UTC/Local Time: Sunday, August 22 0100/Saturday, August 21 1500
Latitude: 14 35. 738 S
Longitude: 157 13.908 W
Course Over Ground: 302 T @ 6.5 knots
Wind Direction: East North East 20-30 knots
Sea Swell: 6-9 feet, confused from east, north, north east
Sky: 50% cloud cover
Barometric Pressure: 1014
Update: Half Way There
Yesterday evening, we needed to turn on the engine for awhile to charge out batteries for the night. Our auto pilot was consuming a lot of energy. We had really have not used it much so were not that familiar with the sensitivity settings It was set at 9 out of 10 which means that it was very sensitive to the course degrees we set, so it was working continuously with the strong stern and side swells that were constantly rolling us off the set course. Once Russ turned the sensitivity down to a 3, Ray quieted down, and stopped consuming so much energy, letting us ride a little of course and then gently swinging us back.
We needed to make some water and that also consumes energy, so we ran the engine from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Russ got to bed a little later than we had planned, overlapping my watch which started at 8:00 p.m. I take first watch from 8-1:00 a.m. and Russ 1:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Last night however, I let Russ sleep an extra hour until 2:00 a.m. so he would get at least five hours. I hadn't had a nap all day and was really sleepy, so I turned on my dance music and pranced around trying to stay awake, but also making sure I wasn't kicking anything and breaking toes while I was at it. Russ reciprocated, by being very quiet and allowing me to sleep until 8:30, getting six hours of sleep. I feel so much more refreshed today.
Before we went into dark last night, we set our course and sails for anticipated squalls. There were none so we poked along with sails reefed until mid morning. The seas seemed to calm down a bit, so we each rested peacefully when it was our turn to do so.
Russ had a little repair work to do this morning on the whisker pole that holds our jib out. The pole was rubbing again one of our stays, sawing through the pole (not much, but a warning to do something about it). We also noticed that the topping lift that helps to hold the whisker pole upright had come free. The small line that forms a loop and that goes around the whisker pole and to which the topping lift attaches had worn through and vanished.
When we talked with Gene and Gloria on Pincoya the night before, they too had lost their topping lift off their pole and their pole fell in the water. We weren't sure how they were rigged, but it caused them an hour of angst retrieving their pole from the agitated seas. Russ was pretty sure that our jib would still fly and the and the pole would stay up without the topping lift. At any rate, we would have to wait to do the work and hope everything held together until a lineup of the squalls we expected last night came through this morning.
In between the first two squalls that were somewhat benign and the third which was stronger, we got outside to do the work. Generally, when a squall passes, it sucks the wind out of the air leaving a vacuum and sometimes light swirling winds. These conditions confuse the auto pilot, making it necessary for me to hand steer while Russ took care of the necessary maintenance, by wrapping tape around the pole to prevent sawing and reattached the topping list to the pole.
We unfurled the jib part way and retreated to the pilot house just as the third squall hit. It was much stronger than the first two, but it too wasn't bad in terms of wind although it dropped a little rain. We looked behind us and saw what looked like one more squall. We were so reefed down that in between squalls we were only traveling about 3 knots. We decided to let out the jib completely and keep our triple reef in the main and see what happened. The fourth squall came through with some higher winds, up to 30 knots and we sailed through it just fine.
We expected the vacuum after it passed, and then the wind and seas kicked up again...this time no squall in sight. The wind was shifting all over the place and was variable between a slow 10 knots to 28 knots OK, so this was unexpected, certainly not in the forecast. Once again Ray required close attention. Unlike the hydrovane wind steering system that works with the wind, Ray requires frequent adjustment in shifting winds, particularly as we are running between a beam reach and down-wind run. Shifting winds and swirling seas could easily back wind our sails. We sailed this way for nearly two hours, running almost 7 knots the entire time.
After a couple of strong gusts over thirty knots which coincided with some big rollers dipping our bow low enough to take water over the port toe rails, we decided to pull in some jib. Now we are doing 5.5 - 6.5 knots, still respectable, but a little less of an adrenalin rush. The swells are still quite large. We can tell this when our bow is up in the air and we can see the rollers two feet above the bow. We are taking 90% of the seas on the stern, but a few rollers have slapped the side. We have been very careful to keep the doors shut tight. Russ had left a two inch gap in the starboard door as he ran up to the rear deck to retrieve his book, and of course a wave broke just then on the starboard side sending a couple of buckets into the pilot house soaking the carpets and turning the hardwood floors into slippery mess. At least this time all the ports were shut tight.
Russ had been out earlier to keep our Honda generator working. Honda is lashed on to the back deck. Because the generator has a tip-kill switch, Honda kept knocking itself out with the continuous rolling seas. After 30 attempts at keeping it going he gave it up and will try again later or we'll turn the engine on again.
We are really looking forward to a day when we have about 20 knots of constant wind, mild seas, lots of sun, and no squalls. In the meantime, we're dealing fine with what we have even though it isn't very conducive to relaxation. I keep thinking one of these days it would be nice to pull out my water colors and do a little painting...obviously not this trip. So for now it is audio books. We just started listening to Master and Commander. Seems appropriate enough.
All is well on Worrall Wind.
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