UTC/Local -8 2200/0200
Latitude: 08 15.550 S
Longitude: 136 51.910 W
Conditions: Garyn and Russ had watch last night, nothing remarkable other than a fairly constant wind. Once the sun came up the wind has been variable, primarily due to a 100% cloud cover and an active squall line on our southeast side. As a squall gets closer our wind speed goes up. As it passes by, the wind speed goes down. Even with ups and downs we are only experiencing gusts of 19 knots on a fairly constant 14.5 knots, sea swells of 2 meters on a course of 209 degrees, just a few white caps and no rain. It is 82 degrees out, 74 percent humidity, and our barometric pressure is 1014 and rising. The wind variability has slowed our forward progress. Our boat speed varies from 3 knots to 6 knots. It is now looking like landfall will be on May 6 instead of May 5. Russ was net control for the Puddle Jump Net this morning. There were only 3 other boats checking in. He'll run the net again this evening which is the prime time net. There is usually a few more boats in the evening. It will be the last time
1800/1000 a.m. We started a new audio book last night, Longshot by Dick Francis. The winds stablized yesterday afternoon about 4:00 p.m. and we were able to relax the hand steering. The variability of the winds this morning means we are back to hand steering to give Hydie a hand. Garyn and Russ are discussing whether we would be better with the auto pilot on. Right now, Russ wants to be at the helm.
We have not had the Honda or Lehman on since crossing the equator. With the solar panels and the water turbine, we have been producing enough amps to take care of all of our electrical needs, staying close to 100% battery charge. With the cloud cover today, we may be producing a little less. We also need to use more today because we should make some water and that takes some additional energy.
2100/0100
After spending the morning under clouds and dodging rainstorms, we are now heading 220 degrees and the wind being incredibly variable, light and capricious. We are probably averaging less than 4 knots per hour. We now have a mostly cloudy sky with the sun breaking through patches of blue directly overhead. We just finished lunch. I made tuna salad using up the last little bit of iceberg lettuce. We still have some potatoes, 1 tomato, 1 head of romane lettue, 1 jicama, 2 lemons, 1 red onion and 1 apple left of our perishable produce, and these are still in pretty good shape considering I bought them 30 days ago.
We finally decided to give Hydie (hydrovane steering) a rest (she is currently in neutral) and are employing Ray (auto pilot). The wind is still on the variable side and the auto pilot is also having difficulty maintaining a course heading, particularly when the wind dies and a large swell from the east slams our fore quarter and pushes us off the wind.
We are 175 miles from Fatu Hiva and 150 miles from Hiva Oa. Strangely, the last two days both Garyn and I have been sneezing. I jokingly said it was the coconut pollen, finding it's way north. Hmmm??
Holy &#$%! We just went from 9 knots of wind and less than 4 knots of boat speed on a broad reach to gusts of 28 knots from our port quarter! A sneaker squall just caught us heeling us to the point that our starboard rail was underwater. The boat sped up to over 8 knots. Russ was at the helm. Garyn put on his vest and went topside to ease out the main and pull in the jib. That helped considerably and eased the heel as Worrall Wind flew through the water. By the time Garyn got back to the pilot house, he was soaking wet from the rain. At the same time the wind kicked up, the swells went from 2 meters to 4 meters. Big suckers! Within a very long 10 minutes, the squall passed us by.
2200/0200 There is now considerably more blue sky ahead of us, but the squall line is still on our port quarter. We've tightened up on the main, re-employed Hydie, and are keeping a watch out for any more sneakers. We are currently experiencing variable winds and traveling at 4 knots. Seems to be a feast or famine day.
All is well on Worrall Wind
No comments:
Post a Comment