UTC/Local Time: 0100 5/27/1300 5/26
Latitude: 14 52.99 S
Longitude: 144.44.96 W
Course Over Ground: 203 degrees at 4.5 knots
Wind Direction: 14-25 knots 105 degrees Southeast
Sea Swell: 9+ feet, 6 seconds apart
Sky: 40-50% clouds, mini squalls
Barometric Pressure: 1015 steady
Temperature/Humidity: 88 F, 68%
Update:
As we approached yesterday evening, we were determined with the increasing winds and squall threats to get the sails reefed early. We had been traveling from 5.5 knots to 6.5 knots all day and were making good time and were a little reluctant to slow ourselves down. After reviewing our charts and position, we realized that we needed to slow down anyway or we would have to heave to off an atoll and wait for sunrise on Thursday 5/27 before approaching the pass. We needed to be at our 20 mile mark from the atoll by 6:30 a.m. to be ready to pass through at slack tide which we calculate to be around 10:49 a.m. in the morning. We have been told to make a VHF call the morning we arrive to a dive shop in the vicinity and ask for local tide information.
After reading about how treacherous it can be to enter the atolls when the lighting is not good and the tide is not slack, we are approaching our entry very cautiously. As it is, the winds and seas may churn up the water/reef visibility to preclude us from entering anyway. We have already decided that if the winds and seas do not calm down we may pass by the Tuomotus completely, and head straight for Tahiti.
I was downstairs in the galley fixing dinner. Russ, Garyn, and Jess were topside. Russ was at the main and started to bring the sail down to reef position when I could hear Garyn yelling at Russ to stop. By the time Russ heard Garyn over the roar of the wind and stopped bringing the sail down, the little rollers that pinch the sail into the track had acted like a razor ripping about a three foot line between the cord and the sail. Another Oh Crap!
Well that settled whether we double or triple reefed. The ripped sail is not one we can take care of in these conditions, so we triple reefed to protect the part of the sail that had ripped. We rolled out about 1/2 of the jib and left out the mizzen. Even with all of the reefing, we were still sailing at 5.5 knots. As the winds increased to a consistent 18-20 knots, and the seas up to 9 feet, the sail configuration keeps the boat mildly heeled in the wind and moderately heeled with a beam roller. The swells are fairly close together so there has been a lot of rocking back and forth...not comfortable for any of us, but worse for Jess.
Over the course of the night and several passing squalls, Garyn reduced the jib and mizzen even a little more to slow us down. The winds are gusting to 25 + when a gray cloud passes overhead We only have 60 miles to go to our mark and as long as we are going about 4.5 knots we should be there sometime between 5 and 7 tomorrow morning. According to our weather model, the seas should be two feet smaller and wind down to 13 and 14 knots.
Soup for dinner tonight.
All is well on Worrall Wind.
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