tomorrow - I've still not adjusted my calendar after having crossed the Date Line from New Zealand! ... confusing?....)

A perfect day!!! Sailing beautifully and fast in bright sunshine, full genoa & staysail, swell not too bad, so we're not heeled way over too often (took 2nd reef in overnight), and we're laying our course to Kauai - all very relaxing and enjoyable. Definitely makes up for those 'other' days!! Boat speed 7.0 knots, SOG 6.4 knots... Oh well, when you're going fairly fast and wind is in a good direction to lay your course (E4, 13knots, at present), a slight loss to current is not so important. (Of course, by noon, we'd had the first two squalls - had increased wind but missed the rain!)

The day even started well with a lovely sunrise around 0400 UTC - I checked in with the SHTP10 0900PDT Roll Call - I've not managed a morning one before! 'Idefix' finishes around sunset today and 'Hecla' finished yesterday... It's good to finish in daylight - see the coastline as you come closer to shore, smell the damp earth and vegetation on the air - such a sweet smell, I recollect ... see where you're going ... and where the shallows are! I'm hoping for landfall next Thursday at latest, but will surely be in by Friday for their Awards Dinner - my deadline! Of course, I have a complication or two that the Racers don't have before arriving in Hanalei Bay - clearing Customs & Immigration, getting a US Cruising Permit, etc. But even with that, I hope to be OK.

Fresh food! I'm enjoying the last few Gem squashes & still have delicious NZ apples, mandarins and grapefruit as well as eggs, potatoes, carrots and onions - cooking a lot, trying to finish those before landfall, so I don't fall foul of the Quarantine/food regulations. Had a nice Spanish omelette the other evening to finish up a red & a green bell pepper that had kept surprisingly well in the fridge (They normally last no time at all in the cabin)

Friday/Saturday 2/3 July (Days 30/31)

Friday started with light SSE winds meaning that we had to continue to motorsail under grey, rainy skies to keep us on course at a reasonable speed. Soon after dawn, in rain, I saw the wind shift from SSE to E ..and then to NE - "The NE Trades are starting," I thought .. At last!! We were almost at the waypoint I'd put in to make the angle for them where they were expected - so I decided this was it - we changed course and made for Kauai.... Big mistake!! I looked out an hour later into heavy rain, to find the wind had veered to SE ... then SSE! It continued ESE in lighter rain until my noon report - when a really big squall came through just as I was writing the details in the logbook.... I jumped up into the cockpit, seeing SOG 8.5 kt .... and got totally soaked as I frantically winched in the genoa a lot.... It's a good thing the air temperature is high - wearing hardly any clothes means less to dry afterwards!! As it was, I decided this time I'd use the fact that body and hair were dripping wet - and proceeded to wash both with soap, enjoying the shower.... and being salt-free afterwards! Clean hair ... bliss!!

To my dismay, I then realized that the strong winds had picked up & blown overboard my one and only lovely cockpit cushion ('engin flottant' - a thick, jointed, double one, ideal for both sitting on and leaning back onto) - clearly lost while I was showering. It had been very useful for kneeling on to protect my knees from the ropes lying about when winching and will be missed....

I was interested to see that although the wind was still ESE, the noon swell direction was ENE .... but we didn't get that wind direction until well after sunset, by which time the cloud cover (& rain) had gone well away to the West. And that was basically the ITCZ finished with - a very different experience from the usual thundersqualls and lightning, mixed in with calms and violent wind gusts.... Great!!

Saturday was a frustrating, hot, sunny day of fickle wind - mainly ENE but not quite strong enough. We were constantly struggling to make our course, being so close-hauled our speed dropped way down, despite letting out more canvas... I turned on the motor every so often to see if that helped, which it usually did, but my fuel supply is very limited so we mainly kept sailing, despite the slow speed. Just lots of 'tweaking' needed to help us along at the best speed I could manage and in the right direction.

It is now so hot that the computer keeps overheating .. it needs an external fan to help it. (Also, the power input connection is damaged - so it gets difficult to keep the power supply on continuously to charge it when in use.)

Noon-to-noon distances:

Friday: 139 n.ml. Saturday: 148 n.ml. Sunday: 135 n.ml. DTF (0000 UTC on 4th July) : 643 to Kauai +32 to Hanalei Bay = 675 n.ml.total

Happy Canada Day (1st July) to all my Canadian friends!!

Thursday 1st July 2010

(I just popped up on deck to check before finishing this ready to 'post' it... beautiful! Clear sky and stars overhead and the bright moon just managing to rise above the bank of cloud hugging the horizon all around....)

Had 3 Masked boobies visit late yesterday - but they couldn't find anywhere to perch (they like to do that overnight & leave visiting cards...) so they just flew around - five seen this morning. I'm looking out for red-tailed or white-tailed tropic birds - delicate-looking birds with LONG, fine, red or white tail streamers... Breed near to Hanalei Bay (at the Lighthouse Reserve) & I've seen one or two occasionally over the last week.
We're possibly losing that infernal foul Equatorial current - got SOG consistently up to 7 knots overnight for several hours ( boatspeed ~7.4 kt) ... a much better speed! Had a few squalls - but nothing too bad... But SE wind was down to ~16 knots by morning and varying- so we were only making 5.8-6.5 kt - not so bad, I suppose.

I'm finally headed almost due north to my last waypoint before heading to Kauai direct. Even got plenty of fuel left in reserve for charging batteries and motoring through any calms we meet up with. Just that little matter of the ITCZ ahead at ~8N - but if I'm really lucky, I might find the gap that was there the other day.... and squeeze through....

I'm writing this under what was a grey, totally overcast sky, full of rainclouds at nightfall. We've had frequent showers most of the day, but nothing too heavy and none of the strong winds that normally accompany squalls (TSTMs). The latest weather forecast is encouraging:

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI (NORTH PACIFIC EQUATOR TO 30N BETWEEN 140W AND 160E)

........ITCZ FROM 08N140W TO 08N155W TO 04N171E. .... ISOLATED MODERATE TSTMS WITHIN 120 NM OF THE ITCZ.

Our position at 0540 UTC (local 7:40pm) was 6N 152W ... so I'm only expecting 'isolated, moderate' squalls for the next two days. The ITCZ is at 8N & almost non-existent near our position ... none of the usual lightning and thunder and heavy squalls as I got when headed south from the Cape Verdes last October (My log entry for 18th Oct '09, E of the C. Verdes: "Very frequent lightning .....")

The wind died right down and backed to ESE from SSE a short while ago. I've been waiting to see if that's due to an unseen cloud (it's pitch dark!) before doing anything - we're making very little progress. I've just started the engine to give us a 'push' and motor-sail in the increased apparent wind! If the wind increases, it's an easy matter to cut the engine - and in the meantime, we can charge the batteries - they need it. (Oops!! I forgot to connect the jump-leads between the start battery & the domestic bank.... Just looked over at the meter to see how much charge was going in ... nada!!) LATER: That running of the engine only lasted twenty minutes! Must have been a 'cloud effect' ... That's what I don't like at night ... before the moon gets up, and with overcast skies to stop any starlight, it's so dark, you can't see a thing - we go rushing into a black void!!

Generally over the day, we've made good speed. The grey overcast started spreading over a sunny sky early this afternoon but the morning was lovely, once the rainclouds moved away. I'd enjoyed sitting on deck in the cooling breeze.

One thing I've been busy organizing over the last week is a replacement seawater pump for the generator. My original idea was to get friends from SF on the SHTP Race Cttee, to bring one out to Kauai with them - which they've kindly done. But then I realized, after an email comment from the helpful F-P dealer (Mike Elliott) in Cape Town, that this was a warranty matter- so with the help also of Tom, K4XV, (Net Control for the Pacific Seafarers Net) who lives in Kauai, I contacted the Florida HQ of Fischer-Panda.... A replacement pump is on its way! Due to be delivered to Tom's house tomorrow, ready for my arrival in Kauai next week! And a service agent is being contacted to come to replace it.... So I'll have a spare pump ... and a new one in place ... and I'll be able to watch and learn how to replace them. (I'll also get the faulty one serviced, to give me another spare.,.)

Wed 30th June

Just got hit by series of squalls this morning soon after dawn - big rainclouds... Had a few exciting moments, frantic winching/reefing when wind gets up really strongly...!! One BIG squall came through - just got on deck in time to deal with it... 30+ winds in no time..!! Then a couple more, not so strong, but rest of day has been lovely. Think the strong current might be lessening - had a few rainclouds around this afternoon ... Laying my course and making good speed - 6.7 kt SOG (boatspd 7.2 kt) - if only that Equatorial current weren't slowing me down, I'd be making 150 ml days!!

It seems this is a 'La Nina' year and that means NE Trades near Hawaii are more likely to be E than NE - which is good news for me since I don't have to worry about making much more Easting than we already have, in order to get a good angle on the wind should it become NE. ...

Moon shining ..... path of light to boat....

Been making over 7 knots for several hours - until rainsquall came through, to make me furl genoa more for overnight... so now only 6 kt or so... but course excellent in SE wind.

Tues 29th June

(150 ml from Christmas Island) Lovely sunny day, but just as well I've good wind (~16kt) or I'd be heading for Papua New Guinea/N. Australia!! ... 7kt boatspeed but only 5.6kt SOG - that W-flowing Equatorial current is really strong just now and cutting my speed/affecting my course! But I've actually been getting some Easting into the 'bank' over the last day or so - all good news for when I hit the NE Trades! .... So long as I can average 5.3 kt or more and manage to stay on course, I'll be in Kauai by 9th July...

OOPS! Just had a load of water come shooting over my dodger - a big wave catches us now and then .. the upwind beat hasn't been too bad for the most part - all depends on how strong the wind is as to how bad the swell gets and so how often we fall into a trough or get hit by a crest....

24hr daily runs: Tuesday: 127 n.ml. Wednesday: 134 n.ml. Thursday: 145 n.ml. DTF (Thurs 0000 UTC): 1048 n.ml.

Monday 28th June 2010 (NZT) - "Nereida" sails N across the Equator after almost exactly 8 months in the Southern Hemisphere

What a superb day!! Blue sky, hardly a cloud in sight, a bit of a swell banging into us at times but nothing too bad, sailing beautifully with full headsails, close-hauled on an excellent course at good speed. We crossed the Equator at 0222UTC (mid-afternoon here) - in perfect weather and it was party time on board to celebrate the occasion! Normally, we're a 'dry' boat on passage, but I opened a bottle of G and gave Neptune a good drink of G&T in thanks for safe passage-making .... and, hopefully, more to come. Then it was music and dancing on board in the sunshine, along with party fare including contributions from friends in New Zealand and Guernsey (Thanks to Liz, Graham and Leeann).... the music also bringing memories of good friends. I often think, at such perfect sailing times like this, that people who wonder why I like to spend most of my time sailing on "Nereida" should be here to see how fabulous it can be. We even had a variety of birds come by to share in the celebrations.

The wind had picked up enough by evening on Sunday for me to need to reef the mains'l again to reduce heeling and it had already veered slightly to ESE over the day, so by daybreak we were making not only good speed but also some Easting. We need that badly if we're to lay our course to Hawaii once we reach the NE Trades after getting through the ITCZ at about 4-7N. After nightfall, as I write this, the wind has dropped a little, to 14 kt, but we're still making a little East of our rhumb-line course to our waypoint at a speed over the ground, SOG, of 5.6 kt, with boatspeed of over a knot more - that's the effect of the W-going Equatorial current.

We're just 150 miles SE from Christmas Island in the Kiribati Group, which lies at 2N - not to be confused with the Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, belonging to Australia. I wonder if that's why I'm suddenly seeing so many different birds after a noticeable absence of them.

24 hr daily run (DMG): 128 n.ml. DTF (Direct distance to Kauai): 1347 n. ml. at 0000 UTC

Sunday 27th June Sailing gently without motor at last - lovely peace and quiet!

MARINE WEATHER BULLETIN FOR ISLANDS AREA EQUATOR TO 25S BETWEEN 160E AND 120W. Issued by Fiji Meteorological Service Jun 260800 UTC.
SYNOPSIS AND FORECAST VALID UNTIL Jun 270600 UTC.

CONVERGENCE ZONE CZ2 EQ 159W 03S 155W 04S 145W SLOW MOVING. POOR VISIBILITY IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN 120 MILES OF CZ2.

Just received this with "Nereida" in position 03S, 156W at 1300 UTC - headed straight for the line... 60 mls away... grrr!!! Hope it's not too bad...

Had a squall this morning well before sunrise.. but nothing like the heap of them I was expecting with this Convergence Zone close by. I'm hoping it's dissipated - can't see any more grey clouds anywhere... Fingers crossed!! LATER: Sure enough - it was NOT on the next Fiji (2000 UTC) weather forecast... Great news!!

I'm still struggling NOT to go W of N - I really want to head NNE but it's not often I can make that AND keep up a decent speed because of the strong West-going Equatorial current and light winds - I keep finding us heading due North, which would be OK if it weren't for the NE Trades coming up, not far south of Hawaii... Constant 'tweaking' of sails and heading relative to the wind is the order of the day... Looks as though light winds are set to continue for two days.... Must go check my fuel level...!!

Overnight, I found a fishing vessel dead ahead about two miles off: Xinshiji69, according to my AIS display (try saying that name three times fast!!). A real worry, with us very close-hauled on starboard tack in light, varying winds at the time, so falling off the wind would have put us even more in their path.... even more of a worry when I failed to get any response calling them by name on VHF or even from sending a DSC call. (Not the first time I've had no response from a DSC call - I think people turn off the alarm from sounding ...) They were making way very slowly, if at all, and were clearly busy fishing if their erratic motion was anything to go by. I had no idea if they had even seen me. In the end, I switched on both bow & stern navigation lights (in addition to the tricolour I was displaying) and the deck light - which shines on the headsails and makes us highly visible. I kept a close eye on them, ready to turn on the motor .... but eventually, they passed off to port and out of my way.

DMG Sunday: 121 n.ml.

Fri/Sat 25/26 June Calm motor-sailing in light wind & hot sunshine - NO SQUALLS!!! A partial lunar eclipse.

Friday was a great day for relaxing and catching up on much-needed sleep in increasingly light winds - NO squalls all day, although there was a fair amount of cloud around by late afternoon. I saw one or two rainshowers in the distance, but there were no dark clouds to threaten.... I was so psyched out by the previous 2 days' experience, that I got all lines and halyard ready to reef the main immediately (it being by now full), when I saw the first line of clouds ahead!

The swell was slight enough that I had decided it was a good time to top up the main fuel tank from the jerry cans in the cockpit locker - essential in view of all the motoring I was expecting to have to do through the light winds, set to continue for some way yet. Easy enough to do with the filler cap right beside the locker, given my little 12V in-line fuel pump and some hoses... just needed some time....

We've been fighting a strong Equatorial current in trying to head NNE. It flows to the west near the Equator (Los Testigos islands in the Caribbean off the Venezuela N coast were named by Columbus as 'witness' to the similar current in the Atlantic being proven to exist there).... and it's very strong .. I found that, together with a light wind , it cut our speed down by two knots, from 4.4 to 2.5kt, when I tried heading due east in just 7 knots of breeze on Saturday (NZT) afternoon.

I was trying everything possible in an attempt to make more Easting when I realized just how light the wind had become, giving me, I thought , the chance to try motoring due East for a bit ... change tack, headsails in & out one by one (to see what effect they had), engine off, engine on, push harder ....all to no avail ... So I ended up back on starboard tack, as close-hauled as I could while still making a fair speed, with the engine 'pushing' just enough to keep our course as near to the NNE we needed - a difficult balancing act.... and very frustrating. So often, the wind seemed strong enough that surely I could cut that motor.... No - it was needed, if only a tiny bit, just to give us that much more forward momentum to keep our course E of N against that strong W-going current... I can't afford to allow the boat to head W of N for long, as often happening when the wind swings to E-ENE, since we've fought so hard to get the Easting we have - and really need more, ready for those NE Trade Winds, N of the ITCZ which lies around 6-8N. So all day long, I'm constantly monitoring our speed and course and 'tweaking' the sails, trying to keep the motor use to a minimum.... The wind is so variable and light..... and we don't have much fuel. (At this point, I'm seeing boatspeed of 5.8 kt, SOG 5.1 kt) > I'm praying that the wind strengthens before I run out of fuel....!!

Tonight, I'm writing this as the bright full moon is being eclipsed by the Earth's shadow - there's a great big bite taken out of its northern half! I'd set alarms to wake me up at different times so I wouldn't miss it... It always looks so weird - pity it's only partial. By 1220 UTC, the 'bite' has moved to the upper N-to-SE portion of the moon... by 1300 UTC, the moon will almost be back to its bright fullness.

In 2 days' time, I should be crossing the Equator......

Distances run, noon-to-noon: Friday: 118 n.ml. Saturday: 127 n. ml. DTF(0000 UTC Saturday): 1579 n. ml.

Wed/Thurs 23rd/24th June Days 21 and 22

MARINE WEATHER BULLETIN FOR ISLANDS AREA: EQUATOR TO 25S BETWEEN 160E AND 120W. SYNOPSIS AND FORECAST VALID UNTIL Jun 23 1800 UTC.

CONVERGENCE ZONE CZ ......10S 169W, 14S 155W...... SLOW MOVING. POOR VISIBILITY IN OCCASIONAL RAIN AND SQUALLY THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN 150 MILES OF CZ.
OVER BROAD AREAS SOUTH OF CZ AND WEST OF 145W, EXPECT EAST TO SOUTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS AND GUSTS UPTO 35 KNOTS. ROUGH TO VERY ROUGH SEAS. MODERATE SOUTHEASTERLY SWELLS.

"Nereida" was at 11S, 158W - and suffered the sudden strong winds and rainstorms from before dawn to early afternoon... scattered squalls at first but then we had to pass through a big, solid line of dark grey, high, spreading rainclouds - with nearly zero visibility in HEAVY rain and strong winds. I'd just let out full genoa in the calm well beforehand.... had to do some fast winching!! We heeled over like crazy for quite a time & sped along at 7.6 kt - had me worried for a time, but we came through OK. Winds backed to NE for quite a time & forced us N-NNW. I got drenched: soaking wet hair, clothes & body. Fortunate that the air temperature is 32C, although in the strong wind, I soon cooled down, despite my exercising, and was pleased to be able to strip off my wet gear when things got calmer. It was a refreshing long shower which removed much of the salt... Pity I was too busy to get some soap & shampoo to take full advantage!

Sky cleared totally and wind veered to its usual ESE after leaving line of clouds behind....

What a difference Wednesday afternoon and evening were from the morning's series of squalls and calms.... We passed Tongareva Atoll (Penrhyn Island) about 6 miles off soon after midnight, early on Thursday. I'd wanted to be up on deck to keep an eye on the depth gauge .... depths are 1000m or more until very close to the reef..!!! And there are no lights, so far as I can make out from chart... I think I gave a textbook illustration of why it's best to pass to leeward of dangers when possible! Because I was up anyway, I was writing an email to a friend: " beautiful night now - clear sky, hardly a cloud in sight!" But as I was writing that, the wind got up & I went up to find a big grey cloud overhead. NOT a big squall, I thought, just a few drops of rain and a touch more wind. I unfurled the rest of the genoa, changed course slightly to put us off the wind more to give a better speed until the cloud had passed over... But the wind suddenly increased to 24kt & I'd just let out the full genoa ...... We were heeled like crazy again, careering along at over 7 knots, being forced well off our course by the wind backing eventually to NE from ESE.

Having chosen to pass to leeward of the island, we were in no danger of running aground on the unlit reef, but I wouldn't have liked to have been to windward at that point in time. After the first black cloud, there was another one shortly after - no rain, but black and threatening ...& plenty of wind again to heel us over at speed. ....... I was left wondering how ever could I have done that yet again! The number of times I've been caught out like that before, you'd have thought I'd learned the lesson by now: It's really got calm... so let's unfurl some more genoa/let out a reef. But soon after, the wind rapidly increases and you wish you'd left the sails alone - you always pay the price of a lurking cloud upwind, all ready to catch you out......!! (The advice runs: If you think of reefing, DO IT! If you think of un-reefing.... go make a cup of tea...!!) Trouble is, the calm before the squalls here is so long lasting and the wind dies down so much, that it's sometimes difficult not to want to get the boat moving and to associate the calm with the upwind cloud - sometimes a good distance away still ... patience...!!

Tongareva Atoll looked like a lovely place to have stopped off at if I'd had time. I'd received an email from a friend about having passed by another 'picture-postcard' atoll - Palmerston Island.
"Did you enjoy your swim in the Lagoon at Palmerston? Even if you didn't stop, you could have used your imagination, as you were less than 40 miles away. Just think, warm water, crystal clear, a lagoon surrounded by palm trees waving in the breeze, catch a fish by hand for dinner (they are not people shy), a drink of coconut milk fresh from the nut before a quiet siesta on a beautiful white sandy beach. " Mmmm...!!

Thursday continued in a similar way - in the calm of the morning, I sat in the shade on deck, enjoying the refreshing breeze for a long time. But by mid-afternoon, the clouds had built up again - and we were back playing the winching game.... wind backing and dying,... strong wind under a grey cloud, maybe some rain, maybe heavy,... pass between two clouds if you can manage it... And all the time, trying to get a bit further East if at all possible, in readiness for those NE Trades after the ITCZ (aka Doldrums).

DMG: Wed: 101n.ml. Thurs: 120 n.ml. Distance to finish (DTF): 1807 n.ml. at noon Thursday

Sun 20th June (Day 18)

MARINE WEATHER BULLETIN FOR ISLANDS AREA EQUATOR TO 25S BETWEEN 160E AND 120W.
ISSUED BY FIJI METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE Jun 192000 UTC.

SYNOPSIS AND FORECAST VALID UNTIL Jun 201800 UTC.

WEAK CONVERGENCE ZONE CZ1 14S 164W 16S 155W 17S 150W 20S 147W SLOW MOVING. POOR VISIBILITY IN SCATTERED SHOWERS WITHIN 100 MILES OF CZ1.

IN THE AREA BETWEEN 08S AND 15S AND BETWEEN 175E AND 144W,... (and) IN THE AREA SOUTH OF 15S AND BETWEEN 175W AND 144W, EXPECT EASTERLY WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS AND UPTO 30 KNOTS AT TIMES. ROUGH TO VERY ROUGH SEAS. MODERATE SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST SWELLS.

"Nereida" was in position 15S, 161W on June 20 at 0600 UTC (6pm local time).... getting exactly the weather as forecast!! We were slap-bang in the middle of the convergence zone and winds were 25-28 knots! Sky was full of dark grey clouds before it got too dark to see them... and we got rain... and veered wind... and rough seas...! A spot-on forecast!

Mon 21st June (Day 19)

Nasty weather continued overnight and until mid-morning - with a big squall at dawn... and then we were out of the murky stuff and into clear skies with scattered cloud and sunshine.... and making a decent speed without quite such large, rough seas! I've been kept busy all day and evening with sail trimming - the wind has varied a lot, but is definitely dying - I hope not too much...

Tonight was been one of those lovely tropical evenings that are absolutely wonderful: stars, bright moon, brilliant Venus, cool breeze (after heat of a sticky day) and sailing along gently under full genoa and stays'l at around six knots in a far calmer sea than yesterday... I saw the Great Bear for the first time since last November when I sailed south towards Cape Town. No Pole Star visible as yet. I sat out on deck for a long time just relaxing and enjoying it all! Of course, a few hours later, there were squally rainclouds both upwind and downwind.. and when they'd gone, along came a solitary one, blotting out the stars, with lightning and deep thunder .... they always worry me! The wind had dropped to around 7 knots and backed to ENE so we had to motor-sail from midnight on so as not to head NNW-NW.

I spent quite a time today comparing my passage plan with current grib files showing the Trade winds up to & around Hawaii- and decided I needed to make more Easting if the winds will permit it .... By the time I reach the NE Trades, which are likely to be quite strong, it will be too late to get further East. Another concern is the hurricane season starting up - it starts with a bang on the Pacific side of Mexico - and I see hurricane Celia following TD Blas, already. I hope to be too far west to be affected - but you never can tell...

Tues 22nd June

We were faced with crossing another Convergence Zone soon after dawn this morning ...a long line of BIG rainclouds stretching across my path with a thin line of 'rolled' cloud along it... The wind backed further to NNE... I managed to pass between two enormous rainclouds in the strong winds they generate .... How can I possibly get further East in these conditions? I'm cursing myself & feeling really bad about not having taken enough time earlier to see what was needed, never mind alternator & generator problems... I had the wind strength and direction to enable it at times, but headed too N instead ..... fatal mistake!! I was aware that I'd be on a very close reach through the NE Trades when closing on Hawaii, but hadn't downloaded grib files for the region to study them carefully enough until quite recently. Unless I can get to 150W before reaching 8N, I might well find I can't lay my course to Kauai.....

The day continued as it had started - regular rainsqualls, totally unhelpful wind from the N-NNE, mostly very light - except when it gusted up & shifted in no time because of a big raincloud nearby. I'm trying to make plenty of Easting whenever I can. I'm having to motor a lot and just hope I can make my fuel last by not pushing the engine too hard - which means our speed is way down, of course....

I was up from before dawn, busy with sail-trim, trying to decide all the time what was the best course of action, given the unhelpful, variable wind, dealing with squalls - so I was grateful that conditions looked calm enough near midday for me to take a nap - I needed it badly!! Breakfast had to wait!

This evening is looking calm - we're motoring NE in 7-8 knots of ENE wind - not something I enjoy doing but sailing alone would give a speed of around 2knots in the wrong direction!

I'm downloading weatherfaxes from KVM in Honolulu and just received a text weather forecast for the area - showing, again, that I'm still in a Convergence Zone, although from the bank of clouds to my WSW, I think it must be behind me now - there'll probably be another one lurking, come daybreak - or before!

Noon-to-noon distances made: Sun: 147 n.ml.; Mon: 140 n.ml.; Tues: 103 n.ml.

Perhaps more relevant, particularly in view of the difficult winds forcing me to head every which way, is the rhumb-line distance to Kauai: at noon Tuesday , that was 2005 n.ml. I need much better wind to reduce that quickly - and that's not likely for quite a few days... so I'll be forced into lots more motoring, which I hate...

Friday-Sunday 18th/20th June 2010 Days 16-18 N.Z. to Hawaii

I'm relaxing, treating myself to a fresh coffee, on 'Sunday' morning (NZT - I still haven't 'repeated' a day yet after crossing the dateline!).... So how have the last two days been? ..... The answer all depends on whether we're talking sailing or genset/alternator repairs!

Sailing - has been fabulous! The winds have been consistently good and strong at around SSE 5 (mainly 18-19 knots, occasionally down to 16 or up to 22) so we've been beam- to close-reaching, making excellent speeds of 6-8 knots, as shown by DMG over the days:
Friday: 136 n.ml. Saturday: 147 n.ml. Sunday: 157 n.ml.! (Just took readings for noon report) Distance to Kauai at 0000 UTC Sunday: 2238 n.ml.
Bear in mind that the actual distance covered will have been much more since these are distances measured in a dead straight line from one noon position to the next.

The swell of 3-4 m has made life a bit difficult down below, especially working on the engine or generator, with regular extra-big waves coming along, splashing some water into the cockpit as the crest breaks a bit as it hits the boat and heels us over like mad ... Reducing the genoa a little helped somewhat. The staysail has definitely helped our speed - I've never regretted adding that to the rig for one moment and it's been a blessing in really nasty conditions.

The air is very warm: 29C now, the sea even warmer: 32C! It's lovely not to be encumbered with layers of clothing!! I've had very few rain squalls so far - those joys are probably yet to come with the ITCZ, presently around 8N. It's not looking very wide so, hopefully, the region of squalls, if any, shouldn't last too long.

Last two nights have been 'storybook' tropical nights... warm but refreshing breeze, full of millions of stars, waxing moon near sunset, Southern Cross in clear view, Sagittarius overhead, a planet (Venus?? - or a geostationary satellite??) high up in the early evening sky, so very bright that a few days back I thought it was a plane or helicopter with a searchlight coming my way...!!

The generator/secondary alternator problems? Haven't gone away .... I was having to run engine regularly (& very inefficiently) to charge the domestic batteries via jump leads to the start battery - until it occurred to me that the reason for no input of power from my normally good & reliable KISS wind generator was simply a blown fuse ...Yes!...I hadn't noticed it had a 20A fuse in place, not the 30A it needed, and it must have blown in the stormy conditions leaving N.Z. Changed it Sat. a.m. & now have plenty of power going into batteries. (Solar panels have been a help in the strong sunshine, also) Haven't run engine at all since before dawn Saturday, despite radio & hydraulic autopilot use. Why A.P.? I'd been puzzled that Fred, my Hydrovane 'crew-member', had not been coping too well in gusty strong winds for several days - until I had a look at the rudder. Something weird & big seemed to be attached to its starboard side... I took the boat hook and tried to free whatever it was ... not totally successful at the speed we were making, but good enough that he's back in full control... that means even less battery power needed.

Generator: Spent quite a time Saturday carefully cutting out a replacement paper gasket for impellor cover, having finally managed to undo the last of the wing nuts holding the cover in place only to find impellor looked fine... But when I ran genset again, it had no water coming into the seawater strainer from the seacock and so no water getting into pump - so it shut itself down (as it ought to!). I checked the fresh cooling water level, & also the hull intake by opening the seacock with the strainer cover off (- it's just above water-level!). Water has come almost up to the strainer so it seems the intake up to that point is not blocked, so either the pipework from there to the pump is blocked or the leaking pump hasn't enough suction to pull the water through. I might try to fill the seawater strainer and pipe
supplying pump with water to prime it in hope it would help get the water through.. & once through, pump might keep on running... I don't fancy trying to get the pump off to replace the leaking seal (which I have in my spares). I'd started trying to do so by removing nuts on the bracket holding pump in place but soon realized not that easy to remove pump - belt needs to be removed and rubber pipes not as flexible as I'd hoped .... I'm inclined to prime the strainer and try one last time - if it won't run, then clearly water-pump is leaking too badly so seal needs replacing, impellor will definitely also need replacing, and it'll have to wait to Hawaii !

Secondary alternator: I've been chatting on & off to Allan Miell of American River Radio on Kangaroo Island, NW of Adelaide in S. Australia, since first making a chance contact as I headed S of him towards Tasmania. He runs a station that helps all boaters with regular weather info and also gives practical help to anyone in difficulties - including going out to them and towing them in, if close by. He's built many boats in his time and has been full of very practical suggestions for overcoming my present difficulties - for which I'm very grateful! It was he that suggested I check the alignment of the pulleys on my secondary alternator system after the belt had come off a second time - and sure enough, alternator pulley is forward of drive pulley by 2mm - enough to cause my present difficulty. But fixing it is another matter! Obviously, when the new engine was installed in Cape Town, not enough care was taken to check the alignment when mounting the non-standard bracket on the engine to take the second alternator - which had behaved fine on the old engine... I'm still trying to see if his latest suggestion is workable from my perspective - he's not seen my system and it's not a conventional one.... Can't say I'm too hopeful.... (LATER: It won't work - pity! In fact, will have to wait to landfall to be dealt with in a workshop.) At least now, having realized the problem, I won't be trying yet again to replace the belt only to see it shredded again shortly afterwards! So I'm "still working on that"....!

Just to add to my problems, I suddenly found my Airmail propagation window being stupid & not showing ANY values...! Drove me mad for a time, until I suddenly found it righted itself after I'd updated my position in the window.... grrr!!! No idea why that happened.

Downloading very useful weather faxes now from KVM (Honolulu), having reached limit of coverage by KZLF (Auckland). They show me where the ITCZ is. That's in addition to grib files and text 'S. Pacific north of 25S' area forecasts, using Winlink. I got very useful emails on weather info from Dave & Patricia on 'Chameleon' who came up on 'Tony's Net', based in N.Z. (he's a retired meteorologist).

Phew! .... A long one ...!!

Remainder of coffee just spilled everywhere as we lurched in a big wave! Oh well,... tea-time?? Maybe I'll read my novel - and leave deciding what job to get on with until later.. or tomorrow... It's Sunday, after all!

Still sailing beautifully - and fast!

Wed 16th June Definitely lost my birds ... getting flying fish on deck instead!

Sea temp up to 28C! Pity I can't get in for a swim! Quite strong conditions (wind 24-28, gusting 30) have meant good speed made over the day - but seas always get up with the wind and we've been sailing downwind, so we've been rolling about and heeling lots in big swell.

11pm - Gybed onto starboard tack in big seas but under a dark, starry sky. We'd been headed more & more to north of our course and with the wind set to keep backing - to SE eventually - and stay there over several days at least, it seemed the right time to do it - especially since it seems best to make as much easting as possible well before crossing the equator. It looks as though the winds I'll be very soon are the true SE Trades - in which case I've been lucky to have avoided not only the worst of the bad weather around me but also the 'no-wind' high pressure area to the north has been squeezed out by the weather to the south which has given me these good, strong winds....

Thursday 17th June Belt goes again.....

5.20 am ... First light...... Had been up on deck from dark 0500 to check on sail-trim. Made log entry - and decided time to charge batteries since voltage had dropped too low... Started engine - charging fine. Played around with wind-steering and autopilot, with S wind over 20 knots . Seas have got even bigger - easily 4m now, and being knocked about a lot when a really large one catches us. Suddenly realized charging had stopped .... Oh, no!....damn!!.... Alternator belt had gone again....

Then proceeded to spend an age in aft cabin. With change of tack, several items, including a bulky over-mattress not in use, had not been well enough secured & needed sorting out before I could begin to think of getting to the batteries - both domestic and start.

My plan was to use jump leads to get power into the domestic battery bank from the start battery which was being charged by the usual engine alternator whereas the domestic bank was being charged by the secondary alternator alone. I'd been a bit dubious about that arrangement, since I was sure that previously I'd had a system that somehow incorporated charging from both alternators, keeping the start battery isolated but charged as priority, then putting all remaining charge into the main bank..... but was told that wasn't feasible...I wonder???

Of course, to get jump leads in place meant exposing more area under the aft cabin bunks ....so more time was spent organizing items so they wouldn't slide about in the heavy swell.... Initially, I thought it wouldn't matter which end of which jump lead I left to connect until last -for when engine was running - but on connecting both positives and leaving one negative end off, I checked the voltages - and clearly, electrons were getting from start battery into domestics without the negative joining them - so I hurriedly unclipped one end of the positive jump lead and connected both negative lead ends instead - readings looked better, so I was ready to start the engine .... by now it was 7a.m.... NO display telling me r.p.m. or hours.... grrr!! No matter.. Went down and connected positive lead.... Great! Charging of all batteries was happening as it should. So I'll have to leave jump leads available for future use - means aft cabin is in total disarray, but no matter ... and I must NEVER forget to disconnect the positive cable before stopping engine ....

Jobs top of the list: Replace alternator belt again with new one.... and have another go at the genset - I'm thinking if I can move the pump off its mount, it has some short rubber hoses to it, so I might be able to give myself access to get at the last wing-nut holding the cover on... Oh, the joys of boating..,..!!!!!!

Total cloud cover ...to go with my mood.....! Sea temp 30C today! Wind has backed to SSE now & should back a bit more and stay fairly strong from SE for several days more, according to grib files, by which time we should be in the SE Trades.. which look as though they merge into the NE Trades ... so at least the weather is playing ball! Don't know what the ITCZ is up to just now, but might not be too much of a problem - we can hope...!! I'll be heading almost due north, so will minimize time spent in it.

DMG Wed: 141 n.ml. Thurs; 137 n.ml. DTG Thurs 0000 UTC: 2650 n.ml.

Mon 14 June 2010

3pm - Sun is getting out, weakly, and scraps of blue are appearing, after a boisterous night and morning of increasingly strong winds (to around 30kt) under a cloudy sky - finally backing from NW to W-WSW - so the 3-4 m seas which had built up are now confused, with some from a different direction from others. As they meet, they heap up and we're thrown around even more!! Hopefully, with the winds beginning to die a little now, the seas will lie down ...

There's no changing the generator impellor at the moment, I'm still being thrown around far too much. I'll just have to use the main engine for charging temporarily, since the replacement alternator belt is doing fine. With wind-steering and a wind-generator in use, shouldn't be necessary too often.

The birds haven't all disappeared, athough no albatross seen today, ... but a few Grey-faced petrels and a prion just came by - and a couple of blue flying fish unwittingly flew out of the water below them.

The air is so much warmer now, despite the stormy weather... really noticeable when I go on deck - bare feet & not much clothing are no problem now for a quick trip up to the cockpit to adjust Fred, the windvane, although bare feet are not a good idea in general on deck - I've broken or badly damaged both little toes at different times through not wearing deck shoes when I should have done.... stubbing them on deck fittings is so easy. And when adjusting the sails today, I've been drenched several times with seas washing over so violently they shoot over the canopy & land on top of me in the cockpit! I keep putting on the same wet hat just to stop my hair getting completely soaked as well - I should get out the sou'wester hat I acquired when in CapeTown!

Tues 15th June Not a good day on board!! And not a bird seen all day .... I shall miss them!!

To sum it up: ...very little wind and total failure on the generator front... Having often to run engine gently to make slow progress motor-sailing in just 7 knots of wind. Every so often, I see the wind get above 10 knots and triumphantly turn off the engine only to see the wind die back down again..... It's well abaft the beam (at WSW most of the day), so the apparent wind is even less...

Just been having a mug of tea on deck, gazing around at the seascape & playing my favourite music to sing along to, to cheer myself up with generator repair having ground to a halt..... Felt thoroughly depressed at thought I couldn't fix it... Need a spare sea-water pump I don't have. Present one is leaking badly so seal inside must have gone, not a simple impellor replacement . Just can't get last wing nut off cover anyway. It's stupidly facing away from me (who designs these things?) - it's not in view at all and out of reach and access for getting leverage on it... Why

didn't they put simple nuts there to get a small spanner onto??..... grrr! (Must change that!) Presents a problem since genset takes so little diesel and is so much more efficient at re-charging batteries than running main engine.... so I hope we survive the next 3 weeks or so of fuel usage before making landfall - a relief to have successfully changed the alternator belt on the main engine so at least that's charging OK now... I'm still mulling over how to get that last nut off - if I could change the impellor, it's just possible the pump might work - at least for a bit...

TG for music...... I'm still singing along....!!!!

DMG local noon-to-noon: Mon: 124 n.ml.; Tues: 136 n.ml. Distance to Kauai at 0000 GMT (local noon!): A mere 2927 n.ml.!!

Sunday 13th June Problems never come singly when Murphy's around...!

Spent today entertaining Murphy !! Wind well abaft the beam and light - so spent ages first thing, organizing poling out of genoa (first time since in S. Atlantic, on way to Cape Town from Canaries!).. Downloaded a weather fax... studied it ... Spilled coffee all over chart table (luckily no laptop there!!) - major drying-out operation needed ... Noticed batteries' charge well down ... started genset... died... overheat warning light on .... Started main engine.... not charging... and wind had almost died, so almost no boatspeed without 'iron sail'.
Off with motor .... and all instruments off to conserve charge... Not enough wind for wind-generator to input any charge. Tilted solar panels for maximum sun effect... gave 1-2A input to battery bank - voltage up, nearer to 12V with trickle charge - better for batteries!... Checked oil level & water strainers in both motors - all OK... so impellor probably gone in genset - access not that easy...( must check if time for oil change, while at it.).
Looked at engine problem - alternator belt gone... Searched for spare (not listed ...grr!), since I felt was easier to replace belt than genset impellor (will be first time of doing it on generator). Started trying to loosen nuts on alternator belt tensioning system ... fixed by a 'gorilla' ! ....
Checked on deck ... wind had unexpectedly veered to NNW from SW... so started to down the pole to take genoa over to leeward ... Suddenly noticed was noon - so wrote position/weather report in logbook ... Back on deck... got boat closehauled under windsteering... Back down...kept trying to loosen nuts.. finally managed (after judicious use of rubber mallet!).... belt too small?.... kept trying... finally figured out how to get it on..checked in briefly to Pacific Seafarers Net... Tensioned belt...tightened nuts... steps back.... Started engine.... yippee!!!!! We have battery charging..! Closed up engine compartment forward access.... was being difficult.... Sunset, so decided to leave genset impellor to tomorrow - one success/day is plenty, I decide, with all that time & effort...
No food all day, so time to eat, drink & catch up on emails, gribs etc... Murphy's staying the night on board, waiting to see what he can do to 'help' the genset problem along tomorrow....

Saturday 12th June Wind to 36 kt and seas to 4m - and very steep...

Had N-NNW 32-34 kt, gusting 36 kt, from sunset to this morning! Died down slowly ... W 24 kt by midday and WSW 17 kt around midnight. Seas were 4m and steep-faced this morning, but much calmer by night time. The sky cleared by noon to give bright sunshine but the seas were still big and the strong conditions brought lots of birds - they always seem to enjoy the strong winds!
Yet again, the top mains'l batten has broken - and worryingly, it has torn the sail vertically at the luff - about a 30cm tear. The batten end holders are just not sturdy or large enough at the luff for the flexing of the battens when the sail is backed occasionally - often by swell, especially in light winds, despite the boom being prevented. (On Sunday, I saw the second batten had also broken at the luff - this is the third set of battens.....)
Had a good sleep in the easier conditions of the afternoon - I was feeling very tired, having had very little sleep over two nights with Thursday night's very changeable winds and Friday night's strong conditions.

DMG to noon today: 128 n.ml. DMG to noon yesterday: 118 n.ml. (Positions posted on Winlink/Yotreps/Shiptrak - use 'Travels' page links)

Sea temperature has been slowly increasing - it was 14C over the first week out from N.Z. & 16C at noon on Thursday but has rapidly gone up since to over 21C now. Air temperatures have increased in line with sea temperatures, generally being about 2C higher - so quite early on today, after working on deck, I finally took off all my fleeces and my ski socks - I feel as though I'm headed to warmer climes at last!!