Fri 11th June A calm, sunny day ends with more of the strong stuff overnight..!!

I was so pleased to hear Abby is safe, despite her rig failure. I'd had several emails and satphone text messages over the day telling me of her Epirbs being set off in the S. Indian/Southern Ocean. I feel for her plight - I've been getting winds, with corresponding seas, building to just over 30 knots since sunset, whereas I hear she had 60 knots...!! That's Southern Ocean weather!

Today was a bright sunny day with seas having calmed right down from yesterday with just a long, slow swell from the SW. Wind was very light and gradually veered, forcing us more & more towards the east.

Pressure dropped slowly over the day as a deep N-S trough to the W and SW of us headed east - I was hoping it would give me stronger, but not too strong, winds since a lot of today the wind had been only 4-5 knots - so I'd been using the 'iron sail', as well as full canvas, in an effort to keep our speed up. By sunset, stronger N winds had arrived and slowly built to around 30 knots - I furled in most of the genoa and reduced the stays'l as we seemed to rush along in the pitch dark with triple-reefed mains'l, the wind making a lot of noise!! I say, "seemed to rush along" since, in fact, we were making very little speed with our reduced canvas - but I needed to see the speed display, or lit water surface with my headlamp, to convince me of that. Eventually, after a very late-night email from busy Bob, I changed course to run more downwind, unfurling some genoa.... much more comfortable and speed right up to well over 6 knots in ~30kt WNW wind. At daybreak Saturday, as I'm about to post this, the wind is still up around 30kt and I expect it to back slowly over today, staying strong, as a front approaches . At 10am local, I'll download a current weatherfax to show me where the trough & fronts have got to - pressure has risen very slightly.

Distance-made-good (DMG) (local) noon Thursday to noon Friday was way down, as I expected... only 111 n.ml. - and that was only made vaguely respectable with the help of some gentle motoring.

I'm wondering how much longer I'll be enjoying the albatrosses and other birds I've seen regularly soaring around "Nereida". I'm sure they don't enjoy the warmer weather - and warmer waters normally mean less life & so less food for them. Of the albatrosses yesterday & today, I've seen a definite immature and an adult Wandering Albatross, (probably, & appropriately, a 'New Zealand albatross' !), .... distinctive juvenile in its all-dark plumage, except for a white face and some mottling on its back and the adult having distinctive white splashes on its dark upperwings. Also a Northern Royal albatross, several Yellow-nosed and, I think, a Chatham Islands albatross. The Grey-headeds I saw yesterday were distinctive! A smaller dark albatross came by this morning with a greyish back - looks like a young Sooty since dark underneath so not a Light-Mantled. Pairs of Cape Petrels have come by regularly - handsome birds and they enjoy circling the boat close by! Pretty prions have flown by - Antarctic ones, I think, but I've not seen any for several days. Several White-chinned petrels were around today - all-dark plumage and a distinctive yellow bill - but then I saw a dark petrel fly right by me with a dark bill and a pale patch around it - clearly a Grey-Faced Petrel, endemic to New Zealand!

Wednesday/Thursday 9/10th June 2010

Around 9am Thursday, I was just reading an email about a Dutch couple rescued off the NW end of NZ's North Island early on Monday when they were dismasted in the strong conditions of the Low I also experienced, when I suddenly became aware that the wind was rising - lots! Seeing 30 kt on the speed display, and with the boat heeling madly and making over 9 kts at times, I dived up on deck to furl in the (full!) genoa as fast as I could.... Took it down to 3rd reef mark... wondering at the fact that there was no dark grey raincloud overhead - just misty, fine drizzle, almost nothing, and just very light cloud. Conditions seemed to ease fairly quickly and our heeling became far less with reduced canvas. I looked over to where the cloud was a short while later - most odd... a white mushroom shape with the stem down to sea and a very flat wispy top - I wondered if it had been some kind of localized eddy .... The wind dropped afterwards to around 15-20 kt and things became calmer very quickly - but it was a big concern at the time!! I'm still seeing another raincloud upwind, so I'm not letting out the genoa again just yet!!

LATER: Well, that cloud became another squall, less than the first, and I furled in a touch more genoa - just to be safe... The centre went just ahead of us so maybe that helped reduce its effect. Looks as though there's a whole line of squally clouds upwind, so I'm leaving the sails as are and thinking about breakfast instead! Apart from this one line of grey clouds with rain clearly falling from several of them, the sky has just puffy little white cumulus... I'm just unlucky enough to be in the firing line! But it doesn't look too bad ... LATER AGAIN: Well, it looks as though the squalls might now be passing ahead of us, as the next cloud is - keep my fingers crossed! I just downloaded a weatherfax which shows a 992hPa Low passing just to the south, with a front coming off it this way - so it seems that's what I'm getting the tail-end of. At least it's given me good wind to make excellent speed overnight - mostly around 7 knots , often up to 8 kt, in WSW of mainly ~23 kt.

MUCH LATER: So frustrating now!.... It's been a day of wind up & down, genoa in & out... and mostly, this evening, wind well down.... to mainly 4-7 knots, in fact.... I'd far rather be in strong conditions - at least you can go fast then, whereas with no wind, you can't go anywhere, struggle to make your course... and often still suffer the big swell if it's not lain down yet. The bright side of today has been occasional sunshine and the continued presence of 'my' 3 Yellow-Nosed albatrosses (see 'Wed', below), joined at times, by an even larger Wandering Albatross, soaring with hardly a movement of its enormous out-stretched wings, and the occasional petrels.

Noon-to-noon DMG to noon today: 165 n.ml. .... yahooooo!! That's a sliver under 7 knots average over the 24 hr period, in an assumed dead-straight line....!! (I hate to think what tomorrow's figure will be....)

Wednesday was pleasant with fairly easy, good conditions (except for the good-sized swell) over most of the day, apart from a front coming through early in the afternoon so the wind backed from NNW, slowly & erratically, to SW. Also had 3 albatrosses - a pair and what looks like an immature one - plus several other birds for company over the day.

I'm spending a lot of time each day getting weather info: gribs, weatherfaxes, text weather and Taupo Maritime Radio weather broadcasts. Conditions have been so nasty ('unusal', I hear!) and it being midwinter now, that I want as much information as possible, even though I'm getting expert weather advice and help on routing from Bob McD just now.

Thursday evening I had the last of my broccoli. It's lasted quite well by being placed in the fridge - about 2 wks, in fact. Far longer than it would have done out of the fridge. I joined it with fried steak and onions, & potato - food 'Chez Nereida' is often not too bad when conditions are fairly calm! Dessert was several delicious, tasty, N.Z. mandarins - they are so much sweeter having been picked really ripe off the trees for 'home' consumption.

Tuesday 8th June 9.30pm (Sticking to NZT, despite having crossed the Meridian Sat night! Strictly speaking, I should have celebrated Saturday all over again... and today should be Monday 7th ... go figure!)

We're just in the middle of a front coming through - bumpy and 'vigorous'! But at least, with the wind backing, as it has, we're finally on our rhumb-line course, something we've not managed since soon after leaving the coast of North Island.

I was just downloading a fax when I realized that the wind had got up. From the NNW5 (16-20 kts) that we had been seeing since early today, it's now got up to NW 6-7 (26-30+ kts). The 0600 UTC fax I was looking at showed me that we were positioned just ahead of a cold front when it was produced a short while before. Being pitch dark now, I was pleased I'd not been tempted to unfurl more genoa after taking some in during an earlier gust in a rainsquall late this afternoon. If the wind pipes up much more, I'll have to furl in more. Definitely not a time for relaxation...! And I thought the strong stuff was finished with for a day or two...

Today had started so nicely .... after some heavy rain at first light, the clouds had cleared away by sunrise to give a clear blue sky and sunshine for most of the morning. The wind settled down to a pleasant NNW 4-5 (~16 knots) and the seas were a lot smoother - unlike now! I even cooked a proper meal - the first for several days - and spent some time trying to find the source of a small diesel leak I 'd noticed earlier. I'm still seeing the occasional albatross, petrel and prion - always lovely to spot them close by.

And the gale of Sunday/Monday? Could have been worse!! It peaked over the dark hours of Sun/Mon and I saw 34kt early on Monday, with the wind fairly constant at around 27kts all day, not easing until well after dark. That's true wind, of course, meaning the apparent wind was around 30 knots all day, with the seas building up quickly to 3m or so, and quite close together - so we got to crashing about quite early on & seas washed the decks regularly. Around 3pm, I spotted some sunshine and went up on deck to find us under an almost clear patch of sky, surrounded by cloud on the horizon. Pressure had dropped way down to 995 hPa and I'm convinced the centre of the low was passing over us just then. A few hours later, during the evening, things were beginning to calm down and so I had some good sleep - until the heavy downpour early today, and the resultant necessary sail-trimming, that is! I hear that the Wellington area had heavy hailstones and a temperature of 6 C - at least the temperature I'm seeing is 16-19 C during the day - and so far no hailstones!

After these strong winds have eased, it looks as though, before getting to the SE Trades, I'll have to get through an area of light winds in a high pressure area that I'm told by Bob McDavitt is way further north than it usually is... My luck...! In an effort to stay near the edge of, & so reduce the time spent in, this 'no-wind' zone, I'm heading almost due north - towards the little island of Niue - which I visited in 2007 after a 10-day 'no-wind' passage from Bora Bora - let's hope I find wind sooner than that!

Sunday 6th June 2010

I often think the worst part of bad weather at sea is knowing it's coming ... the waiting... the winds increasing....the seas building and the boat crashing as we drop off waves every so often. "Will it get as bad as they say?..... Are we ready for whatever?..."

This afternoon, I decided the best place (and safest!) was to be in my bunk reading a good novel ...or sleeping!! It feels so much better - and the noise is so much less than on deck!! I'd been on deck to furl away the genoa & reduce the stays'l, which had the effect of reducing our speed quite a bit but also cut down the heeling a lot - which was welcome. With the wind set to increase more, our speed would go up soon enough! I also retrieved & secured some sheets and lines which had been washed overboard and were trailing in the water - and realized I'd lost one. A short preventer line through a block on the toe rail had been led into the cockpit at both ends but the force of the seas regularly washing over the side-deck had pulled it free - so it was gone, despite a knot in one end... annoying!

The wind is presently around 28-31 knots - up from the gusty 24 knots of earlier in the day - and the barometer has dropped to 1011 hPa from the 1024 of noon yesterday. It'll be interesting to see how low it goes.... and how strong the wind gets. It's supposed to peak around midnight local time - that's 5-6 hours away. If I feel too uncomfortable, I"ll heave to. The wind now is from the N - NNE, so I've no choice but to head E, but as the wind backs eventually, the wind-steering will take us more onto the NE course I'd like to be on.

It's good to chat at times with people on the HF/SSB radio from time to time - friends on shore or on other boats. I also check in daily at 0330 UTC with the Pacific Seafarers Net, giving position and weather info which is made use of by weather forecasters.

Sat 5th June

So nice to see Cape Petrels and occasional big albatross still soaring around the boat...!

Wind eventually got up this morning, after having finally started crossing the southern Cook Strait on Thursday in almost NO wind (2-4 kt!) - so had to motor through the calm for 2 days until this morning ...

But nasty low-pressure system coming my way overnight tonight and on into Sun/Mon, with winds expected to get up to over 35kt on Sunday and swell up to 6-8m - that's BIG!... Like being in the Southern Ocean all over again.... Thought I'd finished with that kind of weather! Have Bob McDavitt helping me to try to avoid worst of the gale - heading East now in hope of getting less strong wind than if continued heading NNE, as I was yesterday, off the East coast of N. Island ... We'll see what comes - just hope it's not as bad as forecast! Wind is gusty and up to 17 knots at present (3pm), from 12-14 kt earlier - will reef down sooner rather than later!!

Position at local noon (0000 UTC) is updated daily on 'Travels' page...

Thursday 3rd June

Talk about a see-saw of emotions and stress...!! So many times over the last two weeks I've thought I was going to be able to leave (friendly) New Zealand - and so many times the winds have been strong and unfavourable (i.e. heading me on my proposed passage...). The winter so far has seen mostly strong southerlies, with corresponding large seas, in the narrow Cook Strait with its horrendously uneven seabed and resulting upwelling of cold water. Against tide, a sure recipe for disaster..!

Initially, I thought I'd be able to sail away directly from Nelson - simple, I thought: I just need to sail through French Pass at slack water and then keep on going, south through Cook Strait and then NNE to Hawaii once I'd rounded Cape Palliser.... Simple?? NO!! That was the first time I became aware that the short distance south through the Cook Strait was likely to become a major obstacle. So with winds not in my favour just then, I made a sudden change of plan ... get through French Pass from Tasman Bay and then make for Mana Cruising Club, a short distance north of Wellington & on the Cook Strait northern entrance approach, so as to be poised ready for transit through the Strait, to continue on as before..... Simple?? NO!! Mana C.C. was a great little place to stop in but the weather gods were not on my side - this was definitely winter weather and it seemed I'd never get S through the Strait. 'Weather windows' have seemingly appeared, only to disappear on the day. Monday 31st May had looked fine for getting through the Strait - but I would have then found myself headed by 30-35 knots of SE wind.... So I got through the worst part of the Strait (finally!) only to have to decide to 'hole up' at anchor in a tiny deserted bay in Port Underwood - 'one of the safest anchorages in the Southern hemisphere' - in order to avoid gales due the following day and night....

I was forced to anchor well after sunset in pitch darkness - in a totally strange, uninhabited little bay, bounded on the north side by a line of unlit rocks, with a fish-farm close by where it there should have been none, and with the chart-plotter showing a totally different picture from the radar (calibration problem?, I wondered)... An absolute nightmare... both when rounding the rocky promontory at the SE point of the Port Underwood entrance and on the final approach, heart in mouth, into tiny Pipi Bay ready for anchoring!! Fortunately, having decided to use the radar image as more relevant, and also. of course, using my recently-calibrated (TG!) depth display to keep in a safe depth, I was relieved to find us anchored right in the middle of the little steep-sided bay come morning - having small lights on one or two of the fish-farm corners helped me to avoid getting too close to them also - but they weren't that far away... (My previously plotted anchoring position, at the end of my proposed track, turned out to be well on shore....!!) It's been an excellent, well-protected place.

So now I'm waiting, yet again, to sail off around Cape Palliser tomorrow around midday, having thought I'd be starting that at noon today (but today's forecast gave 30kt SE headwinds for this afternoon) .. and then midnight tonight... but delayed due to a deepening Low headed SE from Vanuatu - the next item to avoid as I head north over the weekend... The good news is that Bob McDavitt is keeping an eye on the weather for me - I couldn't want for more experienced S. Pacific weather knowledge ... and he thinks I should get to Hawaii in early July... so I may even make the SHTP10 Finish Line before the last of the racers - even if from NZ rather than from San Francisco, as I should have been...

Dare I hope for an uneventful passage to Hawaii?? That would be a first..!!

Friday 28th May - Visit to Bob McDavitt at Metservice Office in Wellington on Wednesday, out to country north of Wellington on Thursday, catching up with a few boat jobs on Friday...

   A cheerful Bob McDavitt in Metservice NZ office in Wellington, in company with Winlink sysop Graham Ridding, ZL2ABN.

Was driven in by car to Wellington by Winlink sysop Graham R., ZL2ABN, to take up invitation to visit Bob McDavitt at NZ Metservice Office - high up, with a great view over the bay and city, in a lovely old park area, close to the Observatory telescopes. Spent an enjoyable time with good-humoured Bob (whose official job title is 'Weather Ambassador'!), being introduced to everyone in the different sections at the Metservice Office and discussing weather possibilities with him for my passage from here to Hawaii. Caught fascinating old cable-car from top station for steep ride down to Lambton Quay in Wellington city at foot of hill and then walked on to station to catch train out to Paremata, near to Mana. Collected by Mana C.C. member John to be taken to club members Paul & Jayne's place for dinner & an enjoyable evening.

Taken out to Masterton next day, again by car, to visit Graham's mother - stopping on the way for me to buy a Tiki in green stone, to replace one I'd lost when my old boat was lost. Scenery en route was beautiful - a really well worthwhile trip up the Hutt River valley and on over the steep hill beyond. G's mother was full of interesting recollections of old times in N.Z.

Good news on my return came in an email from Bob McDavitt saying that it looked as though Monday was a distinct possibility for me to transit the Cook Strait safely & to sail away from N.Z. towards Hawaii - to be confirmed on Sunday... So I'm getting boat ready with that in mind. Spent a very pleasant, highly sociable evening with Club members at their regular weekly Thursday get-together - Mana Cruising Club has been an excellent place to stop at while awaiting my weather window - I've been made very welcome by so many members who have also been really interested both in my boat and my travels.

This weekend will be spent making sure I'm all set for Monday - Customs have already been informed of possible Clearance needed - they literally wave people off when paperwork has been completed to make sure they leave the country to 'go foreign' as soon as they've been checked out. Strong S winds over Sat/Sun are expected to die down by Monday and turn north over the day... Fingers crossed...!!

Well, I later saw this, and began to wonder if I would actually be able to leave when I'd hoped to....  Bear in mind, I need northerly wind for the 12 hr passage down south through the Cook Strait before getting away from the NZ coast....

Issued by MetService at: 4:00pm 28 May 2010
Valid to: 12:00am 30 May 2010

Forecast:
*** STORM WARNING IN FORCE ***
Southerly 35 knots easing to 25 knots for a time tonight and in the morning, then rising to 50 knots Saturday evening. Sea becoming high. Southerly swell 4 metres easing. Poor visibility in rain.

Outlook:
Outlook following 3 days: Southerly 50 knots with high sea, easing Sunday night to 40 knots, early Monday to 30 knots and late Monday southeast 15 knots. Moderate southerly swell easing Monday

N.Z. winter weather being most unhelpful! I'm in Mana, north of Wellington, on the Cook Strait, awaiting a weather window to leave for Hawaii....

(See 'Nelson Mail' photo & story - posted on 'Articles & Interviews' page)

   Mana Island, on east side of Cook Strait.

Tuesday 25th May 2010

I can't believe how time is slipping by!

I thought I had a weather window to get through the Cook Strait last week - but the forecast storm coming shortly after looked too bad sensibly to leave N.Z. to make for Hawaii, as I wanted to.... So here I am in Mana, at the very friendly, hospitable Mana Cruising Club, a short train ride north of Wellington, hoping to leave for Hawaii just as soon as a suitable weather window presents itself....

Well-known N.Z. weather 'guru' Bob McDavitt has kindly invited me to meet him for a tour of the NZ Met Office in Wellington tomorrow - and to look at the weather outlook for the next few days. Winter has set in here with a vengeance and nasty lows seem to be sweeping the country every few days. An added complication is the need to get the wind and tide right through the notorious Cook Strait. To head S through the Strait safely & avoid problems with overfalls etc, I need to avoid strong southerlies (a N wind is clearly to be preferred) and the tide must also be in the right direction through the narrowest part from here at Mana Island to Cape Terawhiti & on past the Karori Rip due west of Wellington Harbour entrance. The Cook Strait, with its highly irregular seabed making for nasty rips and overfalls, has a reputation akin to that of the Bass Strait and the Agulhas Current - to be treated with the utmost respect & not to be transited in the wrong weather conditions.

I arrived in Mana from the South Island, having come through the scenic, narrow French Pass in daylight from Nelson to Catherine Cove where I stopped overnight so as to make a daylight entry on a rising half-tide through the shallow entrance over the bar to Mana marina.... French Pass is another place where getting the tide right is vital. Like some passes in British Columbia, the spring tides here can cause whirlpools and it's highly dangerous to try to pass through against the tide - slack water is ideal for a relaxed transit!

  Approach to French Pass from Nelson   Anatakupu Island, on way N from French Pass.     View S to French Pass from Catherine Cove anchorage near sunset.     Ninepin Rock.     Chetwode Islands with Ninepin Rock.     View past Cape Jackson towards Cape Terawhiti across Cook Strait.  

I was delighted to see an occasional small penguin on my way and was joined by a Black-browed albatross for a short while, as well as seeing lots of sea ducks and two small groups of dolphins. Four handsome black-and-white Cape Petrels joined me in the middle of Cook Strait - where I was finally able to raise the mainsail & have a good, if short, sail towards Mana, having started the day motoring in a flat calm with just 1-3 knots of wind. Mana Island is a nature reserve and made for a very pleasant approach to Mana itself. The shallow, narrow, dog-legged entrance channel to Mana with its transits definitely concentrated my mind on coming in... As it was, the depth showed just 2.1m at one point (Nereida's draught is around 2m!) .... & I'd calibrated the depth instrument before leaving Nelson so I knew that was spot-on!!

The previous week in Nelson had been spent generally sorting out the boat after my long passage from Cape Town (62 days), trying to resolve ongoing reefing problems and making sure the rig was OK (helped by sailmaker John Heydon and rigger John Foulds), with time taken over provisioning for the passage to Hawaii and regular walks along the river to the lovely Nelson Library to catch up with emails and general Internet access in between meeting up with my relatives. I was happily surprised to get a visit, among several people who dropped by to say 'Hallo', from Annie Hill and Ulla Norlander - I hadn't realized they were in Nelson, which they'd decided was a good place to work on their 'new' boats, & they promptly invited me for a thoroughly enjoyable, sociable dinner before I left. (Nelson has a great micro-climate & a reputation as the calmest, sunniest spot in all of N.Z.!) It was on realizing a possible weather window had disappeared, with a bad storm forecast as imminent, that made me decide to sail to Mana on the Cook Strait as a positive step toward leaving N.Z. so as to retain my sanity .... There's nothing more frustrating than to be forever on the brink of leaving but then finding the weather has changed to prevent it.....
   View of D'Urville Island on way to French Pass from Nelson, in Tasman Bay

   Sunrise over North Island on way to Nelson past Farewell Spit, South Island - Cook Strait entrance close by to the South.
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30April - 16th May 2010: On through Bass Strait past Tasmania and across Tasman Sea to Nelson, South Island, New Zealand - Into the Pacific Ocean!!

30th April: Headed through Bass Strait in good winds (SW 20-25 knots overnight, 15-20 later) after heaving to several times in the stormy weather of the previous week while crossing the Great Australian Bight. I passed unexpectedly close to the gas platform 'Nyacine' near the edge of the shallow Bass Strait shelf and on past the shipping lanes off Wilson's Promontory by dawn... Not many ships around and none at all once I'd sailed on to between the Hogan and Kent Groups of islands north of Tasmania, since they all seemed to be hugging the coast whereas I was headed across the Tasman Sea. Amazing numbers of albatross were seen for a day or so as I passed north of the Kent island group. Also Mutton birds - smallish birds, dark on top, white underneath, who seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time underwater, occasionally coming to the surface where they pattered across the water with stumpy wings beating furiously, before diving under again.

I gradually found myself chatting on the HF radio to a lot of people from Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand which made life on board very sociable. It got to the point where I needed to write out my daily 'contact list' to avoid missing a 'sched' in between all-important (non-computer) weatherfax downloads!! I chatted to Mary Kay of Smithtown Radio on 4483 every night all the way over to N.Z. after she'd given out the weather (she was the one who identified the 'Mutton birds' for me & told me all about them) - and then I usually found Coast Radio Hobart and others coming up on frequency for a chat also! Allan of America River Radio on Kangaroo Island also kept in daily contact from Tasmania to N.Z. and gave me lots of useful weather info for my passage. Occasional check-ins with Tony's Net in N.Z. led to chats with various other people in Oz and N.Z. also. I was in constant contact with Graham, ZL2ABN, the Wellington Winlink sysop (himself a sailor) both by email and finally on HF radio. He has been extremely helpful in contacting people in N.Z. for me - initially to see if I could stop without a food problem (I needed to know that my long-term stores wouldn't be confiscated if I were to stop for a short visit - MAF in Nelson were very understanding and said they could seal in a secure place until I left those items they might otherwise take away) and, once my stop here was agreed, he contacted lots of others to organize things ahead of my arrival... I'm really grateful for all the help I've had from him - Thanks a lot for all your time and effort, Graham!!

It's turned out to be a good thing I decided to stop here in Nelson in order to get a variety of important items seen to - including more rigging and ongoing sail problems (...!), a first engine service for my new engine ..... and, unexpectedly, a replacement needing to be sent for the vane on my windsteering gear which I found broken off a few days out from Nelson. Graham also found a Nelson Ham, Brian ZL3BCO, to look at my 'dead' computers and fix the connector on a dodgy 12V charger - so one laptop at least is now functioning fine and I'm able to email from onboard again - thanks so very much for that, Brian! Another 'Thank you' is due to Nelsonian Peter Halifax of 'Electronic Solutions' who very kindly gave freely of his time to mend corroded connectors both on my VHF radio in the cockpit and also on a handheld GPS. (I've had a lot of kind words from well-wishers here in Nelson, especially after the local paper splashed a photo of me on their front page...!!) I also want to give a big 'Thank you' to Graham Griggs, ZS2ABK, of the South African Maritime Mobile Net who daily posted my position and weather reports to the Winlink website all the way to New Zealand from text messages I sent him daily using my satphone, so everyone would know where I was and that I was safe while my computers were down. Also I'd like to thank the friends who sent me text messages to my Iridium phone - those were lovely to receive when I couldn't get emails! (Unfortunately some didn't give me a phone number to reply to...) And, of course, I also want to thank Bryan, who has made such a great job of my website over the last few years, for posting occasional news to my website when I was unable to.... My cryptic, abbreviated text messages got quite challenging for him to interpret at times!

My crossing of the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand was almost without incident - just one cold front halfway across causing a bit of a problem with NNE winds at 25-30 knots for 2 days. I hove to for a very short while when the wind strengthened to 30-39 knots & was forecast to be stronger, with nasty, short, steep seas and was then able to sail on once things had calmed down, with the wind backing first to SW & then to SE. (The seas crashing onto us caused pasta to jump & be spilled everywhere out of two containers in the galley & I spent several days finding lots of pasta shapes in different places!) Mostly, I was fortunate to have good sailing winds, lots of sunshine and lots of birds for company as usual - but different ones: Grey-headed & Black-browed Albatrosses.... and two days from landfall, I was thrilled to see a pair of New Zealand Wandering Albatrosses around 'Nereida" for a time.
       Cape Petrel soars past "Nereida"

New Zealand is the 'Land of the Long White Cloud' - and I felt privileged on my last complete day offshore, with the sun shining from a clear blue sky overhead, to see a long line of white clouds over land in the distance... I looked through my binoculars and was amazed to see high mountains above and below the line of clouds .... What a landfall!! (It's my first visit here.) To cap my feelings, several beautiful Cape Petrels turned up to keep me company for the rest of the day, to add to the big flock of prions & several albatrosses & other petrels I already had nearby.... I was exhilarated,... ecstatic ..... singing out loud for joy!! Overnight, I headed around Cape Farewell & the long sandy Farewell Spit, and as Day 62 from Cape Town dawned, with a cloudless sky & beautiful sunrise over North Island in the distance, I made my way south towards Nelson, already visible in the distance...... Greetings, New Zealand!

......................................................................................................................................................................

Mon-Sun 10th-16th May 2010 Notes from Port Nelson Marina, South Island, New Zealand

Mon 10th May
10 o'clock - tied up alongside tug for Customs and MAF paperwork - 6-mth visa (standard) plus form to exempt boat purchases from GST. Calm & sunny day. On to marina berth D22. Ambled over to nearby chandler to look around & on to organize timing of pre-arranged engine service. Cousin Stephen arrived in afternoon - he hadn't realized it was me he'd watched coming in to the marina earlier! Took me to my aunt's place - fresh fish&chips on way - lovely!

Tuesday 11th May
Laundry!! Cousins and aunt came by to see boat in morning. Interviewed by 'Nelson Mail' plus photographs - publication on Wednesday.
Graham (ZL2ABN) arrived to help with jobs on board. Also Brian, ZL3BCO, came to take computers to see if repairs possible... and 12V charger for repair of connection to PC.
John (sailmaker) came to check sails and discuss reefing problems and broken battens - need to replace several broken ones and change position of cuts in sailcover to re-position 1st & 2nd reefing lines where tied around boom.

Wednesday 12th May
Brian brought computers back - one is now fine. Also brought Nelson Mail and the local Ham Radio club's Newsletter - in which he (as President) had printed photos of 'Nereida' coming in towards Nelson on Monday, from AIS screen!!
Engine first service carried out. Hydrovane vane arrived. Graham R. placed ferrites on variety of leads to attempt to stop interference from AP and instruments and also from Iridium on SSB radio. Checked Winlink on radio and downloaded emails outstanding. Later, walked over to chandlers & on into town for Internet - having problems with slow connection, failing to get laptop online to download emails.
Heavy rain and strong gusty wind overnight.

Thursday 13th May
Peter repaired VHF radio connection at helm - had corroded power terminals. Took handheld GPS unit away to see if repairable - corroded metal in battery compartment from leaking battery. Refused payment ... very kind. Gave me lift into town to see about seeing to mobile phone/NZ simcard - new NZ simcard bought.
Library for Internet... slow! Walked back & on over to Tasman Bay Cruising Club - very welcoming.
Back to boat - rigger John was waiting & was highly impressed both by my lovely seaboots and the red ski socks I was wearing - a feature of Kiwi sailors after Peter Blake set a trend, he said. The genoa foot shackle was replaced - pin had gone when retaining ring disappeared. Other rigging issues looked at - split pin gone from clevis pin at foot of lower shroud on starboard side, emergency forestay needs fixing, some shroud tensions need adjusting & there's chafe on 1st & 2nd reef lines at exit sheaves in for'd end of boom - sheave edges seem to be too sharp.

Friday 14th May
Heavy rain on & off over night and day... Library for Internet - too slow to achieve much... Went & bought new cellphone - old one misbehaving. Sail battens replaced but sailcover couldn't be cut for reeflines 1 & 2 because raining too heavily all day long.. hoping to do on Sunday.
To Tasman Bay Cruising Club with aunt and cousins for meal - lots of people there, all very pleasant & friendly.

Saturday 15th May
Cousins drove up from Christchurch to visit me on boat - had good long chat. Spotted leaking overhead hatch - very wet bedding ... needed drying out... useful to have loan of electric fan heater for that. Too wet for rigging jobs to be finished, postponed re-fuelling to Monday for same reason. Stocked up with lots of the 'Back Country' dehydrated meals I'd heard several good reports of, in readiness for my 6-7 month 'around' repeat attempt from Victoria B.C. later this year. Got them mainly at the outdoor store 'Mountain Designs' where Manager Mike kindly gave me a good discount . Then took time off for a small tour by car of countryside around Nelson, including Trass Valley area where family had been brought up, & saw some other relatives I'd never met.
Back on board to get on with jobs over the evening - but totally sidetracked by visit from friendly Richard McBride who came along waving a bottle & suggesting a pizza, but who then stayed for a long, thoroughly enjoyable, 'sailing-stories' chat, ending with going off to nearby 'Anchor' for a lovely meal of Marlborough mussels.... Back to try to catch up on jobs, but no joy - postponed to Sunday!!

Sunday 16th May
More heavy rain overnight and day.... I'm being told it's unusual...!!! Discussion with Graham of timing of possible French Pass transit towards Cook Strait over Tuesday/Wednesday for leaving N.Z. towards Hawaii. I'd hoped S winds would have died away by then - but late morning heard that weather forecast is for strong S winds into late Tuesday/Wed ... so now definitely being held up by weather... will see what forecast is later today. Still several jobs to do onboard but will be frustrating if weather stops me from leaving for several days now. Trying hard to get this 'blog' (finally!) written up - about to head into town to Library which I believe is open for Internet now... then on, in cousin Vivien's car, to supermarket for provisioning ready for leaving - whenever that might be..... 

(Postman got lost...!)

Crossing the Bass Strait, north of Tasmania.. lovely moonlit night... Southern Cross high overhead... seas calmer after strong (30-40knot) winds of past few days. 
Hove to midnight Tuesday for 16 hours - 5m seas washing the decks & crashing into us frequently!!
Bumpy...but OK - I read a lot and took refuge in my bunk!
Repaired autopilot yet again - keeps coming loose on rudder stock.
Was prepared to wait to get aross the shallow Bass Strait - now have a 2-day weather window... wind 25-30knots so making good speed (150miles today!) ..seas still 4m - the birds love it when the seas are rough!!
Still seeing albatross and prions but also saw my first gannet here today.
Weather forecast shows I might run out of wind coming Sunday/Monday as I begin to cross the Tasman Sea to New Zealand...

(Posted from Nelson N.Z. after safely arriving this morning (10th May) .... will post report of crossing and arrival as soon as I can get to Internet...

Saturday 24th April  2010

Recovering from storm last night - 14 hours of steep, 6 metre swell, wind 35-46kt with occasional lull to 28 kt.  No sleep.  Seas calming down now, at 7pm, but still big.  Sailing gently. 

Australian Coast guard plane flew by at noon.  Called me on VHF - but called "Ella's Pink Lady".  I asked him to let me know where she was when he located her. He came back and reported that she is 56 ml to my NNW.   My worries confirmed - we must have crossed paths in the stormy weather of the last few days but at least I now know she's safely astern of me.  Like me, her team will have wanted her to be north to avoid the centre  of the low and the worst of the weather. More cold fronts coming Monday and Wednesday with strong winds.

Saturday 17th April 2010

South of Cape Leeuwin, crossing Great Australian Bight. 

Replaced the rudder on the Hydrovane in flat calm -  celebrated with beautiful shower!  Also wired the shackles I've put in place on the genoa foot to the Furlex to overcome problem of shackle pin having gone missing.

Calm overnight but NNE 12kt wind soon after dawn. Sailing nicely - despite weather forecast!   Making for New Zealand for a brief stop in Nelson.   Windstrength is fine.
 

Thursday 15th April 2010

Ella's Pink Lady and Nereida

I’ve had quite a few messages about having got close to Jessica now I’m near to Australia on my way to NW America from Capetown.

Jess sent me a very nice email in February to say how sorry she was to hear of the repairs needed in Capetown and asked me to email her when I left so we could talk on HF / SSB radio as we both sailed east.

While my computer was still working, I was able to email her several times wishing her well and giving her my position. But I never received a reply. So for over 5 weeks now we have not made contact.

I don’t have her sat phone number, though she has mine.  Unless she or one of her team calls or texts me, I have no way of finding out her position or how she is getting on.  She could be close by just over the horizon for all I know!

It would have been fun to chat and compare notes every so often, as we both sailed across the Southern Ocean. If she still wants to make contact, my phone is always on.

I wish Jess and all her backup team the very best and hope she has a successful completion back in Sidney very soon.

Jeanne
Nereida
15th April, 0300 UTC
Position 38 38 S 110 25 E

PS How is Abby doing?

Sunday 11th April 2010

Just a reminder, if you would like a return text from Jeanne, please remember to include your cell phone number in the text you send her from Iridium's website!

Jeanne is currently hove to in 30-40kt winds awaiting a storm to finish. Her autopilot has failed, and she will work on it when things calm down.

Monday 5th April 2010

2 dead computers means that Jeanne has NO EMAIL capability, but her positions continue to be posted daily. Tasmania is 2500 miles away and she is making excellent progress towards San Francisco for the start of the Transpac Single-Handed race to Hawaii in June.

She can receive text messages on her Satellite phone at +881631641746 (free from www.iridium.com) and her SSB is working!

Maundy Thursday 1st April (Day24)

Easter Greetings!

I hear the daffodils are out in England! Here, there's a murky grey overcast - and definitely no daffodils!! But we did set a speed record on 'Nereida' last night in strong conditions... sailing 104 mls in 13h 40m, giving an average speed of 7.6 knots over the period! We were regularly making over 8 knots with double-reefed main, although I have to admit I was forever on the verge of taking in the 3rd reef.... but kept waiting to see how we fared - OK, in fact! Conditions got rather rough with the continuing strong wind making for a good-sized swell but nothing too bad. I bore away (came off the wind) a touch, to make life a little more pleasant. This morning, we're back down to just 18-20 knots of wind and a more sedate 7 knots of speed - which is very acceptable! I'm still waiting for a cold front to pass by which will put us on to a starboard tack - should be sometime today. It will give a windshift to SW from the present NNW, although I'm hoping the windshift will be more gradual than the usual sudden one...

I forgot to mention that while I was putting in the 2nd reef strop on Wed, the topping lift, which had just beforehand come loose & was flying wildly all over the place in the wind & swell, came close enough for me to grab .... Most unusual - it's normally impossible to get hold of once it's come away from the boom end but I was perched up high in the cockpit, leaning over the boom tying in the strop at the time, so I was lucky for a change. The topping lift is now safely stowed at the mast, ready for possible use as a trysail halyard.

Good Friday 2nd April (Day 25)

Well, we certainly got that windshift yesterday afternoon. I was at the mast looking carefully at the two reef lines 1&2 leading from the boom, wondering what exactly to do about the chafe there, as the wind got lighter and lighter... Then it started drizzling. I'd centred the main because the boom was flopping around in the swell & light wind and had managed to gybe the genoa by changing course slightly to put the wind aft. I let out the full genoa, released the portside running backstay & prepared the starboard one, ready for the expected gybe on to starboard tack... and then realized the wind was backing and building rapidly..... very rapidly!! I had to winch fast to furl in all & more of the genoa that I'd just let out.... and then more... The wind built to around 30knots from the S and we were making good speed (very!) on a broad reach under double-reefed main. Initially, I didn't reef the main further ... but with the boat being so often knocked over by strong gusts & the big seas that soon built up, together with the uncomfortable heeling all the time, I realized I had to. As usual, it took a time and a lot of effort, but finally it was done, in time for nightfall and an uncomfortable night of crashing about and seas breaking on deck... I decided not to tension the kicker as much as before so as to leave the boom higher - I had seen it touch the water at least once when we were knocked around by the steep-sided waves, so a higher boom seemed eminently sensible!

The birds, a different albatross among them, certainly enjoyed the conditions, unlike me! I cannot say I spent a comfortable night, For a start, I'd allowed myself to get soaked yet again and wet hair doesn't dry too well around here (air temperature is down to 16C) and clothes hung up to dry that I picked to change into were, I found, still very damp. But I did go & find some lovely dry thick fleeces so now I'm warm. (I'm writing this cosily tucked up in my bunk, listening to music!) It's so difficult moving around safely to do anything, even just crossing the cabin to get to the chart table, in such strong conditions - It's "two hands for the boat"... not the usual "one hand ..."!

I was absolutely delighted when I found a bumper load of 'post' with Easter greetings and news from friends in my email Inbox later on .... Thank you so much for those lovely emails - I'll reply over this weekend - but they really cheered me up just when I badly needed it!

One problem overnight was my course - with a S-SSE wind, I was forced to head ENE-NE ... and, quite close to that course, I suddenly spotted Ile St Paul - less than 100 miles away. Fortunately, we were able to make a course of 070T which kept the little French island a good 50 miles away at its closest today - but I kept checking until we had passed it..... The bigger, nearby island of Amsterdam, also French, is another 50miles further N. Both important bird nesting places. The wind is expected to shift more to the SW, maybe W, over tomorrow, so then I'll be able to head more S & get back nearer to 40S which in turn would keep a couple of high pressure areas to N of me, which would give me a good wind direction for heading E. (As I wrote that, there was a loud 'crash' & the whole boat shuddered and jumped, as it was hit by a wave crest..! ....water rushing all over the decks...!)

Good distances covered in these strong conditions! But all jobs are on hold, waiting for calmer conditions!

Noon-to-noon (UTC!) distances covered (DMG: distance-made-good) (see 'Travels' page on website for link to my track on Google Earth)

Thursday: 168 n.ml.
Friday: 141 n.ml.

Tues/Wed 30/31 March 2010 (Days 22&23)

Wednesday.... Another beautiful day until late afternoon, following a bright, moonlit night.... of really pleasant sailing! I've been busy sail trimming, on & off, since before a lovely dawn this morning (Venus high up in E, full moon about to set in W), with wind up and down, trying to keep our speed up... I'm enjoying the warmth with not too big a swell, under a sunny sky. Lovely .... but no birds yesterday and just a couple of White-chinned Petrels today..... I think they all prefer the strong wind and waves, so they can soar on the updraughts...!

Magnetic variation around here is immense. It went up to 47W on Sunday & has just started to go down now - to 46W. Means that when I see a N swell, looking at the ship's compass, it's actually coming from the NW... that's quite a difference!

I'm now trying to get to the Start line of the Single-Handed TransPac Race to Hawaii in June, having had to pull in to Cape Town for repairs after 2 months at sea on my previous nonstop circumnavigation attempt - re-start now planned for October. I just heard that the North California PHRF have given "Nereida" (a Najad 380) a rating of 123. Similar-sized and rated boats are the Catalina 380 and Ericson 38 at 120, Cal 39 and Gibsea 42 at 123, and Beneteau 35S5 at 126. Interesting that they've rated us level with the Cal 39. Chances are slim that I'll make that start line (it's a long way from Cape Town - half the world & well over 13,000 mls!)... but I'm trying! By the time I get close to Hawaii on the way north, I'll know how I'm doing... but in the meantime, this is an excellent test run for "Nereida" - the job list is being made ready for eventual landfall!

One ongoing problem has been bad radio noise with the autopilot in use. (Being unable to use my windsteering gear until I can get the rudder back in place is really bad news ... It was so good on the way down from the Canaries through the S. Atlantic and power consumption is nil... so there's no radio interference problem!!) My radio transmission, I'm told, is excellent, having gone to great lengths to organize a good ground on the system when the boat was in build, so it's really frustrating not to be able to hear people on 14316 kHz and certain other frequencies, when they can hear me so clearly! I'd specified twisted, shielded wire to be used in the AP cable runs to avoid exactly this problem.... something to look at again... not there..? When I turned off the AP while Roy, VK6BO, was transmitting from Perth yesterday, it cleared the noise on frequency almost completely & I could hear him quite well...... but in strong conditions, unless I heave to, I can't afford to leave the AP off for any length of time. Stymied!

A fresh problem that appeared yesterday, on letting out the first reef in light winds - I noticed that the 2nd reef line was badly chafed in a place that did not allow me to just pull a section through to avoid the problem -the line is just not long enough... so I have to try to pull another reef line through the boom ... not something I fancy in mid-ocean but it has to be done sometime soon...... In case it gives way when in use in the meantime, when putting in the 2nd reef this morning, I used a strop to tie in the cringle, so I could, as is my habit now, release the tension on the reef line, and I also rigged a short 'emergency' reef line to reach from the cringle to the boom, so I've something to use to pull the reef down if needed. "Oh, what fun ....the life on the ocean wave... tra-la...!!" Always something to keep me busy...!! And people think I get bored with nothing to do out here...!!! Only problem with pulling a new reef line through the boom is that it requires pulling out the old one ... If the join goes, I'm stuck with my emergency system alone.... I'm not rushing into it just now...!! Pity it's not feasible to have a 'mouse' (spare thin line) running through the boom ready.... New thought.... How about attaching a mouse line to near the chafed area (which is near for'd end of boom) so that if it goes, it takes the 'mouse' into the boom with it... Hmmm...!! I wonder..... Worth looking into.... LATER: Bad news! It's not only the 2nd reef line, but also the 1st reef line, that's chafing - on the small sheaves' quite sharp edges, where they exit from the for'd end of the boom, because of the angle of the lines down to the mast base, it seems.... Two 'mice' will be needed.... fairly urgently. I must see if I can change the leads of those lines somehow.... A good thing both reefs have strops in place, taking the tension off those lines at present.... and today was such a lovely day..... Damn....

Jobs still waiting...
The steering cable is making a slight squeaking noise at the turning sheave below pedestal - to be lubricated.
Oil levels to be checked on Genset and main engine.
Sender wire to tachometer, at back of alternator on 'w' terminal, to be checked to see if loose.

Noon-to-noon DMG:
Tuesday: 151 n.ml.
Wednesday: 170 n.ml. !!

Monday 29th March - NNW of Kerguelen Island - More albatrosses, the usual White-Chinned Petrels and a small flock of prions, among others...!

I'd never heard of Prions until I got my new birdbook on birds of the oceans ('Albatrosses, Petrels & Shearwaters of the World' - a great book!) in Cape Town. Alex on 'Berrimilla' recommended it as he & Pete headed down the S. Atlantic to the north of me in December. I kept giving him descriptions of birds I was seeing & he tried his best to tell me what it might be. Now that I've the book, I can see just how difficult that is .... such a lot of very similar birds, you just can't be sure what exactly they are most times..... But NOT so in the case of the Antarctic Prions I've been seeing so much of today, close to me!! There were 20-30 of them, wings beating fast, then soaring, close to the water and then up..., behaving quite unlike the far bigger juvenile Wandering Albatross gliding among them. That was distinctive by its size & its dark upper parts and white face - unmistakable (although it might be an Amsterdam Island Albatross adult...!!)!

I'm not that far from Kerguelen and Heard Islands (~560 & 830 n.ml to my S) and Amsterdam Island is ~580 n.ml. ENE of here ... Islands where many of these birds breed. I've not seen the Yellow-Nosed albatross for a time now - just these enormous Wandering Albatrosses - this morning there was a pair (Snowy or New Zealand Albatross?),,, and this juvenile - a family, I wondered? All the Albatrosses are said to range over long distances - all the Southern Ocean, in fact. Horrific numbers are slaughtered still by (illegal) fishing methods around here - let's hope they don't become extinct as a result of man's greed, as could so easily happen - that would be unforgiveable.

It's been a very pleasant day of relaxing sailing, with little swell, under almost full canvas, the wind shifting from S to NNE overnight, as a high pressure system passed over bringing almost no wind (I actually motored for several hours, very slowly), and then backed to NNW. Unusually, I ate in the cockpit late this afternoon, it was so pleasant - good to enjoy the moment & study the birds all around.

I'm expecting a cold front to come by soon - that also brings an often-dramatic windshift with it - usually from NNW to SSW. So, seeing a bank of grey cloud on the horizon, I decided to take in the 2nd reef with night falling - then to find the weather (grib) files are forecasting lighter winds over tonight & tomorrow, from an extended high pressure area to the north of me... Oh well ... better to be safe than sorry...! We're still making 7 knots or more in NNW4-5 (~17kt), so all's fine for now (8pm local time)... 40S seems to be the 'magic' latitude for keeping out of both the worst of the high pressure systems' no-wind areas to the N and the really strong winds and associated cold fronts of the depressions to the S, which come by on a frequent basis every few days (Wednesday could see strong winds as I 'catch' the top end of the expected low & its cold front). Keeps me busy with sail trimming, gybing and tacking pretty often!

Sunday was notable for the impressive pair of Wandering Albatrosses with white body & white splashes on their dark wings, the usual grey overcast skies - & excellent overnight and morning speeds (6-7+ kt) in good SSW wind, with a building SW swell. But as the high pressure area came over, the wind dropped - by late evening to 6 kt. I'd removed the broken batten in the morning, well before needing to change tack - it slid out easily while the 2nd reef was in but now the question is whether to try to replace it after cleaning/smoothing off the broken end (but how would I keep it in place? Sew the batten pocket end closed??) or leave it out. I'll see how the sail behaves without it & decide later - no rush.

29March 17:00 UTC:
40*07'S, 065*46'E
COG: 090T, SOG: 7.3 kt
WIND: NNW 18kt
BARO: 1018mb
AIR: 20C, SEA: 15C

Noon-to-noon distances:

Sunday: 146n.ml.
Monday: 115nml (poor overnight wind)

25-27th March 2010 (Days 17-19) HAPPY EASTER!!

Saturday 1230 local time = 0830 GMT Ambling along goose-winged downwind at 4-5 kt in wind from W at 8-10kt

Decided to pause for breakfast (brunch/lunch??!) and treat myself to some grapefruit juice (it's a Holiday weekend, isn't it?) ... but still jobs to do. The main one is dealing with a broken batten, spotted this morning in the grey of a wet, misty dawn... Broken near the mast, where it's unsupported & uncovered over a small section aft of the batten end holder before it enters a now-slightly-torn batten pocket... the same place as the two broken before I arrived in Cape Town. I'd had the battens replaced with new stronger ones in CT but clearly the design of the forward batten-end holder area needs a re-think. It's clearly not up to the job when the boat is being knocked about in swell in light winds - as overnight, when I motor-sailed gently for a few hours. Although the boom is invariably either on a preventer or centred, depending on the point of sail, the sail still flaps at times as we roll in a larger wave in light winds.

So I climbed a short distance up the mast to try to push the end in (sticking out a good foot or so (30cm)) ... having to time my efforts with the swell. I put pressure tape around the splintered end, tying myself to the mast to do so, and tried again... I could get it in so far, but just not enough. Re-think... Then it suddenly occurred to me that if I couldn't get the batten in properly, so it stayed in securely, I wouldn't be able to tack the sail around without almost certain damage to it as the batten broke more, which I'd expect, or maybe rip the sail if it didn't break. I was going to have to remove the batten completely.... not easy ... and it's long...!!

Other little jobs: tidying up lines in the cockpit, re-routing a chafing 'tie-down' for a running backstay , re-attaching a staysail sheet, tightening a lazyjack ... generally checking around for unforeseen problems & tidying up....

A new problem I came across while motor-sailing overnight was finding the rev counter on the engine display panel was no longer working - a pain, that, because I want only to motor gently, at minimal revs ... Will have to be done by sound of motor & positioning of gear lever now, unless I can fix it.... Add that to the joblist!

Thursday & Friday were notable for lack of birds around, in grey, sometimes rainy, conditions (just like today) as we made slow to reasonable speed in shifty, variable winds, mainly from the N quadrant. With less strong winds, the swell gradually lay down, but is always there. Thursday afternoon & early evening, for a few hours, we did very well in stronger winds - NNW 14-18kt - making over 8 knots at times ... but then the wind died down, to 8 knots! And last night, around midnight, the wind went SE from ENE & died right down to 4 knots - the reason for the engine being started for a time!

I tried to download weatherfaxes from Wiluna, Australia, but no radio reception - too far away still, clearly.

Sea temperature is mainly down at 17C & air feels damp all the time (humidity 82%) - 'dry' clothes are damp to the touch - but air temp is 22C and with little wind, it doesn't feel too cold - but I am in my ski socks and fleece layers..!

Well, I'll finish my brunch with a boiled egg (the nearest I'll get to celebrating Easter!) and then deal with cooking a meal (a 'hash') in the pressure cooker for the next few days. Unless I get cooking before nightfall, I've not been inclined to do so .... After my ratatouille was finished, I've been making use of biltong (S. African dried meat), nuts, dried fruit, biscuits and crunchy oatmeal bars - all very healthy but not the same as a hot, cooked meal. This afternoon's job is to try to sort out that batten .... No rush, since winds are supposed to stay W-SW, and light, for next day or so, gradually backing to S-SSE over Sunday, so I expect to stay on this starboard tack for a while yet, but it's best to be prepared so as not to get caught out...

Oh yes ... seems my back-up 'cooked & doused' computer is playing 'dead' - hopefully just a battery problem, since it doesn't seem to want to accept charge - and I don't have a spare battery...

Just before 4pm (local time) today,(1200 UTC), the wind backed to the SSW and strengthened... I put in the 2nd reef - that might help in removal of the broken batten which is also now easier to reach. With the stronger wind and clearer sky, the birds have appeared again ... petrels, an albatross and prions (possibly - ID still unsure!). Nice to see some blue sky & the sun. And it's also nice to see the waxing moon appear toward evening - getting quite large now.

Noon-to-noon distances :

Thursday 25Mar10: 146 n.ml.
Friday 26Mar10: 127 n.ml.
Saturday 27Mar10: 100 n.ml. (L-shaped course with wind shifts...)

(Positions/track shown on Google Earth accessed via 'Travels' page on website)

Tuesday 23March - was notable for quite a few events... one of which was a lesson in chemistry ... I learned that when silicon rubber burns, it turns to a fine white ash - silicon dioxide, maybe? I was cooking some ratatouille in the pressure cooker (not for the pressure, but for safety) and moved it over to the small burner - which just wouldn't light... I tried several times, puzzled, ... finally it lit. (Bear in mind, it was night-time and I had minimal lighting on in the cabin.) But a few moments later, I saw thick smoke pouring up from the back of the stove... What was going on?? ....
I realized something was amiss inside the stove .... and on opening the door, soon saw that a silicon rubber steamer, stored on the stove floor, was on fire... It was touching the gas burner... which I turned off... but it kept on burning.... Thick, thick fumes rose up ... so I hurriedly opened the sliding hatch nearby and the galley portlight directly above to let the fumes out. Fortunately, it wasn't too rough at the time so the portlight seemed a safe thing to open.
I was able to pick up the flaming item using a knife and ladle, get it into the sink close by and douse it with water..... fine white ash everywhere... but no harm done... or was there?
Inside the oven, I always kept my spare computer and various other spare electronic items ... "The oven acts as a Faraday cage in case of lightning strikes," I was always telling people, "So put electronic items in the oven and they'll be safe. But, obviously, you've to be careful not to light the oven with them inside..." Tell me!!!! In trying to light the small burner, on the right-hand side of the cooker, I'd unwittingly turned the furthest right-hand knob ... & lit the oven! I hurriedly removed the laptop and an oven baking dish with a handheld GPS unit in it.... They might be OK, I thought, since there were two large metal sheets shielding them from the flames and they didn't seem overly warm...
As I was beginning to sort out the mess, a spurious wave crashed into the boat... water came through the open portlight ... and landed partly onto the laptop... Oh, no!! Fate laughing at me, as usual?? I grabbed some paper towels and hopefully dried it off as best I could....
But this was just the evening entertainment . .. there'd also been plenty going on in the early morning of Tuesday to keep the Gods amused..... A reefing marathon, in fact....
Monday had been a really uncomfortable, grey day. We were headed into big lumpy seas and NNE winds, unable to quite make our course & falling off waves which got bigger as the day progressed - difficult to do anything much except hang on tight, maybe stay in my bunk for safety and try not to get hurt when moving anywhere. The only good thing about the day was the realization that the really big, solitary albatross I'd seen for several days, Monday included, was definitely a Wandering Albatross and almost certainly a Snowy Albatross by the distinctive white patches on its dark upper wings. I'd also named the pair of dark, white-rumped, sparrow-sized storm petrels that danced and flitted on the water surface, wing-tips constantly getting wet - Wilson's Petrel. The small group of blue-grey & white, fast-flying middle-sized birds that came by occasionally, with a distinctive black 'M' on their upper wings, were either Antarctic Prions or Blue Petrels - but I need to look at tail feathers and underparts more carefully next time to be sure which one.
So as we moved into Tuesday, around dawn, it was still grey, with rainclouds around, & we were still falling off waves - 'banging horribly', I noted in my log - but we were making good speed: SOG 7.2knots. Just over an hour or so later, the wind suddenly backed - from NNE to NNW to NW ...and went light: from 19kt .. to 10 kt.. and then 6 kt ... "Wind's dying, as forecast," I thought... and let out the full genoa, winching it in hard because we were still on a close reach, but fortunately waiting before shaking out the two reefs in the mainsail... I went down below to make a log entry but soon realized the wind was getting up... and up...
So back on deck to furl in the genoa - a lot! - and some staysail... The wind was now up to 24 knots true, meaning an even higher apparent wind, and we were heeling like mad. It was tough, slow going, furling in the sails, and took me a long time, not helped by the angle of heel. When finished, we were still heeling way too much -nothing for it but to take in the third reef - never easy... I decided to run off downwind a bit, to ease the heeling by reducing the apparent wind, but that didn't make reefing any easier. Release the kicker... & mainsheet... start dropping the sail... Damn! ... it's getting caught in the downwind lazyjack... go to the mast & release the lazyjack - good news and bad news .. The sail's not getting caught in it anymore - that's good.. but it's also not being supported anymore - not so good! Taking in the 3rd reef always takes me a time, especially downwind, pulling in both lines to take up the slack as the halyard is slowly eased .. but eventually it was done... and the reef cringle was tied in with a strop to prevent chafe on the reef line. Then I tried to tie in the big loose slab of sail with two sail ties ... difficult...! ....And tighten the lazyjack - not so easy either, with the slab of sail falling off to one side... but at least we could come back on course & felt more in control. The wind had, by now, veered into the north ... There was a large,dirty grey raincloud close by. "The cause of the problem?" I thought.. but the wind stayed up all morning, by midday easing a touch to 20 knots. I'd shipped quite a lot of water from the big waves that an increasing wind always builds up, a lot down my neck (where was that sou'wester?!) and was soaked again ... but found some nearly-dry gear to change into. Well over two hours had passed by....!! (I'd easily missed the 0630 UTC SSB radio call!)

Wednesday: The wind has been fairly consistent throughout the day at NNW, but down from the 16-18kt of late yesterday evening, to around just 8-10 knots all day from before dawn. So the seas have lain down and I've been able to clear up yesterday's mess in the oven, open up and dry out the computer (not too much water got inside so there's hope there yet) and try to dry and wash some clothes... Anyone who's seen "Nereida" of late will know how many lines I've strung up across the main cabin - all in good use now for drying lots of damp or wet gear! And my short piece of 'preventer' line under the boom makes an excellent washing line, if conditions permit - as today!

The moon is up in a starry sky throwing a path of light across the sea to "Nereida". Upside-down Orion is in full view & Sirius, in its 'Dog' constellation, is high up, seas are calm... but we're slowing down gradually (wind now is only 8kt and veering more to the N). It's a lovely night... not too cold... Is it the layers I'm wearing... or have I acclimatized??

Noon-to-noon distances:
Monday 22nd March: 70 n.ml. (big tacks against E wind)
Tuesday 23rd March: 156 n.ml. (good wind strengths!)
Wednesday 24th March: 137 n.ml. (reducing wind strength over period)

Position at 2200UTC Wed: 39*06'S, 052*52'E

Sat/Sun 20/21 Mar (Days 12&13)

Made excellent progress in the Southern Ocean during Saturday, often at over 8 knots, heading East in company with a variety of albatrosses & petrels flying magnificently around "Nereida" - skimming close to the waves, then soaring high in the air currents, with hardly ever a flap of their wings!! A beautiful sight - I keep watching them for long times at a stretch! (Using new bird book a lot!)

Reefed down (yet again!) to 3rd reef, as night fell, bringing increasing wind...& then went to change out of my thoroughly wet gear from breaking seas splashing all over me... I went to get dry clothes from an aft cabin locker but found my 'dry' underclothes were all sopping wet ... water clearly leaking in from somewhere. Next, I managed to turn on the tap in the head basin when I went to hang up wet stuff nearby - didn't realize until way later.... so had a load of mopping up to do! (Next day, found aft cabin leak seems to be coming in via opening portlight - gasket sealing the glass onto the surround when closed clearly not fitting well enough since lots of water drops seen on inside of glass.)

Sea temp went down from 23C to 17C overnight on Saturday - so boat was noticeably colder.... I'm in my fleeces and ski socks... and enjoying hot soup - last of tasty home-made pumpkin ...must make some more...!! But later, having headed a little more north, temp was back up to over 21C and has so far stayed around that (early Mon morning, it's 21.4C)

Swell got up more again on Saturday, and overnight, but it was calmer on Sun. High pressure suddenly came over us midnight Sat/Sun bringing expectation of lighter, more easterly winds over Sunday. Had to head NE for a time, in SSE winds, & then NNE-N as the wind backed more, later having to tack around to the south in ENE wind to keep some kind of easterly heading on average. Winds were thoroughly variable over Sunday evening and night but by Monday morning they finally settled into fairly steady NNE4-5 (~15knots) - so we were able to make a good speed - and were heading East at last, although in very lumpy conditions caused by opposing swells - from NE and also from SW.

I've been reading instrument manuals - just got into 'Windvane' mode for AP - so can use AP like my windsteering gear -to steer by the wind direction.. and getting into 'Auto Tack' next..should prove useful for coping better with the sheets of the two headsails when tacking!

Found a shackle had gone missing from a preventer line block on the port quarter... fortunately, my spares had one of the right size, so problem quickly resolved.

Sunday morning, I had the last of my fresh blueberries and also had the last of some fresh mushrooms in an omelette that evening, with another baby 'Gem' squash for starter - still several of those left - they keep well.

Noon-to-noon DMG: Sat 20th: 147n.ml. Sun 21st: 137 n.ml.

Friday 19th March Suddenly - peace & calm!

The usual crashing around all morning..... some sun in between white clouds.... Then, at lunchtime, a major rain squall, with a big wind shift to SW, followed by rain on & off all afternoon... I'm sitting here at tea-time, with a mug of tea in my hand, munching away at a slice of Dundee (rich fruit) cake - very British!! It's suddenly become really peaceful and almost calm - no violent crashing into or off waves ... the wind shifting to SW from W has made all the difference... we're now heading due E easily, just off a beam reach - excellent news! When we bounce along gently, I know we're sailing well - often fast...

There have been a lot of birds around, as though they like the rainy weather of this afternoon... a pair of Yellow-nosed albatross, a dozen White-Chinned Petrels, another different albatross, a pair of Storm Petrels ... and one or two other small ones (prions?), yet to be identified - I'm making good use of my new bird book!

With increase in distance, I may be losing my contact on 7120 kHz of the S.A.M.M. Net with Alistair (ZS5MU), but I had excellent contact at 1130 UTC with Graham, ZS2ABK, on 14316 kHz - the same frequency I'll be making eventual contact on with Roy (VK6BO), in Perth, as I get closer to Australia. I was also contacted by Graham. in Wellington, New Zealand, (sysop for the Winlink station ZL2ABN) kindly offering help should I need it.

I still can't believe how suddenly it's calmed down.... Oh well! Just checked... wind down to 12 kt, SOG down to 5.5 kt, although pressure steady still, at 1010 mb. One good thing - the rain will have washed a lot of the salt away - everything I've touched, when topsides recently, has been coated in a film of salt water or salt crystals...

Distance noon-to-noon: 150 n.ml.

Position at 1800 UTC: 38*27' S, 038*27' E !!

Tues-Thurs 16th-18th March Big swell but wind OK

Tuesday was quite a pleasant day with W winds of 15-20knots and no big swell. I was looking out for the expected backing to more southerly winds (which came that afternoon) when I noticed around midday that the sea temperature had shot up from the 19C of the day before to 26C!! We were also getting a definite push from current - we seemed to have found the Indian Ocean circulation & were seeing over 8 knots from time to time.

By midday Wednesday, the morning's SW winds of 10-12 knots had become 18-20 & our speed over the ground was consistently showing well over 9 knots ... the current was giving us a real boost!!

That morning, as I checked around on deck, I found the 3rd reef shackle lying on deck without its pin which had obviously come loose and jumped into the sea.... Fortunate that we'd not had strong enough winds overnight for me to need to take the 3rd reef in. I found a similar shackle in my spares and so was able to re-attach the reef line to the sail, after lowering the sail sufficiently. I used a plastic cable tie (didn't I say how useful they are??!) to hold the pin in place so, hopefully, it shouldn't come loose again.

We've had steady company over several days now from various petrels (White-chinned among them, it being too far from Tristan da Cunha for the Spectacled Petrels) & a Yellow-nosed albatross - who came very close to inspect me several times when I was in the cockpit wearing a bright red top - as though I caught its attention wearing the bright colour.

A big swell had built up over the day & with stronger winds forecast, already at 24 knots apparent and gusting higher, I took the 3rd reef in before dark. Finally managed to get it in, going downwind, without tangling the reefing line or battens in the lazyjack lines but I couldn't tie it in as I wanted - I decided to work that problem out another time - I'd been perched high up in the lurching cockpit hanging on to the boom for quite long enough in the big seas then running and darkness was falling.. On Tuesday evening, I'd cooked some Bolognese sauce with fresh mushrooms & now, having got well and truly doused with seawater while reefing, I was really pleased that all I had to do on getting down below was to heat it up and enjoy it!! I didn't cook another of the delicious baby Gem squashes I'd also had on Tuesday but did heat up some of my pumpkin soup to have first - making a good, quick, hot meal!

It's Thursday afternoon as I'm writing this - and It's been difficult moving about all day ... I have to be really careful... I left the sliding hatch partly open - and water came down as a wave crashed into us.... I've had to keep an eye out also for lines getting washed over the side - the sea sweeping the decks occasionally, together with the frequent violent heeling action as we climb a wave and then lurch down the other side, keeps tangling them around cleats or washing them over... Safest place for me is in my bunk ,,,,,!!

Hopefully, the seas will lie down soon - high pressure is expected to move this way and with it light S-SE winds - not very good news, but hopefully, the wind direction & strength will allow us to keep moving in roughly the right direction.

Distances noon position to noon position (see 'Travels' page on website for link to positions on Google Earth):

Tuesday 143n.ml
Wednesday 154 n.ml.
Thursday 167 n.ml.

Fri 12Mar2010 Passed due S of Cape Agulhas - so officially entering the Indian Ocean? Where does the Southern Ocean start??

Lovely sunny day up to noon with good W wind and building seas - knocking us about often! Making 7-8+ knots for most of the day on a broad reach until reduced sail early afternoon when broken rainclouds seemed to be bringing stronger wind - of course, wind dropped back down as soon as I'd finished that!! Left 2 reefs in ready for overnight - still making over 6-7 knots... Decided to head slightly more S around noon to get to 40S sooner - grib files are showing high pressure ridge and light E winds coming up soon around 38S but not at 40S where Wlies are forecast.

Been looking at birdbook - will have to study birds keeping me company (albatrosses, petrels & sheawaters) very closely for fine detail if I'm to distinguish the many similar-looking ones....

Consistent wind through to late evening - going well and making good progress...

Sat 13Mar

Winds overnight and morning around 30knots, often 34+kn for periods of time... Had difficulty putting in 3rd reef downwind overnight - too much wind, should have reefed sooner! Bonus is good speeds - 7-9knots (noon-to-noon distance was 171 n.ml.) but seas built up more, so boat getting regularly knocked over.

Mostly grey raincloud around, but not too much rain & occasional sun. Saw one dark, very large albatross this afternoon - all dark above, unlike others I've seen before. Possibly a juvenile Wandering Albatross?
Exciting thought! Plenty of other birds around at times.. . White-rumped and dark Storm Petrels and some other small birds, a well as the usual larger, mainly dark petrels and (yellow-nosed?) albatrosses I've seen before - but no Spectacled Petrels - too far from Tristan de Cunha now, maybe?

Slept several times over the day. Seem to be needing plenty of sleep - making up for lost sleep in CapeTown maybe? Then cooked a good meal before dark - feeling good for that!

Wind has swung to SSW and down to 20-25kn this evening, so on a close reach - with a current of 1.3kn for a time, now 0.3kn, pushing us East!

Running generator now - not needing to run very often because Kiss wind generator has been piling in the electrons nicely with all the wind - but radio (S.African M.M. Net and email&weather downloads) and autopilot use both make the batteries slowly go down. Solar panels not doing a lot with mainly overcast skies: 1-3A at most.

Found a minute lovely deep blue flying fish in the cockpit this evening...

1930GMT posn: 39 31'S, 23 11'E