Saturday 21st November 09
Wind slowly increased from nothing at all at sunset Friday to N 18 kn most of the day - so fast sailing on a beam reach - very nice, although an increasing SW swell so rather bumpy at times.

Saw a mass of cloud of approaching on W horizon not long before sunset... Thought it was a forecast Cold Front arriving ... So slowed the boat right down - from 7.6-7.8 to just 4.2 boatspeed... genoa furled, 3rd (deep ) reef in mains'l with stays'l... and got Jordan series drogue all ready just to chuck over the stern ... General idea was that all that effort should guarantee nothing will happen.......! Which was exactly right - because the cloud turned out to be nothing dramatic at all - just a lot of fluffy light cumulus! So eventually, to increase our speed, I unfurled some genoa - much better!!
I had to keep an eye on our heading because the wind, as usual when a Low is approaching S of here, is slowly backing all the time.. E-NE-N-etc, so our course changes with it, being under wind-steering. So I frequently have to adjust 'Fred' (the Hydrovane acquired a name some time ago!)to keep us heading in the right direction.

Still have a pair of 'spectacled petrels' soaring around the boat and some kind of 'masked booby' (a big white bird with handsome black markings - clearly gannet family)came by earlier. We're pretty close to the small island of Tristan de Cunha - less than 400 mls to the S! I gather that's where the spectacled petrels breed - they're rare because they're endemic to Tristan so we're privileged to have their company(Info courtesy of my 'sailing companions' on 'Berrimilla' - just over 200 miles to the north)Seems the name I made up wasn't far short of being correct - but they're petrels, not shearwaters...

More problems... First reef line has broken at leech cringle (chafed)- so I had to drop the mains'l and tie the first reef in with a line around the boom.(I put in 2nd reef while I was at it, since wind was expected to keep building overnight and Sunday). Was thinking of heaving-to but managed it 'on-the-trot' with the boom more or less centred.

I then thought it was a good time to un-wire the topping lift shackle at the end of the boom so I could keep the topping lift at the mast(It's my trysail halyard, so better there anyway)..But I'd done an excellent job wiring it...it was really difficult to get off - especially with the swell!! Managed eventually and new topping lift home is at the mast, close to where I'd hanked on the trysail yesterday to be ready for use...

Sunday 22nd November 09

Had an excellent fast overnight sail - and on into today. The wind is continuing to build very slowly, as it backs to the north and then into the northwest, and the seas are getting a bit difficult at times - but we're sailing well with a small amount of genoa to boost our speed added to the stays'l and triple-reefed main from overnight.

It seems the expected cold front has speeded up and may get to our position by this evening or overnight, rather than later on Monday. Hopefully, it won't be as dramatic as last Tuesday since I'm at the tail end of the Front, rather than slap-bang in the middle. In the meantime, I'm preparing for a repeat - but hope to be better able to deal with it this time . At least now I'll be expecting the 'switching' of the wind direction: a sudden backing from N/NW to S/SW - as is normal when these fronts pass by. Of course, that relates to here in the S hemisphere - everything is round the other way, weatherwise, in the North!

Winds are expected to continue building from their present, early-afternoon 22knots to as much as 30-35 kn tonight, with higher gusts, possibly - so I could be due for another interesting night... with rain, again, of course! I think I'll have my evening meal early today...

Monday 23rd November 09

Posted report yesterday for Sat/Sun, but for some reason it failed - so I'm trying again, with addition of today.

Last night the cold front came through soon after midnight - with no very strong wind (about 13 knots), just the sudden 'switching' of wind as it backed to SSW from NW... Of course, expecting the worst, (grib weather files were showing a front & associated rain (squalls?) passing me overnight)& with wind and seas building gradually, I'd decided to down the main completely before it got dark(partly just to see how that went, never having done it alone at sea in wind before..)and furl in the genoa, so the only sail we had up by 5pm was the (small) staysail. It was then that I discovered that the threatened failure of the gas-filled rod-kicker had occurred, due to losing oil from the seals gradually since soon after leaving the Canaries. The failure was made very obvious once the sail had been lowered & so no longer helping to support the boom. But, unfortunately, just yesterday, I'd taken the topping lift away to put near the trysail at the mast.... so it was no longer on the boom end helping to support it.... I'd been wondering what a certain noise had been over the afternoon - now I knew.... because the rod-kicker had failed, & was no longer supporting the boom, and neither was the topping lift, the boom was moving about in the swell in an unusual way.

The wind was around 22knots by then (and pressure was dropping)but we seemed to end up way under-powered in a big swell which kept knocking us off course - and then 'Fred' would have a problem getting us back on course because of the lack of sail area in the right place (i.e. no mainsail to help balance) . I switched on the autopilot occasionally to help out... At least I knew that I shouldn't end up in difficulties should a strong, veered wind come through - backing the stays'l presented only a minor problem, unlike backing the main.

So I later got into my bunk and had a good sleep!! ... to be woken up just before 1am with the wind shift having just occurred and the stays'l backed.... we were effectively hove-to, so not going anywhere. I brought the stays'l over to port & unfurled some genoa to help our speed in the lighter wind ( 13 knots and going down) - no big drama this time around!! But speed was badly compromised by the lack of mainsail - that would have to wait until daylight, I decided.... I'm not racing just now!!

By 6am, the sun was just up and I set to... Not as straightforward as it should have been - the topping lift had to be brought back to its place on the boom aft end, so it could support the boom, & the lazyjacks had to be released on the leeward side of the sail to avoid battens getting caught, but eventually it was done - and our speed increased with it. It's been very gusty and at one point, with full genoa, staysail and single-reefed main, we were doing 8.6-8.7 knots consistently through the water!! I decided maybe I'd better reef again - so life calmed down a little and I was able to have breakfast in peace!

As I was writing this, soon after midday, we suddenly heeled over as a big gust came through - from 12 knots, it was suddenly up to 20-25 knots .... and I had full genoa out.... We ran off downwind to lower the apparent wind while I frantically winched in the genoa completely... oh, what fun!! With the wind seeming to stay well up, I put in the 3rd reef ... so now the wind has dropped and we're going nowhere... Time to shake out that reef again....! It had been such a lovely sunny day a short while before that I'd relaxed and thought that was it... front passed by, problems over for one or two days... but this was a delayed area of convection behind that same front. Wind speed now? 9knots....! 20mins later: 18knots... "Variable conditions"!!

DMG noon-to-noon:
Saturday: 82M (By Log: 95M)- Wind died during Friday afternoon and didn't return until just before dawn
Sunday: 142M (By log: 143M!) - Reflecting some excellent sailing, despite the swell & even though I slowed us down for several hours during the evening and was careful overnight!
Monday: 105M (By log: 99M -) - Difference due to slight fair current from evening until early morning. Low because slowed right down overnight with front expected to pass over.

Wednesday/Thursday/ to Friday afternoon 18/19/20th November 09 Days 40-42 From 50+ knots to nothing...!

I was certainly shaking for a bit -
Having had several 30+ squalls followed by a 40+ squall early Tuesday afternoon- and then the unexpected squall of well over 50 knots (- dial just went crazy - gave up after went over 50!)that came through around 1845 when I thought things were calming down, I thought the excitement was over...... but not so...!

Just after midnight, a 30+ squall came through(pressure went up from Tuesday's 1010/11 to 1014mb) - and the wind switched in no time from NW to S, then ended up from WSW. Big seas...heavy rain....We just ran before the wind as it backed and then veered... good to have the sea-room and no other vessels around. Felt a lot better when we were running.... but seas really got up & it was difficult to keep them on the quarter since there were two different seas (NW & NNE - one on quarter meant t'other on beam), and we were well heeled over several times...The sudden change of wind direction had backed the mains'l which was on a preventer - so a stanchion got bent a bit. Had to gybe the sails & try to deal with a problem with battens of reefed mains'l caught in lazyjacks while at it . Fortunately, the wind dropped not long after, to just 10kn... Just to add to the excitement, the Hydrovane steering line 'heat-welded butt joint' came adrift.!! (I'd always meant to add some stitching....) There was also a major water leakage from the sliding hatch area above the chart table from all the rain.... not such good news!! Covered things with a towel to protect the electronics.... We weren't exactly a 'happy bunny' just then!! But boat did OK - heeled like mad at times.. ears got a wetting... but stayed mostly upright... she's a sturdy boat. Later, I noticed the top two battens were broken at the cars.

Wednesday turned into a fairly pleasant day - sunny with biggish seas - they always take a time to lie down. Wind was SW 20kn over most of the day so it made for a good day's sail but we paid for that on Thursday and on into the night.... Went nowhere, except in a big loop at mostly zero boat speed all day from noon on.... Wind only 4-5knots, mostly from E or SE, with 6kn for 1/2 hr from S... actually got sailing E for short while!!... But a strong foul current of up to 2 knots, often... Benguela starting up, I presume...

By Friday at 0630, we were at the same spot nearly as at the same time the day before, heading in the same direction: 110T...! And now, at 1400 Friday, after having had a good sail all morning, the wind (which has now backed to NNE) has just died to 6 knots, the sky has cleared ... and we could well be slopping about again soon.. ( Later: Yes - we're about to start wallowing...! Boat speed: 3.9kn, SOG: 3.6kn) The next low pressure system, with its associated cold front, are expected to pass by during Sat/Sun - probably intense again..... time will tell... Could be another 'hit' coming up ...!!

Unfortunately, it's not possible to get any weather fax by radio because Cape Naval have stopped transmissions - for 'repairs', I've been told, which may become permanent... A great pity since it's nice to have accurate weather information, rather than just rely on 'grib' files - which are far better than nothing but often not that accurate.

DMG to noon-to-noon:
Wednesday: 97M (128M by log)
Thursday: 105M (132M by log)
Friday: 13.5M!! (33M by log)

Sunday evening, around 9.30pm, I saw on AIS that we had a ship on a definite collision course with us.... I called over and over, at intervals, on VHF and even sent DSC calls to their bridge - no response .. I got really worried when they were within a few miles and I could see their lights and but still got no response... Finally, they obligingly turned to port to pass astern of me, once we could hear each other properly. Well before then, I'd turned on my deck light (it lights up my sails beautifully)in an effort to attract their attention - just in case someone was looking out, ... only too often, not so! Afterwards they came back to me to chat a little... clearly intrigued by the thought of a woman out here sailing by herself...!

By the time the incident was all over, it was well past 11pm - and I'd missed the 'window' to speak to the Maritime Mobile Net in the USA on 14300 kHz - as I'd done the night before. Amazing to get such clear reception between two people so far apart - Net Control in Minnesota was clear as a bell! It was fun to try it and fun to chat and make contact. They have a rota of radio 'hams' who keep the Net going all day & are there in case anyone needs help of some kind.

That same night, Groupama 3 passed about 150 mls S of me! Going at nearly 30kn - just a little bit faster than me! So sad to hear of the breakage they just suffered, putting an end to their Jules Verne attempt - they're limping towards Cape Town as I write this... hoping to try again maybe next year, after repairs...

Well, it's rather bumpy out here... and has been since Monday mid-morning when the wind started rising with an incoming Low. That evening we were making good speed in NE 20knots -- boatspeed: 7.5kn, SOG 6.3kn - (pity about the foul current!!)Plan was to ease the sheets to keep us heading roughly East as the wind slowly backed as the centre of the Low passed S of our position.... I was hoping that the 40-45kn forecast for Tues noon wouldn't happen.... but it did!! Right on cue!!

I'd two (deep) reefs in mains'l and full stays'l, (genoa furled away)until early evening when wind started building more - to ~24kn apparent, so took in 3rd reef, eased sheets and headed more downwind.

At 5am, I'd just managed to retrieve and lash down the emergency forestay, which had come loose and was banging around noisily, when a squall came through: wind rose quickly from 19 to 28-31, dying back a bit later, & staying down at 24kn from 0600-1100, when another squall came through, although waves stayed high. Midday actually saw the sun trying to struggle through a thin layer of cloud ... I thought that was it! But at 1300, it started gusting to 32k,... by 1410, up to 38-42+kn, then by 1425, down to 34kn. Pressure dropped a touch over this time: by just 1mb to 1010, having stayed virtually constant all day. By 1500... all seemed to be over, just big waves and 24kn , ... Had 3rd reef in mains'l + stays'l and followed wind around as it backed -which happened very much more slowly overnight than I expected - it went to NNW and stayed there until the 'big blow' when it backed to NW. Now just left-over swell ... waiting for it to die down now...

Might get some more wind later, but hopefully, not so strong..! Until Wed when the High will drop over me, bringing very little!

LATER: So much for that hope....Got hit again....even more!! A really strong squall came in with heavy rain and winds well over 50kn - the display went crazy...!! Wow - did I get worried! I'd only just furled in a bit of staysail with the line having come loose.. and BANG!! The spume was being blown like horizontal mist over the sea surface... the waves got even bigger - but we did OK.. I'd retreated VERY shakily down below, pleased with the good job being done by the specially-made perspex storm hatch over the companionway. I'd adjusted our course to try to make sure the waves were still on the quarter - we'd rounded up initially in the strong wind... TG the really strong stuff must have only lasted for about 15-20 minutes - although, of course, it seemed never-ending, especially when we were on our ears momentarily in the water!! Now we're down to 22kn... but the seas are still up - every now and then we're hit by a big one & rock violently - a good test of how well things are stowed!!... I wonder how long this system will take to pass through...?? Seems the first 'hit' was a Front, ahead of the second 'hit' due to the Low itself passing by.

And I thought all I was going to talk about was my little following of 7-8 dark brown seabirds....!! Seems they might be 'White-Chinned Petrels' , not shearwaters at all. They have a definite white 'chin strap' from behind the eye (which is ringed by white) to down by their mid-grey beak - very handsome!. Under parts are all dark brown and some birds (females/immature?) are all brown They all have the same black tips to the upper wing surface. They may have gone now - midday, I saw just two.

Let's see if I can send this - hopefully by SSB/HF radio, because the Iridium phone is playing up badly - and that's definitely NOT something I can fix!!

DMG noon to noon:

Mon: 129M (147M by log)- bit of a curved track over the period!
Tues: 132M (145M by log)- not exactly a straight line..!

Sunday 15th November 2009 Day 37 Excellent sailing today.. with birds for company still!

Lovely sun & blue skies this morning... but now we're sailing beneath a grey, overcast sky . But my shearwater companions are still with me! They seem to have adopted 'Nereida' and every time I look out, there they are, circling and swooping around, mainly astern of us... so very nice to see! I think the male has a definite pale yellow curved line well below the eye - which is surrounded by a distinctive pale yellow area - hence 'spectacled' shearwater...! I threw a rotten potato overboard and one instantly swooped down and landed in the water to investigate. (I has a nice omelette tonight with potatoes, onion and asparagus... mm! I still have plenty of fresh onions, potatoes & eggs in store.)

Have had a very good sailing day today - at over 7knots regularly this afternoon in 17 knots apparent - with one reef in mains'l , full genoa and full stays'l. Started being forced overnight and this morning more and more to NE and points north... so tacked over onto port tack at about the right time mid-morning, with wind continuing to back, and was able to make due S initially, but soon SSE ... presently (2000GMT ) heading between SE and ESE. Will stay on this tack and follow wind around (that's the beauty of wind-steering - I don't have to do a thing - it does it for me!) until heading E and then ease the sheets gradually to keep going E, ending up with the wind from abaft the beam (I love that phrase!!)as the Low passes by.. that's the plan, anyway..!!

DMG to noon today: 83M .... but 115 M by log

Big difference because we'd been heading E-ENE-NE since noon yesterday, slowed down by the good-sized seas that built up in the afternoon, and then tacked around this morning to head S for 2-3 hours at good speed - a big inverted kind of 'V'!

Saturday 14th November 09 Day 36 That split pin......

Had several emails about the split pin problem at the gooseneck fitting between mast and boom .....Thanks for your concern, it's very much appreciated!

I'm pleased to report that I'm hoping all is now well...The clevis pin rotated a bit overnight, so I was actually able to get to & open the ends of the split pin far more this morning - well turned back on themselves, in fact, so it's much more secure than it was... I'll keep an eye on it and use an alternative if it gives any more grief(wire through clevis pin & around boom, maybe)

Sky has cleared tonight (Southern Cross clear to view) and wind has died down to 8 knots from SSE - so at 3 knots SOG we're not exactly breaking any speed records, yet again!! At least that means the sea has stayed smoother than this afternoon. I just hope the wind doesn't die totally...

(By the way, can someone send me info on where Groupama 3 have got to??)

Bye for now...

Jeanne
"Nereida"
28S, 021W

Saturday 14th November 09 Day 36 Graceful ocean birds around Nereida

This morning I caught sight of a lone bird swooping and gliding around 'Nereida' - it hardly ever seemed to flap its wings, using the updraught from the waves to keep it airborne, sometimes dipping its wing-tips in the water... so graceful! And this evening around sunset, a group of 'spectacled' shearwaters swooped around us for a long time - I stood in the companionway watching them well after the sun went down, as the light faded. Dark brown birds all over, with black wing tips .. I was puzzled by their head which clearly had a light-coloured bill - but when one came close enough - it had a circle of a light colour around its eyes - just like spectacles - so that's what I've named them!! (Maybe someone can identify them for me?)

The seas have calmed down quite a bit from this afternoon when we were banging about regularly with swell from several different directions making the sea really 'lumpy'. I got so worried about what was coming last night, and sure enough, I had to get in and out of my 'foulies' several times to trim the sails with the big wind shifts that accompanied the heavy rain, but in the end, the rain squalls stopped well before 11 o'clock and the wind died down completely to 5 knots, ending up from ESE - our hoped-for course! Rather than continue heading almost north, with the alternative being WSW!, by 11 o'clock, I'd decided we'd be better off 'hove-to' - so that's what I did - peace and relaxation followed... and several hours good sleep! We drifted with the wind and current a little, but not far.

By 4am, I realized the wind had veered to SSW, so we got going again, gently ambling along, roughly E-ESE, as I wanted, and by 0745, the sun was up and it was a lovely drying morning for all my wet gear of the evening before... Later, the wind backed a little to SSE and has stayed there all day, gusting under several
clouds earlier on, but then getting up to a consistent 18 knots until the early evening - we were well-reefed down and made good speed for a time until the seas built up
We're heading NE now - not quite towards S. Africa, but nearly so!! The wind seems to be slowly backing more, so it's possible that soon we'll have to gybe to keep a good course. Our rhumbline course is 110T from here to S of the Cape of Good Hope, but keeping an eye on the likely weather ahead, I prefer to go NE just now, heading S in a few days time, maybe. "The wind is king"!!

Not surprisingly, having had several hours overnight of zero boat speed while 'hove-to' and then light winds after that, our DMG until noon today is the the lowest ever:

DMG: 46M!! (By log: 65M - partly reflecting the big 'loop' we made before and after heaving-to & partly due to the foul current most of the day. For quite a time, mid-morning - boat speed over 7 knots, SOG around 5 knots!)

ing
until it
was

Friday 13th November, 2009 - Day 35 Saw a lovely albatross this morning!!

- It circled around a few times - and then made off as I was going to get my camera for a photoshoot!!

I was clearly in the shipping lane up from the Cape of Good Hope last night - talked to two ships coming close.. one only briefly, to confirm they'd seen me (had me on radar, they assured me)and the other, after a really bad radio connection initially, kept coming back to me for a chat, after confirming they were keeping clear of me. A Croatian, who was thrilled to think I knew Dubrovnik and Split, who even sent me a message via DSC saying "Good luck, :)" !!

I'm sitting here this evening in my 'foulies', at the ready... expecting a major Low to pass through sometime before the morning... keeping an eye on barometer!! I hate the suspense!! Don't expect to get much rest tonight... Raining now but very little wind - 'calm before the storm...'?? Had one big 'blow' come through this morning - all action, reefing down in a hurry!! And then the wind died completely... I had to gybe and we drifted around in a complete circle before the wind filled in from the NE (it had been coming from the SW!)(Later tonight:That has just happened again ..twice!!! Wind 'switched' direction completely.. I'm wet and the boat is well-washed down!) And there'll be lots more of this... I don't expect to be in Cape area until end of month... 2200mls and 2-3 wks away... with deep depressions coming through regularly! (Rumbling of thunder in the distance, I'm hearing now...)

I'm still having a major problem with the gooseneck... After I thought I'd fixed it from coming apart yesterday (JUST spotted in time!)I checked on it today while I was reefing - & found it was about to repeat itself... The split pin I'd put back to hold the clevis pin in place through the fitting was out of position and about to drop out again!! The whole arrangement is clearly just not sturdy enough... really flimsy, in fact. Means I'm seriously having to consider whether to pull in to Cape Town to get it fixed properly before continuing on.... Can't risk boom coming away from mast anywhere, let alone the Southern Ocean, thousands of miles from nearest land! What a pain!!

Must get some dinner organized before the light goes - might be chili con carne tonight... tin of chili beans, tin of nicely-cooked mince, extra tomato and spice - and there you go - VERY quick...and tasty!!

DMG to noon today: 105M (2120 M to Cape of Good Hope)

Thursday 12th November 2009 - We survive a near-disaster .. what a nightmare...!! I had to doublecheck it wasn't Friday 13th...!!! (oh, oh...that's tomorrow!!)

I was stowing away pole and lines I'd used overnight .. and spotted a metal washer on deck, at the mast-foot (where yesterday I'd found a small split pin, but couldn't see where it had come from). Looked at gooseneck (connection between mast and boom)- it was almost apart...!!! The split pin was from the end of a clevis pin whose job was to hold the boom and gooseneck together and the washer was from there also. The clevis pin going through the centre of the gooseneck had worked its way completely out of one side of the fitting - and the boom and sail were about to part company with the mast...... gulp!! "Trying hard not to panic".....!!..... I went down to fetch a hammer to bang the clevis pin back into place - but the pin was off to one side of hole due to pressure of wind in sail and so wouldn't budge.

I headed upwind with furled foresail, downed the mains'l partway.... persuaded (ie hammered!)the clevis pin back into the hole - with pressure on it eased, it was actually fairly easy - and then fitted a new split pin. ( I have lots of spares... but only found one of the exact right size...It's surprisingly small for such a major item of rigging)

That was all too close for comfort to being a disaster ....!!

When I was about to raise the mains'l again, I spotted more chafe... on the first reef line ... had to cut a length off and re-tie around boom. I think the material of the sail is so hard, it's causing some of this chafe problem. And finally (!), as I was checking around the mast, I pulled on the slack 2nd reef line - to find it wasn't attached to sail! - My knot of some days ago was clearly of the 'slippery' kind ...(I can't believe that...!)! Lowered mains'l again... re-did the knot - making sure, this time that I tied it correctly....

And I thought today was going to be one of relaxation.... ! ... I'd got out my still-wrapped-in-cellophane new edition of 'Heavy Weather Sailing', thinking I'd find plenty of use in it - and there I spotted 'Berrimilla' - my 'sailing companions' of the last 2-3 weeks (They're presently about 450 mls north of 'Nereida', still in good wind as they also head south and hoping to avoid the high pressure I got trapped in.) I even know what 'Berrimilla' looks like now....! Now there's a couple of guys with heavy weather sailing (and racing) experience...!!

I imagine Groupama 3 are getting fairly close to being well west of my position ... would be interesting to see their route.

We're moving much better today - there's been a fair wind (WNW4, 10-14 kn), so none of the slapping of sails as we flop about as there was all day yesterday. Still in the high pressure area but a bit of a trough/several small lows are complicating things.

I shall sign off and have a mug of tea - I need to relax more...!!

DMG to noon today: 62M

Distance at noon to Cape of Good Hope: 2224 M

Wednesday 11th November 2009

Watermaker finally OK - with only slight dripping from a connection that was dripping before - can't tighten it any more - think it's the hose - metal spiral in plastic wall of hose... NO water spurting all over aft cabin! - and water tanks full...YES!! (Just hope it continues - I'll always be worried until hoses are replaced entirely with fresh ones of exact right size!)Had to take off hose completely and remove some Teflon grease I'd used to help get hose onto connector - not a good idea ... but after a short while, and a bit of struggling, I was able to start it up and slowly bring it up to pressure - very trepidatiously, I have to say..... !! Great news!! I feel quite elated .. and I relaxed for rest of day after putting aft cabin back together again.

Today's noon position & weather report:
LATITUDE: 26-57.43S LONGITUDE: 024-52.69W
COURSE: 150T SPEED: 2.3 !!!
WIND SPEED: 5 WIND DIR: NW WAVE HT: 1.5M WAVE PER: 4
SWELL DIR: SW SWELL HT: 2.5M SWELL PER: 8
CLOUDS: 10% BARO: 1021
AIR TEMP: 28.0C SEA TEMP: 28.0C
COMMENT: Variable, v. lt. wind- again. Slight fair current DMG:54M By log: 47M!!

We're struggling to keep above 2 knots - mostly below, in such light winds it's difficult to keep a good course in roughly the right direction...

Looks as though this will continue for 2-3 days...

Groupama will need to go well W of where I am to avoid this high - which is all set to spread out further...

Lovely sunset - but noticeable long big SW swell from Southern Ocean weather.. soon..!

Tuesday 10 November 2009 Day 32

Hot sun during the day, not much wind, mostly downwind, often rolly, sailing .... pretty well sums it up since Saturday!! Lots of drying, in a hot cockpit, of items(including lots of rolls of paper...!) from aft cabin - now done as much as I can (cushions and bedding will need a thorough rinse in fresh water at a later date, but at least they're dry).

Had a lovely meal last night - tried something new (for me) - tuna and sweetcorn with pasta in a lovely sauce of salsa mixed with herbed cream cheese (Thanks, Suzanne!) - so simple but worked well!! All eaten sitting in the companionway, sailing gently under a dark sky full of stars... bright planet high up... my little Dolphin up there, too... And people ask me why I want to go sailing.....?!

While the aft cabin is still in total disarray, and while we're in calm conditions (maybe the last, for a very long time!!), I decided to have one more go at trying to mend the watermaker before everything gets put back together again.... So, for most of this morning, I've been busy bandaging!! I'd replaced one of the hoses BEFORE it split,quite early on in my repair efforts, and checking the length, I realized it would do to replace the newly-split hose that caused the deluge last Friday. Obviously I couldn't just use it as is - it would clearly split very soon. But by reinforcing it with lots of pressure tape, I'm hoping it might just be OK - It's certainly worth a try - although I don't fancy a repeat of last Friday's drama!! (I shall keep the top sections of the bunk in place when I start it up, I'm thinking, ... and stay VERY close by!!)I've wound the tape tightly up and back down the entire outside of the hose - it should be strong.... I hope!

So that's this afternoon's job - with plenty of PTFE tape on the connections... and we'll see what happens - keeping my fingers tightly crossed....

We've been sailing nicely downwind- mostly on a dead run, with the Hydrovane coping well in the light conditions. There had been a small shower early this morning, but otherwise skies over the last few days have been mainly clear and the boat is still covered in a sticky, crystalline coating of salt from the seas on deck n the lumpy conditions of last week and before.

Now and then, the wind has gusted up - to 16-18 knots (not always the result of a cloud nearby...)and I've had to take in the 1st reef - only to let it out again not long after.... Our track is NOT very straight due to the variable wind direction.. Today's daily 'noon' position & weather report to Winlink & Yotreps was:
TIME: 2009/11/10 12:10
POS: 26-21.41S, 025-37.35W
COURSE: 170T; SPEED: 5.5,
WIND SPEED: 15; WIND DIR: NNW
WAVE HT: 0.5m; SWELL DIR: NNE; SWELL HT: 2.0m; SWELL PER: 4s
CLOUDS: 10%; BARO: 1021; TREND: +1
AIR TEMP: 27.0C; SEA TEMP: 28.0C
COMMENT: Highly variable wind-light y'day & o'nt. DMG:81M By log: 93M!!

Time to send off my position report.. and this ... Wind has died right down now to 5-6knots.. SOG: 2.6 knots...! Pressure's up to 1022 mb....We're flopping about in the swell... in the St Helena High...

Saturday 7th November 2009 All reefs now OK!!

It's been a good day today .... presently, there are a few small clouds around, no moon yet, plenty of stars - amazing how some bright ones fairly low down seem to twinkle with all the colours of the spectrum - something to do with the moisture in the air? I don't know , but they certainly look pretty!

Got up just before sunrise - moon was still quite high in the sky, big grey cloud to the east nearby and not much wind or swell, so decided it was a good time to start getting the boom end off, with the cloud to protect me from the sun later. I had to sort out the 1st & 2nd reefs today... Lots of playing with knots and ropes .. By time sun rose at 0700, I had the mains'l lowered and the genoa furled in: boatspeed 2.0, SOG: 2.2, COG 180T. Half-an-hour later, everything at the aft end of the boom had been released, it had been lowered & taken over to port side and tied off firmly (the swell kept swinging it around otherwise) - I was ready to remove it... Coffee/breakfast break... According to my weather info, the calm conditions were going to last all day, probably tomorrow also, so no need to rush...!

We were drifting at 1.5 knots SSW and the rainclouds seemed to be missing us - pity, since the boat is covered in salt from the seas washing the decks over the last week or so. By 9am, I'd removed all 3 screws - not as difficult as I'd feared, with the help of my invaluable length of copper pipe for extra leverage...! Forty minutes later, the first reef had been dealt with - car taken out, line taken off and reef tied back around boom & onto sail ... The second reef line took a bit longer to sort out, since the luff end of the line, although badly chafed, was still intact.. but an hour later, it too was dealt with... and by midday, all was finished, the boom end having been screwed back in place and all lines neat & tidy... Just needed to raise the sails, with the lazyjacks determinedly getting in the way of a batten end high up .. eventually sorted, but took a time...

By early afternoon, we were sailing under full canvas in 7 knots of wind, making just over 4 knots .. gradually becoming 1-2 knots, as the wind died down during the afternoon!! But with a blazing hot sun all afternoon, I was able to get a lot of the wet things from the aft cabin dried out in the cockpit - excellent!.... What luck that the disaster at least had the decency to happen when I could dry everything out in calm conditions the very next day or so!!

I celebrated with a proper cooked meal in the cockpit, feeling very relaxed, sitting at the table (how civilized!), watching the sun go down in a blaze of glory.... I'm feeling much better now...!

Tonight, the wind is NE3 (9knots) and we're making 4-5 knots roughly south. In a few days' time, after passing through the St Helena High, we'll be in much stronger winds, most likely westerlies, as we get into the path of the east-moving depressions being held to the south of here by this high pressure area.

DMG to noon: 102M (made roughly 1 knot from 7am until noon!) 980 ml East of Rio de Janeiro

Nearly out of the Tropics - tonight, I'm at 23S, 026W - so will pass out of Tropics tonight, probably... only 30 miles to go!

Friday 6th Nov 09 Everything was going too well, clearly....! Time to put me in my place....!! (Ever heard Chris Rae's song about 'God's Banana Skin'?!)

Up early to try to get weatherfax again from Cape Naval in S. Africa via laptop and SSB radio... started having major PC problems - which continued on & off most of the day, later including the Iridium connection in the problem (couldn't access my Control Panel for some time!!)..... computers!! Later in the day, got email from SAMM Net Controller Graham, ZS2ABK, telling me that Cape Naval were off-air for repairs - I'd been trying for days to get their weatherfaxes - no wonder I couldn't... so having to rely on grib files which are useful but not so reliable.

I'd finished with installing the second new watermaker hose, although I got worried when a jubilee clip ('hose clamp' in N.America!) started cross-threading as I tried to tighten it ... Fortunately, I'd come across one yesterday which was a bit large but did the job (I found none the exact right size) so all was not lost. I'd also re-made several connections, with lots of PTFE tape .. so all was set for the big test mid-morning - firstly run it un-pressurized, to get rid of all the air in the system, and then ... pressurized ... heart in mouth...! All seemed fine, except for a small leak which I thought was coming from a hose end connection (on the remaining old hose I'd had no more new to replace).

I left it running and, with still just a minor amount of dripping, was eventually able to start filling the water-tank. All seemed fine, so I went up on deck to sort out some lines there, ready to deal with my reefing problem later in the day...

When I came back, I was pleased with having run an emergency 'tack' line for the second reef (from the luff cringle to a mast winch). The second reef line is also chafing badly now at the boom entry point, just as the first reef line did before it gave way. I didn't want to lose the 2nd reef, since I still don't have a functioning first reef, and we're sailing fine, if a bit slowly, with it in - removing the boom end to deal with the reefing problem was 'on the list' as today's major job in the expected light wind...

But when I got back down below, I heard a peculiar hissing noise... the aft cabin was being sprayed forcefully with brine..... everything was sodden ... dripping wet. Disaster!! ...... I don't think I need say how I felt.... The hose I'd not been able to change had split badly.... Why are we so clever in hindsight....? Why hadn't I put pressure tape all around that hose to reinforce it, knowing it was so very suspect? Would have been worth the time spent.... Now I had to mop up as best I could, and curse the fact that, among all the other things, my pillows and thick duvet (kept nicely accessible for cold weather later) were all wet.... To cheer myself up, having as yet not even had any breakfast, I later had a nice coffee and treated myself to several choc chip biscuits, some nuts, a Penguin, a Kit Kat AND half a Snicker bar - gluttony indeed! (This evening, I'm treating myself to gammon and eggs - I need more cheering up!!)

Outside it was a beautiful day that I should have been relaxing in & enjoying... sunshine & blue sky since midday, good wind, lovely sailing in a fairly calm sea.... The Hydrovane has been doing its thing reliably and well - I've not had to adjust it for several days now. Staying on a close reach was the best course we could make, so we've just made a wriggly course, following any wind changes precisely, but mainly heading slightly E of S. I've not had to run the little diesel generator for many days - the KISS wind generator has been piling in the amps beautifully with the good wind we've had.

Later on, I ran a line, 'stolen' from elsewhere on deck, from the 2nd reef luff cringle down to a block at the mast foot & on to a jammer by the cockpit, using the route previously taken by the pole uphaul and re-running that line differently so it was still available for use. I was quite pleased with my ingenuity in keeping all the various lines available and useable - I've totally run out of spare line now...! But the outcome is that if, tomorrow, I can remove the boom aft end, retrieve the 1st & 2nd reef cars from inside, untie the reef lines from them & discard the cars - I've ended up with a slab reefing system workable from the cockpit.. IF I can remove that boom end .. this evening I couldn't budge the one screw I tried of the three... 'Law of the Lever' needed again...??

We've been sailing gently, the last two days - I've not wanted to release the 2nd reef without a 1st reef available, just in case the wind picked up suddenly ...We've been making over 5 knots anyway, with mainly full genoa and stays'l, which is fine, in the circumstances. This evening, the wind is really shifting around as we approach the centre of the St Helena High... I hope it stays down, for that reef lines job to be possible tomorrow .... The sea has lain right down with the lighter wind of today.

DMG to noon today: 119 M - remember, that's in a straight line, noon to noon.... our actual course has varied a lot with the wind shifts.

Thursday 5th November - Guy Fawkes Night! Day 27 from the Canaries ..... Anchor off bow-roller....

Success!! Realized it was fairly calm around midday - so I set to, organizing a halyard and other lines to help me take the anchor off the bow-roller. First had to remove all my lashing and the removeable bowsprit, detach the anchor from the chain, tension the halyard, undo the pin - and then the fun & games began..!
I'd attached two other lines to the anchor so as to manoeuvre it better, but it's a big (25kg) awkward item, and the last thing I wanted was for its point to make a hole in the boat from swinging about - as it was trying hard to do while I moved it about, trying to get it up & over the pulpit and onto the deck..... Anyway, it's safely stowed now in the cockpit locker (with no great damage to my body parts or the deck!)... we may have a slight starboard list, but that's fine. While I was in that locker, it gave me the thought that now, in calm conditions, was an ideal time also to attach the bridle arms of the Jordan series drogue to the two strong eyes at the stern - and wire the shackles in doing so ... another good job done..!
By now, the wind was up a bit, and the seas a little to, so the boom end will have to wait to tomorrow (we're definitely heading into light winds for a day or two) I'm just finishing with the watermaker - re-making some connections and replacing another short length of pipe... all yet to be tested under pressure... keep fingers crossed!!

A lovely sailing day today! I'm storing up these nice, sunny, DRY, fairly calm days in my memory - ready for the nasty weather all too soon to come...!

DMG: 134 M but less tomorrow, with the calmer day today...

Tuesday/Wednesday 3/4th November 09

The wind might be dying.... 12knots now... or maybe because we're near a big cloud, as happened earlier tonight. Wind died completely soon after sunset with heavy rainfall well downwind and a mass of rainclouds around, but then picked up again. But this seems different - we're sailing more & more gently, with the big swell of this afternoon, helped by winds of 17knots, having died down also to just a gentle, regular rocking of the boat. I wasn't expecting the wind to die quite this soon - several days more, I thought.... as we approach the St Helena High, which latest grib files showed as being across our path with its E-W axis at around 25S. (We're only at 17* 40'S now) But maybe this is a temporary dying down due to the pressure gradient easing overnight - and then, with a deep depression coming up from the S over the next few days, there'll be a 'squash' effect - and winds will pick up again ... until we really do get close to the High centre. Time will tell... I'm still waiting to do important jobs in the calm zone...

I spent a lot of time this afternoon upside down, being bounced around while trying to wind PTFE tape with great difficulty around a hose fitting I could barely see, in a very confined space under the aft bunk. If only bodies could be bent in a few more places, these jobs would be so much easier!! But to my surprise, I managed it, (I was convinced I couldn't, at one point - before I took more of the bunk to bits...)

One lesson I learned early in my recent boat-maintenance career has been to use the 'Law of the Lever' (as my totally impractical father grandiosely termed it - he was OK on the theory!). To help tighten the jubilee clips well enough, I would normally have looked for a muscle-bound friendly guy nearby and asked for an extra bit of help, but when that can't happen, an extra bit of leverage, if it can be arranged, works wonders - doubles the effect of these puny muscles easily.....in this case with a screwdriver poked sideways through a hole in the main screwdriver handle to help twist it that much more - so simple, yet so effective!! Even more to my surprise, when I (reluctantly) tested the system - my hose connections were bone dry... unlike several others nearby - and two hoses bulged ominously when I pressurized the system to make water.. Not good news... But I was pleased enough with my handiwork to award myself a big slab of rich fruit cake to go with my mug of tea later..

I left the system running for a short time to fill the tank but don't dare do that again - so much water was eventually leaking out & a bulging hose is going to split very soon.... It turns out I've still enough hose to replace one of the lengths - but not two... I'll try re-making the leaking connections, using PTFE tape, when I replace the worst-looking hose tomorrow - "In for a penny, in for a pound", "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well," etc, etc. I just wish I'd more of the replacement hose to change them all... Why couldn't the installer have done the job properly, to save me all this unnecessary hassle??

Yesterday was spent checking over my storm preparations... a cover over the big hole under the cockpit coaming above the engine panel (don't want water getting down below through there if the cockpit fills with water), fixing a closure on the galley dry locker lid (too many tins of food in there to allow them to fly around), checking cabin sole openings were fixed, checking the bolts on the fridge lid and a long time spent on the lockable perspex storm washboard for the companionway - sticking lengths of sealing strips on either side of the opening and below, to make a snug, water-tight (or nearly so) fit. And more checking of staysail leads...

The wind, as of yesterday, has been either east or just north of east, and mainly around 17 knots. We're still close-hauled & made good speed on both days, the wind only dying for short periods of time. Both afternoons (or what I saw of them!) were very sunny and pleasant and we were not under-canvassed with the two reefs in the mains'l.

DMG: Tuesday: 126 M Wednesday: 137 M (Foul current still around half to one knot.)

Sea and air noon temperatures are down: 34 and 33 C respectively on 20/21 Oct (at around 11N)... now 29 & 28 C

Wed noon position was 730M E from nearest Brazilian coast, 285 M ENE from Ilha da Trinidade and 1190M due west of St Helena - did you know they refer to each other as 'Saints'?!

Mon 2nd Nov As the sun set, a BIG full moon rose ...among lines of fluffy pink-grey 'Trade Wind' clouds...

I put problems to one side this evening and sat in the companionway to enjoy the sunset as we sailed along nicely, bouncing occasionally in the swell of a fairly calm sea, the wind having increased a touch compared with earlier in the afternoon.

I'm feeling a bit more relaxed, having achieved a few little jobs today, among them, removing the split watermaker hose from its end fittings (not as difficult as I'd feared it would be) and replacing one end of the new hose - the easily accessible end! I've left replacing the other end for the time being - as the wind rose this afternoon, so our 'bouncing' increased - and to fix that end, I've to turn myself upside down awkwardly to see & get to what I'm doing... so I'll hope to complete that in calmer conditions over the next day or so... (The wind seems to increase often, as evening falls, and calm down a bit as midday approaches)

I spent some time trying to find additional hose end clamp fittings (jubilee clips)... to no avail. I'd wanted to put two at each end, rather than one, because my replacement hose is a tad on the large side .. I hope the jubilee clips will hold tightly enough not to leak under pressure. If they do, I'm stymied... And if another of the wrong hoses gives way elsewhere in the system, I've no more hose to replace it with.... Keep fingers crossed!

A job completed today was taping over the cabin heater chimney covers on the coachroof with both sticky electrical insulation tape and then amalgamating ('pressure') tape over that... I've been getting concerned at the thought that if either one of those got taken away with waves sweeping the deck (as they have often, over the last few days) then I'd be in big trouble.... with one big hole in the coachroof..! I feel much more comfortable now. And I'll be able to see if that has solved the very slight leak occurring inside around the chimney pipes where they enter the saloon coachroof.

Another thing I did today was to 'play' with the sheets, cars & blocks for the staysail leads - I needed to experiment there to see what would work for different wind angles - the shrouds get in the way.... I've added a third sheet...! Looking ahead, there's filthy weather forecast approaching the Cape of Good Hope very soon - a typical Southern Ocean deep depression, giving the strong Sou'wester the Cape and East coast of S. Africa are renowned for... so I could well be using my staysail if I get those same conditions on my approach there (end of November). (They're forecasting 8m seas...and that's an average.. so I'll also have my Jordan drogue 'ready to go', from there onward)

Have finally heard from Selden in Sweden on practical 'solutions' to my reefing problem (actually had a reply of sorts on Friday, which maybe I should have mentioned, but it did not answer my main, urgent queries & was definitely not useful - I had to email again, on Saturday). Trouble is, they've now sent me the really useful info several days too late to prevent my present problem - i.e. whatever happens, to keep the car inside boom from being 'lost' (when line chafes through and breaks..) since otherwise it will almost certainly jam the main (leech) 1st reef line inside the boom. So now I'm told I have to remove the boom end to retrieve the car, untie reef line from it and then I'll be able to tension the leech using a winch...!!! SIMPLE... in the middle of the ocean .. child's play!!

That definitely sounds like (yet another!) job for calm weather since I'll need to release the outhaul, topping lift, preventer lines and all reef lines running through the aft end of boom in order to remove it and I'll need to undo completely, & then tie in again, the first reef line .. Sounds as though I'll need to drop the mains'l while doing it... I'm glad now that I'm headed into the St Helena High, which is presently stretching right across my path, so winds should be dropping more - already they lessened over today (although tonight they picked up again).

Think I'll sign off - it's getting late.... But before I do, ... 'Berrimilla' (Brolga 33) is a UK yacht behind me (about a week, 730ml today) with Alex Whitworth ad Peter Crozier on board ... We'd hoped to stay in SSB contact - but their radio has packed up - so we've had minimal Iridium and mainly email contact.. They're having to pull into Cape Town to get the radio fixed. Otherwise all seems fine on board - they're on passage to Sydney, Australia from Falmouth. With the wind keeping their newly-repaired wind generator working hard, they, like 'Nereida', are having no electrical power problems just now!

DMG ....to noon Monday 125M (490M off nearest Brazil coast, 640M off Bahia de Todos Santos)

Days 22 & 23 Seas mainly calmer - less falling off a wave into trough beyond!!

I sat out in the companionway Sunday evening having my meal and watching a bright moon rising over the sea, forming a path of silver light towards the boat, after the sun had set. It was good to see some threatening grey clouds nicely downwind of us... with the sky above and to windward clear! At that time, the seas were fairly calm so it was very pleasant just sitting there, enjoying the scene & being mid-ocean.

I really must thank some of the Winlink guys who give up a lot of their time to running the Winlink amateur radio stations I connect into, using my SSB(HF) radio, to get my emails and weather info as a free service (I have an amateur radio licence). Further north, I was frequently making use of Philip, HB9MM (near Lausanne, Switzerland), Andre, ON5FS (Kluisbergen, Belgium) and Daniel, who runs DA1BT & is the custodian of the Bitburg American Radio Club (Germany). When connections are difficult, I often find one with either VE1YZ (Neil, Halifax, Nova Scotia) or VE2AFQ (Andre, Le Reseau du Capitaine, Montreal, Quebec). Most recently, including today, Bud, N0IA, in Deltona, Florida, has bent over backwards to help me to connect, ... to quote an email I got from him on Friday:

Came in during your 15M link
2009/10/29 21:30:50 {Range and bearing to KC2IOV: 4201 sm @ 114T}
Noticed you struggling about 21:45 GMT
That was off the back of the beam. Turned beam to you ... brought your speed up to 1400!
Sorry I can't be here every time!
73,
Bud N0IA

Basically, he came to his computer while I was in the middle of a slow connection, and turned the antenna my way - to speed things up dramatically! Very kind of him - and he's done that several times... Notice, he's over 4,000 miles away!!

It's becoming increasingly difficult for me to make connections as I sail south. Most stations are getting so far away that I only have a very short period of time each day, on a restricted number of frequencies, when connections are theoretically possible - but in practice often don't happen. So help like his is very welcome. My 'fall back' position is to make the direct Internet connection using my Iridium satellite phone - but that can get wildly expensive so I try to avoid that if possible.

I'm now almost in radio contact with the South African Maritime Mobile Net - run by amateurs who keep tabs on boats transiting the seas around, help them with weather info and keep the S. African Coast Guard informed of boat details etc in case of emergency. I heard Graham, ZS2ABK, today - but I'm in the 'skip' zone for the 14316 kHz radio frequency we're using, so can't make clear voice contact until I get slightly closer. Alistair, ZS5MU, also runs the Net - I met him and wife Davina at their annual 'braai' (BBQ) at their home S of Durban after I'd sailed to S. Africa from Australia in November '07. I've already been invited to this year's event - on 6th December - but regretfully, I've had to decline!

The good news on the watermaker front is that I have found a good length of the right kind of hose among my spares for the repair - but I'm waiting for the waves to calm down before attempting it... Access is difficult enough in a confined space under the aft bunk, without the added complication of being thrown around as we fall off a big wave into the trough beyond...! (I was sitting at the chart table this afternoon when I got hit by apples and oranges - netting had given way with the boat's motion...! And later, a glass of cranberry juice I was treating myself to jumped off the gimballed stove top, where it should have been safe, and spilled... grrr!)

Generally, today and yesterday, we've made fair progress in often variable, gusty conditions but with a definite foul current of well over a knot, especially today:

DMG Saturday: 118M; Sunday: 121M

Day20

Finally able to edge E of due south with the wind just S of east.. would be nice to make a bit more easting but need the wind to back even more for that to happen.

It's a good thing we aren't a lot further south just now - the St Helena High is spreading right across the S. Atlantic and looks set to stay there for several days - I'm hoping that doesn't happen again when I get down there in a week's time.

The wind has been varying a lot in strength - I'd left the 2nd reef in overnight - but it really could have been shaken out a lot sooner than 9am when I finally decided we were not making enough speed - we promptly increased speed from around 5 knots to 5.6kn, despite that ever-present foul current of over half a knot..

Spent most of the day dealing (or trying to!) with problems...

The bow-roller anchor pin is persistently coming loose and having to be replaced and tightened.. I'm waiting for rather calmer conditions to make a decent lashing around the head of the anchor, adding to the lashing presently in place around the shank -a good thing that's there!

Looking forward to the first reef line breaking at the luff where it's presently chafing, I've run a line from the same luff cringle down through a block at the base of the mast to lead back to a jammer near the cockpit that's presently being used by the mainsail outhaul. (Fortunately, I had a good spare length of the right kind of line available) I shall take the outhaul back to the mast since there's a jammer for it at the boom forward end. (I insisted on that jammer being provided, when I was queried, along with 3 boom jammers for the reefing leech lines, in case I ever needed to revert to traditional slab reefing.. a good thing, as it turns out! Fortunately, I was keen to provide 'back-ups' wherever possible, when the boat was in build...)

The third problem I tried to overcome showed itself when I tried to run the watermaker.. no water, as yesterday, despite both pumps running. As I played around with the pump switches and the pressure control, trying to clear a possible air block, I heard sudden loud 'hiss' - and saw water spurting from a hose - it had split ... closed the seacock quickly....! I tried to mend the hose with amalgamating ('pressure') tape - spent an hour-and-a-half at least, playing around with that... all to no avail. It was fine, after several attempts, when NOT under pressure, but as soon as pressure came on - it gave way again.... So Friday's job is to see if any of my spare water hose is the right size and length... If I'm lucky, my next job is to replace the entire section - but I know I'm short on plumbing parts....

Friday... Day 21 - almost 3 weeks at sea!

Good wind, especially in afternoon, although rather variable during the night and morning so speed (& DMG) suffered, increased seas later, mainly sunny, although with plenty of clouds around much of the day...

Had to go and fix the anchor pin - how I hate going forward to do that! I have to really force myself... It's not just feeling exposed and continually getting doused in the waves washing over.. (I wore my harness & tied myself to the pulpit so I was safe while working there) - it's partly, I think, knowing that whatever I do (with great difficulty!) won't be good enough to stop the anchor jerking about, however slightly, because of the tremendous forces on it when the bow crashes into the seas.. And if the anchor can still move, it can work itself free again and/or cause damage. It's not too bad now in the warm water and air, but won't be so good working there when it's colder... The seas have built up to about 4m now with the wind having got up a bit more since midday. The only real solution is to get the anchor off the bow and stowed down below - and that is no easy job, being a 25kg weight, such an awkward shape & because of where it is - off the bow. I could only consider moving it in really calm conditions because it's going to be such a difficult job for me to do alone.

Before that, I had to put in the 2nd mains'l reef with the increased wind - and, coincidentally, the first reef line has finally parted where it was chafing (because the wind got up?) - as I've been expecting it to. So I've now taken away the mainsail outhaul line from the jammer near the cockpit and replaced it with the spare line I had already tied onto the 1st reef luff cringle. I still haven't heard back from several people in reply to my urgent queries, sent some days back, relating to the single-line reef system on board... I'm not at all impressed by their lack of urgency or concern in replying.... It's unfortunate, perhaps, that it's school half-term week in England now so at least one person that would normally have helped me is undoubtedly away... but others don't have that excuse...

I've still yet to look at my spare water hose, in the hope that I can fix the watermaker by replacing the split section, although if it weren't mended immediately that wouldn't matter since we've plenty of tank water just now. The only real problem is the membrane deteriorating if not used regularly.

Time to have a nice big mug of tea.... and some biscuits, I think...!!

DMG to Thursday noon: 122M .... and to Friday noon: 120M (420M from the nearest Brazilian coast)

Wed 28 Oct 2009

Yesterday was a definite 'high'! Really good sailing in relatively smooth seas and a really enjoyable day! There were two unbelievable events - the first being crossing the Equator only just short of midday - the timing was amazing! The second was going to turn on some music to celebrate the crossing ... and finding, purely by chance, that I was listening to 'Brazil!' (by Pink Martini) - a great samba (I danced to it, of course!) and incredibly appropriate, since Brazil was the nearest mainland shore (not counting Fernando de Noronha) - roughly 500 miles away ...

By comparison, this morning the wind was up quite a bit and the seas with it so, & since we're still headed upwind, they were crashing into the boat fairly often - not too badly, but I had to be careful to be secure all the time... I had to go forward into the bow to deal with the bow-roller anchor pin which had come loose again, so needed to be repositioned and tightened to stop the anchor moving about.... Definitely top of the list of my least-favourite jobs just now... guarantees a head-to-toe dousing in seawater every few minutes... More lashing of the anchor shank turned out not to be needed. Can't see how to fix that pin in place any better, unfortunately .. can't 'mouse' it since no hole in the pin to use for that... a difficult one!

The watermaker has stopped making water - it was OK when I first switched on, but only on just the one pump, but now it's stopped producing water completely - on either pump. Both pumps are actually working, but the Clark pump isn't working, so no seawater is going through the membrane. (We've plenty of water in the two tanks, so it's not a worry for the moment.) Also I'm still trying to sort out, and waiting for answers to queries on, my first reef line chafe problem...

The good news is that we're continuing to be able to head roughly due south because the wind has stayed ESE. It would be nice to edge a bit further east... but that depends completely on the wind backing more into the east than at present. We're close-hauled as much as possible while maintaining a fair speed, and I put the second reef in the mains'l this morning. (Apparent wind was around 22 knots, with true wind of ESE5, 16-17kn) I also unfurled the staysail and furled in a lot of the genoa - I need to 'play' with the staysail more to get to know it...! Later in the day, I unfurled the genoa - but with still quite large seas, I decided to leave the reefs in overnight - we're making a boatspeed of 5.5-6 knots with the foul current reduced to around half a knot - not exactly fast, but acceptable for overnight...

DMG to noon today: 138M (Still that foul current over last 24 hrs, reducing speed by up to a knot)

At noon, we were 475 M off the Brazilian coast and 280 M off the lovely Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha - which I stopped off at to refuel last year as I made my way north from Cape Town, Namibia and St Helena, on my way to Trinidad. Memories... It was on that last leg that I was forced to hand steer solidly for the last 10 days, when my electronic autopilot and (Windpilot) windsteering both failed. With the ever-present swell trying to knock the boat off-course, I had to be at the wheel to make our course, or heave-to if I wanted to eat, sleep, etc... 7-8 hrs 'on-duty' and 4-5 hrs 'off' continuously for 10 days... Chaguaramus Customs Dock was a very welcome sight to tie up to late one night and I had a really good sleep! (See my 'blogs' for that period - end of March-beginning April '08) I still have vivid memories of being over-canvassed one night in a Force 7 squall and struggling to cope with the resulting big seas that quickly built up...!!

Tues 27th Oct09 - Day 18 from Canaries

Crossed Equator today just a few moments before midday - so close in timimg, was unbelievable!! Beautiful, sunny, sailing weather with good ESE wind and just a medium-sized (2.5m) SSE swell - no great crashing about!

I'm sitting now with music playing, munching on olives and crunchy 'tostadas' with a creamy dip, sipping cranberry juice (!) - as given also to Neptune/Poseidon by way of thanks for a safe passage!!

Boat speed regularly up to 7.5 knots - pity about the foul current! And we're finally managing to head roughly due S - wind has backed just enough.

Had a call via the satphone from Gary Burgess of BBC Guernsey for a quick 'live' update at 9:10 am, and then another from WRI to discuss weather over next few days. Seems these conditions are set to continue for a good 3 days or more - but then I could find the St Helena High spreading right across my path - we'll have to wait and see!

Two more flying fish on deck this morning - and occasional sightings of a solitary petrel, gliding so close to the waves, its wing tips touch the water...

Our consistent good speed since yesterday of around 7 knots, giving SOG of 6 knots, was reflected in today's noon-to-noon DMG: 138M

(If it weren't for that foul current, it might have been well over 150M...!)

At noon, we were 550 M NE of Brazil (Garcas) & just over 100 M ESE of the St Peter and St Paul Rocks - used by sailors in olden times to check their calculated position on their way up and down the Atlantic.

Went to pick up two flying fish from beside the cockpit Sunday morning - and spotted a long, thin bolt - 7cm long, 3mm diameter ....not something I recognized.... now where did that come from?? I'm trying to convince myself that it was dropped by someone working onboard and has been lodged somewhere out of sight until the biggish seas we've had ...

Early on, I put in two reefs and came off the wind slightly - that helped a lot for speed but not for our course....(never fails to amaze me how you can reef down - and the boat not only sails better, as in more upright, but at least as fast, if not faster...!) With a SSE 4-5 wind, there was no way we were going to make anything like the 180T course we made yesterday... and there was a definite unfavourable (foul) current - from half to one knot against us. Wind and seas got up even more ... and later, I realized the anchor was moving & banging when buried in seas- I saw from a distance that the bow roller pin had come out .. I sat up in the bow and tied myself on (to prevent myself from being washed out under pulpit when waves washed over bow !) and replaced it & tightened it with pliers.. I also lashed the shank down after trying, unsuccessfully, to use shackles for that job ... Felt very exposed and was continually getting drenched by the waves splashing over me. Had a lovely fresh shower afterwards to get rid of all salt I was covered in. Had a haircut (more of a chop, really!) but declined the offer of 'Styling, Ma'am?'..!

Felt much better after that, especially with clean hair... and went on to cook myself a nice meal... pork, potatoes, onions and petits pois - yummee! Sat enjoying it as I watched a lovely sunset - but no green flash....

I just hope the anchor stays put - I must keep an eye on my lashing and that pin. It would have been nice to have been able to stow it down below before starting out, but I felt I'd never be able to get it up on deck and into place in the bow in an emergency situation needing its deployment...

A booby circled around for some time near sunset ... clearly looking for a roosting spot - but thought better of it... good... Occasionally see a (Leach's?) petrel - small, graceful, dark bird with fine wings and white rump.

Monday morning, I spotted the (same?) booby again - but it didn't stay around.

By 4.30 am, the wind had dropped a little and backed to SE - I was able to shake out all reefs, sailing was much calmer, no squalls around... and coming off the wind a touch more meant we were now making 6-7 knots of boatspeed, although losing a knot (by mid-morning, one-and-a-half knots!) to foul current... curses! Putting in a reef again mid-morning, and the wind backing further to ESE meant lovely comfortable but fast sailing all day long, despite the wind dropping a bit during the afternoon, to pick up by evening... Even as I write this, later Monday evening, we're still making 7.3 knots of boatspeed (giving 6.1 SOG) with a single-reefed mains'l.

I had a satphone call from my 'weather routers' - they confirmed what my downloaded 'grib' (weather) files have shown - SE/SSE winds (SE Trades, in fact) settled in place quite strongly, becoming more easterly the further south I get... and the ITCZ ('Doldrums') left behind me now - as I'd suspected from the lack of grey rainclouds around now...

I'm expecting to cross the Equator early tomorrow (Tuesday) since our latitude now is just over 1 degree N and our heading is 200-210T.

DMG:
To noon Sunday: 107M
To noon Monday: 117M (675M from Brazil; 830M from Guinea-Bissau)

Note: Squalls overnight Sat/Sun, so reefed down for those, with variable winds, often dropping right down, around the squalls, over-keen all Sunday and into early Monday trying hard to make course of near 180T - so too close-hauled for good speed - and increasingly foul current on Monday...!
Remember also: DMG is along a straight line, point to point, not the actual course run over the 24hrs, which varies with wind, especially since we're sailing on a close reach with wind-steering, reflecting every little change of wind direction, with speed dropping dramatically when we get too close to the wind!