News

Saturday 3/13/04 pm
What a night and what a day !
First, I found out my annometer's wind direction is off about 30 degrees.
So, most of the time I was sailing close hauled in the Gulf, the wind was from the east.
Reached my 1st waypoint last night at 20:45.
Took a turn and sailed through 2 Caribbean cruising ships. I did not spot them on the radar as it was not necessary, because they looked like cities afloat. Sailed well all night. Wind picked up this morning, took a double reef in the main and furled up the genoa 50%. But, it was not long before the seas became very angry, the worst I have seen so far with 12 ft waves and lots of horses. I furled up the genoa and got the staysail up. Wind was not really that strong, around 27 mph, it was the sea that was really bad. I estimate the current we were sailing against was about 2.5 knots. My mechanical knot meter was reading 5 knots while my gps s.o.g. was reading 2.5 knots. I got soaked twice while up front working the sails! IT rode the waves with ease and held her head high!
We reached the second waypoint at 14:00 hrs.
Around 15:00 hrs we were out of the current and the wind slackened to 18 knots. Took the staysail down and with a full genoa and double reefed main sailed on until 17:00hrs and I got the main fully up again and IT is flying now!! Sog reads 5.5 knots. Bearing 135 degrees.
Saw 4 freighters and one ocean liner, looked like the Queen Mary ??
Washed all my dirty clothes in saltwater and flushed them with fresh water in the shower. I also cooled off in the shower today, temp was 85 !!
I tied down the video camera to the solar panel with duck tape when I went up to reef the main and put up the staysail, so I have some good footage taken.
Have the third horizontal seam in the genoa coming lose, will have to watch it. Can tend to it only if the weather gets better.
The past 30 min the wind picked up again, up to 26 mph. Will have to reef again.
Thanks to everyone for all the e-mails and messages. Bev sent them all to me today! Keep them coming!

Position at 19:00 hrs Saturday March 13 2004
20 degrees 53 min North
85 degrees 41 min West
S.O.G. - 5.5 knots
Bearing - 120 degrees
Windspeed - 28 mph
Wind direction - ENE

Saturday 3/13/03 am
Position March 13 2004 as 0645
21 degrees 25 min North
86 degrees 21 min West
Wind 20 mph
Bearing 135 degrees
Speed 4 knots (sog)
Speed 6 knots ( sailing into a 2 knot current )
Wind direction ??? I think my annometer's direction is out of sync.
Will use the bearing compass later today to check wind direction.

Fri, 12 Mar 2004 19:41:39 -0600
Last night I had a visitor. I spotted them on the radar and when they where 50 yards from me, I shone my spotlight on them and they turned away. Who they were, I will never know.
Sailed hard all night and made 2 tacks!! The wind just changes so fast! I plotted every hour, because of leeward sailing and the coast was close. The wind just did not want to change, so I kept sailing tight close hauled.
At 2 this morning I could not take it anymore, the bumping and rocking and the unforced tacks, so I hove to. Checked the radar and went to sleep, slept for 2hrs and got underway again. Around 8 am, this morning the wind died and I breathed a sight of relief because I was dog tired of keeping IT on course and I did not want to tack, I already lost too much time the other night. Started the motor and ran it at 1700 rpm and got 4.5 knts while Tilly was steering Willie.The sea became flat and I went to look for some slides. Well I found 6 heavy duty slides.
I carefully cut out the threads of the broken ones, not to damage the webbing and sewed the new ones back, one by one. I felt proud of myself getting the main back in ship shape condition!!
Went around the boat, checking everything, taped up some turnbuckles, poured 10 gallons of diesel in the main tank, because I dont know when I will have a chance again.
I scooped up 25 gallons of sea water and took my first bath in 6 days, right in the cockpit, after that I went to flush off the salt water in the shower and I felt fresh again !The water was lovely !!
I saw Cubans doing survey or whatever and passed them at 100 yards, I waved and they waved back with their hats !
The wind picked up around 15:00 hrs and I raised the sails and we were off again. Wind was around 10 mph blowing NNE.
At the time of writing it has increased to 23 mph and we are already rocking and rolling again !!
I am having a hard time to log everything, still trying to get used to IT.
Present position at 18:00 hrs March 12 2004

22 degrees 07 min North
86 degrees 57 min West

Wind gusting 25 mph NNE
Bearing 125 degrees

Only 15 nm to waypoint # 1 !!!!!
Then off to waypoint # 2 which is: 21 degrees 05 min North 86 degrees 00 min West

Fri, 12 Mar 2004 06:55:23 -0600
POS 22 - 29 NORTH 87 - 44 WEST AT 0630 HRS

Thu, 11 Mar 2004
At present we are sailing hard, close hauled, to get as far east as possible. I have not seen any ships the past 24 hrs. So far all the way from home, only 4 freighters have been spotted. Wind speed is 24 mph, blowing from NE to NNE. Bearing is 110 degrees.The fax looks good for tomorrow. I am almost at my 1st waypoint. About 100 miles to go, which is 22 degrees 00 min North, 86 degrees 42 min West. Passed over the Northern Shelves, depth was 80 feet. A small fishing boat was at anchor there, passed within a quarter of a mile.
The devices to warn me, when the radar alarm goes off are too sensitive, the wind or water sounds trigger it. No way I can use it. The only thing is the alarm clock with the bedshaker and flashing light that works, I have to set the alarm in 30 min intervals, when it wakes me, I check the radar which is on standby mode, to run the radar all the time consumes too much battery power and shortens the life of the magnetron as per owners manual.

I got the main fully up again, minus 5 bottom tracks. I tied up the bottom reef cringles to the mast and presto, we are flying again.
Poor Willie is fighting to keep on course with a full main and full genoa in 22 mph wind, very close hauled, going zig-zag. I got a idea, I turned the main rudder a little to the starboard side and locked it. Willie is breathing a sigh of relief and sails much straighter now.
Had a good sleep this afternoon on the starboard berth, slept for an hour and a half !!I Feel much better and am ready to tackle the Yucatan Channel.

Present position at 1745 hrs

23 degrees 00min North
88 degrees 22min West

Speed 5 knots
Wind 22 mph gusting 24 mph
Wind Direction NNE
Bearing 120 degrees

Thursday 3/11 am
POS: 23 - 29 NORTH 89 - 07 WEST AT 0630 HRS

Wednesday March 10, 2004
New position is: 24 - 00 N 89 - 50 W
Sailed well until late last night, however the tillerpilot does not work too well in heavy weather.
Took a jibe to get back on track, connected the tillerpilot to Willie, wind was lite. Checked the radar and went to sleep, woke up and felt something was wrong, checked the GPS and holy-moly we were sailing south- west! The cause, the tillerpilot shuts down when it cannot hold it’s course! Another lesson learned.

I quickly got things sorted out, but felt bad about the lost time.

This morning a force 6 hit me off guard, I quickly furled up the genoa and run up to the mast to get the main reefed. I double reefed it again and broke 4 mainsail tracks in the process, they were old anyway and I cursed myself for not replacing them all before I left. Lucky I have a few spares stuffed somewhere. I can still use the old main’s tracks if I have to. I also put up the staysail and set the sail and rudder in combination, so IT could steer herself. The force 6 kept up until 1300 hrs and I then unfurled the genoa and brought the staysail down. I put up the windpanel on Willie and he has been steering since. I left the main double reefed because of the 4 bottom tracks I lost. I will sew some up when the weather cooperates.

The whole boat is covered in salt !! All the canvas and windows, everything !! The 2 force 6 weather we have been through dumped a lot of spray on us. My hips and butt are hurting from bumping against everything, just to keep my balance! So are my hands from handling the sheets. I am wearing gloves from now on!

You should have seen the staysail’s sheet when it came lose in the force 6 !!! A very angry snake she was, and the only way to catch her was to drop the sail!

Got all the dishes out in the cockpit today and washed everything with scooped salt water and soap.

The thingamoogy I made to scoop salt water did not work, should have put on a long radius elbow, anyway it can come in handy if any pirates try to board me !!!

Checking the chart and plotting every 6 hours now, using Tiggers’ old chart of the Gulf of Mexico, I noticed I sailed over Tiggers’ path twice!! That was Dec ’93 !! Do you remember, Dave and Sharon ?

At time of writing, the wind speed is 16 knots, IT’s speed is 5.5 knts and the bearing is115 degrees and we are sailing close hauled.

My original track path’s bearing is 123 degrees and I am off 6 nautical miles and will get back on track by midnight or early morning.

The engine oil leak has been fixed and have not been motoring the past 18 hrs.

The batteries are holding very well and the solar panel brings them back up at day time.

Have not seen a single ship today. I am also way off the shipping lanes and hope to get more sleep tonight.

Love to all

Charl

Wednesday AM
24 - 36 N 90 - 34 W

Tuesday March 9 2004 1800 hrs
Slept very little last night, very hard without the autohelm as Willie just follows the wind !!! Had to make adjustments every now and then because of the wind shift.

Got the tiller pilot connected to Willie this morning and everything is going well again, expect a bad oil leak at the engine. Removed everything around the engine and while it was running sniffed out the cause and fixed it.

Had my first cooked lunch today, rice, brown gravy and canned bacon !

Wind is down and we do not make good progress.

Still 300 miles to my first waypoint.

Bearing right now is 105 to 110 degrees

Wind is shifting again and is not strong enough to run with it, too much flapping of the sails, so

the best way is to beam reach and it is also very comfortable, however we are going off course.

Will make up if the wind dies completely again and motor to the actual track or hopefully the wind will

change again. I might consider getting the spinnaker up. Will see.

Scooped up some salt water and washed my shoes and sneakers also scrubbed the cockpit.

Wind is going down again.

Position at 1830 hrs

25 degrees 02 min North

90 degrees 59 min West

Tusday AM
POS 25 DEG 36 MIN NORTH 91 DEG 57 MIN WEST AT 0630 HRS

Sailed very well until midnight when the winds died down again.

Ran the motor until 5:30 this morning.

The wind started to blow, Force 5, I rolled up the genoa and am still sailing with the main only.

The Autohelm broke down, I steered for one hour, to get the sail, wind and rudder in combination, locked the rudder and IT has been steering herself for the past 2 hrs now at 4.5 knots to 5 knots.

I took the Autohelm off the wheel and stripped it and presto, the belt was broken.

I will try to mend the broken belt.

Do not worry, IT is steering herself magnificantly.

I do not want to try Willie now, weather is too rough and I am saving Willie for the Pacific.

It is 1700 hrs now, the wind has started to blow hard and the seas have become very rough and I had to shut down the computer this morning, got the main double reefed and the staysail up. Winds Force 6. Sailed well until 1500 hrs when the wind shifted right on my nose and it become too hard for IT to steer herself. I got the belt all sewed up, but it broke again, there are steel wires inside the belt.

I tackled Willie and presto, took me 15 min to get him going and he has been steering the past hour. I am amazed that he reacts faster than the autopilot!!! Well, here I am back on the laptop, let Willie worry about where we are going! Bearing at present is 136 degrees, actual bearing should be 122 degrees, but there is nothing I can do about it now. We are sailing very close hauled at the moment, hopefully the wind will change tomorrow and we can get back on track otherwise we will have to tack again.

It is rock and rolling all the way !!!.

Mon, 8 Mar 2004
POS 26 DEG 36 MIN NORTH 93 DEG 27 MIN WEST AT 0645 HRS

Received from Charl Sunday evening: 3/7/04
POS 27-09 NORTH 94-26 WEST AT 1800 HRS

Sun March 7, 2004
It has been almost 12 hours on 'Island Time' since departing Palacios

Leaving Palacios was very emotional at 7 am on Sat March 6. I motored for 9 nautical miles ,wind picked up and I shut down the engine, sailed at 6 to 6.5 knots.

2 dolphins joined me, sailed straight for Bird Island, where Randy and Cory joined on me on their 'Clueless Waters'. They parted at the PL channel and I sailed with the main out into the Gulf. Speed was 8 knots. Out in the Gulf the wind slackend and I unfurled the Genoa.

At 13:00 hrs the wind completly died, and I started the motor and kept motoring until a breeze got underway at 1630 hrs. Whilst motoring, I headed back to my original track. Sailed 170 degrees until 2030 and I tacked , sailing east. I kept going , sailing over my original track route until 0030 hrs this morning,the wind died completely.I started the motor again, heading 130 degrees. I got a nice visitor at 2000 hrs last , a white greyish bird with black beak and eyes. It has been sitting on Willie’s oar all nite and is still here at this time of writing.

Hope to get better winds today

Position at 700 Sun March 2004

27 degrees 44 min North

95 degrees 13 min West

Love you all, Charl

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