News

Saturday Noon
Noon to noon run - 140 miles.
Wind down this morning, batteries reading 11.3 Volts, time to charge again, motor running at 1500 rpm .
Have since taken down the no 3 headsail from the furling system. It is repairable, but needs a big piece of canvas to get it back in shape.
Took out the new 180 % genoa and fed it inside the groove of the headfoil just to find out the luff is too long! No way I can use it on the furling system. Well, it is on now with the tack tied down at the bow.The problem is I cannot furl it up if the wind increases, I have to take it down all the way !
Have to have it modified somewhere.
Meanwhile, I will consider this problem.
Received two warnings on the weatherfax today:
Typhoon Dianmu near 21-1 N,129-4 E Max winds - 100 knots
Gale warning 23 S, 98 E, clocklwise winds up to 45 knots within 300nm of low.
All far away from us.
Still 840 miles to the Torres Strait.

Saturday June 19, 2004
The blasted wind took out another sail. This time it is the old no 3 heasail. The wind went down at dusk and we had smoothe sailing all night. Wind is now down to 7 knots. Will have to wait for more calmness before I can take the headsail down from the furling system.

Position at 0600 hrs
13-21 S
158-55 E
Cog 270
Sog 5 kt
Wind 8 kt
Wind from the SSW

Friday Noon
Noon to noon run 90 miles (150 miles actually sailed)

It took us 4 hrs to get back to our lost longitude position. With a double reefed main and no 3 headsail, IT is pounding the waves on a close reach in this 25 to 30 knot wind. Occasionally a wave will hit us on the forward beam and the whole deck will be awash. With land on the lee, I am spurring IT on hard. The Indespensable Reefs are just 30 miles north of us, which is too close for comfort in this weather. We are reaching speeds up to 7.8 knots now.
I am trying to get on a safe side before nightfall.
Wind still from the SW, we are on a port tack.

Friday June 18, 2004
Since noon yesterday (I should have known ! ) the wind shifted gradually and from a broad reach we went on a beam reach then a close reach and finally at dusk IT was going hard in the 16 knot breeze (close hauled). I have sheeted in the sails tightly, not wanting to lose any latitude.
I managed to keep IT on a 270 degree bearing, but our speed went down dramatically to only 4 knots. Still, I kept IT's nose pointed against the wind.
It was not long, and the wind shifted once more, coming from the NW and our bearing went from 270 to 250 degrees. At midnight we were going 220 degrees and I could not keep my eyes open anymore, went to crash just to wake up at 0400 to find out we were sailing 140 degrees!!! We were literally sailing back ! Donning my safety harness, I felt my way around the cockpit in the darkness, took a tack and we were going at 285 degrees, on a close reach, port tack. The wind has increased to 20 knots, coming from the SW and IT is running hard again, everytime she crashes down the waves, the spray covers the whole deck and I am sitting here at the nav station with all the hatches closed, typing my log.
Right now wind is up to 24 knots, gusting 30. Gotta go and make a reef in the main.
Checking my chart, we lost 25 minutes ( a minute is one nautical mile ) in latitude and 20 minutes of longitude, thanks to this westerly wind !

Position at 0600 hrs
13-54 S
161-25 E
Cog 280
Sog 5.5 knots
Wind 25 knots
Wind from the SW

Thursday Noon

Noon to noon run -135 miles

Holy Smokes ! I have been sailing in the Coral Sea for more than two days without even knowing it. This morning, I flipped over my chart which was folded between 162 and 163 E longitude to plot my new morning position and that is when I saw where we are at !

Goodbye Pacific! Welcome the Coral Sea!

Another windshift a while ago and we are on a broad reach, starboard tack. Gone is the rolling motion ! Ah ! I can sleep on the wide port aft berth again !

Watched a flock of birds this morning, they were diving down, then swooping low over the water, like dive bombers then going up again, circling then diving again, never hitting the water. I could not understand what they were doing, but a closer and more intensive look, revealed that when they dive down they scare the flying fish. They then use their wings to escape danger by flying out of the water and the birds then catch them while they are airborne ! It was a shoal of baby flying fish the birds were chasing. I watched this feeding frenzy for quite a while, fascinated by nature's way of life. It was rather too far away to get it on camera.

Present position to 9 degrees South, 145 degrees East (Torres Strait entrance)
Compass 273 degrees
Deviation +9 degrees E per chart
Magnetic 282 degrees
Variation -9 E degrees chart for 1995 1 degree variation per year
True 273 degrees

Checking my GPS my calculations are correct
Present bearing with the windpilot steering varies from 265 to 275 degrees.

Still 1045 miles to go.

Thursday June 17, 2004
Spent a quiet moment on the foredeck, remembered Tommy, my father-in-law. He is being laid to rest today.

Position at 0600 hrs
13-39 S
162-42 W
Cog 275
Sog 6 knots
Wind 12 knots
Wind from the ENE

The wind died down yesterday and so did our speed. When we were under 4 knots, I hauled out the spinnaker, clipped on the sheets, halyard, lazy sheet, uphaul and downhaul and let it fly, sailing on a dead run. The wind was lazy and we only made 4.5 knots and occasionally a wave coming on the quarter, would let us roll and with the roll the spinnaker started to dance the waltz. I got busy replacing the corroded wire on the solar panel. We sailed on like this for two hours and on a sudden windshift, the waltzing spinnaker wrapped itself around the headsail on the roller furling system. It was as if spinnaker was madly in love with roller furling as it wrapped itself around and around before I could do anything.
Took me two hellish hours to untangle the mess. Finally got the spinnaker down and fed up with it dumped it into the front hatch along with the other spare sails.
Unfurled the headsail, poled out, we sailed all night on a dead run with the tillerpilot steering the windvane.
Very early this morning the wind shifted from the SE to the ENE and I took a jibe and we are sailing between a run and a broad reach on a starboard tack, bearing 275 degrees.

Wednesday Noon
Noon to noon run -155 miles
Since this morning, wind went down to 12 knots and also shifted coming from the SSW and with full main and headsail we sailed on a beam reach, port tack, bearing 266 degrees. The wind shifted again a while ago, coming from the SSE. I am watching the weather and might haul out the spinnaker again. The barometer is falling, so, I am in doubt. Will wait a while. Wind down to 9 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet. Beautiful day for sailing.
Still 850 miles to my next waypoint or 1180 miles to the top of the Great Barrier Reef.

Wednesday June 16, 2004
Since yesterday's noon log, sad about Tommy, but satisfied with our two day total run. The sea gods must have sensed my satisfication and them, not happy with men and women using their territories to set or break records in fancy looking sailboats, or sailing it for the shear pleasure, sent in a double header !
With the wind howling again at 30 to 36 knots, I furled up the headsail. It is already starting to lose seams. I double reefed the main and sailed on a broad reach. The waves slowly increased in size and the big ones started to break. Catching them on the quarter, then sliding down sideways until we hit the trough, then straight ahead again. The process repeated over and over. The windpilot doing all the work, two waves caught us, swamping the cockpit, tearing two grommets from the weathercloths, a first for us. I took over the wheel and steered till dark until the wind went down to 22 knots. Set the windpilot, we sailed all night like this, on a broad reach, bearing 255 degrees(10 degrees off course). By morning the winds were down to 15 knots, the seas still angry. Will wait for clear daylight, then will consider my next move.

Position at 0600
13-59 S
164-55 E
Cog 255
Sog 5.5 knots
Wind 15 kt
Wind from the SE

Tuesday Noon
Noon to noon run -160 miles
Running with main sheeted out to starboard, headsail poled out to port.
Cog 266
Sog 6.6 knots
Next waypoint is 12-00 S,150-00 E , still 999 miles to go.

Tuesday, June 15, 2004
A Special Posting:
I just received the sad news that my father-in-law, Thomas Henry Bryant,
passed away today at 1:00 pm.
Rest in peace, Tommy.
Be strong Mom, Bev, Sharleen and Gideon, I am with you.

Tuesday, June 15 2004
Right on the money !
With dawn breaking, I could make out the islands. The sun is coming up now
and I have a clearer picture.
To my south lies Santa Maria island and to my north, Vanua Lava. These
islands are part of the Banks Islands. They all are volcanic islands and
earthquakes are frequent, but no damage has been recorded as per the sailing
directions of Pacific Islands handbook.

Sailed till sundown with full sails, then furled up the headsail as we were
going too fast and with land approaching, I was just careful. I have
plotted, double checked, and plotted constantly through the night as there
were some small scatterred islands around the main islands. I am breathing a
sigh of relief that I have the land in visual contact.
It will be two more hours then we will be in the open waters again.

Position at 0600
14-00 S
167-35 E
Cog 265
Sog 7.2 knots
Winds 18 knots
Winds from the SE

Monday Noon
Noon to noon run 160 miles!
Thanks to the constant SE trades blowing again.

Have since unreefed the mainsail and we are under full main and poled out no
3 headsail. Still on a broad reach. Winds 15 to 18 knots. Sog 6.8 to 7.5
knots.
Sat most of the morning on the front deck watching the waves, some birds and
the never ending flying fish.
Fixed the toilet handle that broke off.
Had canned wahoo, a gift from Samoan Dennis Faumui (he gave me a dozen cans)
for brunch. Very tasty, mixed with mayonnaise and crackers. When opening the
can, I let the oil out at the back of IT and watched how the oil smoothes
the water's surface! Fascinating!
Still 120 miles to my waypoint.

Monday June 14, 2004
Yesterday's noon to noon run was 105 miles. All distances I note is course
made good.(on a rhumb line)

Sailed all afternoon with the spinnaker's tack tied down to the bow. Hitting
speeds up to 7.5 knots occasionally. The trades picked up and at sundown, I
hauled in the spinnaker, half of it in the
water again, unfurled the trusty old no 3 headsail and with a double reefed
main sailed all night in the 18 knot wind on a broad reach averaging 6.5
knots, bearing 270 degrees, on a port tack.

I can already feel the change in climate, in fact, last night, I had to
cover myself with a light blanket in the cool breeze, first time since
leaving Panama !

Still 160 miles to go to my next waypoint, which is midway between the Santa
Maria and Vanua Lava islands.

Position at 0600 hrs
14-31 S
170-10 E
Cog 270
Sog 6.8 knots
Wind 16 knots
Wind from the SE

Sunday Noon
Wind down, still under spinnaker and double reefed main, average speed 6 knots, bearing 265, running.

Sunday June 13, 2004
Since noon yesterday, we have been sailing close hauled until late afternoon
with the wind shifting and shifting until it was straight on the nose,
coming from the west. Sailing at a bearing 210 degrees, I pondered on how to
tack up towards the land of OZ. At this rate, I was thinking, I will be in
South Africa in time for the 2005 Currie Cup finals !
With the wind shifting even more at nightfall, bearing 180, I was thinking
again, I might as well sail south around the land of OZ.
Sitting in the companionway, keeping watch, I saw something in the cloudy
night on the horizon. It was a dark shadow, stretching from the east all the
way to the west. Rubbing my eyes over and over, I could not make out what I
was seeing.I decided to take a tack and tacked we did. Looking to the south
now, I saw the dark shadow looming almost on top of me.
Then it hit, with a punching blow of 40 knots of wind! I thought this is
just another squall. Caught with all my sails up, IT took off, as if her
tail was on fire! I furled up the headsail, loosened the mainsail's sheets,
set the windpilot, lashed the wheel to keep IT on a beam reach. There was a
little rain and after 15 minutes the wind was down to 30 knots and IT was
running loose at 7.2 knots. We went on like this for two hours and the
clouds went away and the stars came out. The wind was still strong and the
seas very rough. The waves were fifteen to twenty footers which we took on
the beam. I set the windpilot so we could take the waves on the quarter,
which became much more comfortable.
It took me a while to realize that this all was a front coming from the SE,
also the harbinger of the SE trades!
Sailed all night with the main only on a broad reach, port tack.
This morning the winds are down to 12 knots,seas still very rough. Still on
a broad reach, bearing 265.
Will soon, when the wind goes under 10 knots, haul up the spinnaker.

Position at 0700 hrs
14-51 S
172-35 E
Cog 265
Sog 5.5 knots
Wind 12 knots
Winds from the SE

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