Tuesday 2nd November 2010

It's been a good day & I've felt very relaxed - especially after a good deep sleep over midday, to catch up on sleep missed overnight. And in the calm conditions later, I emptied a locker & found the missing fuses - lurking buried in the first place I'd looked, where they were supposed to be.... Murphy was laughing at me! (Unfortunately, in the fog and light wind, I could do no more to test out the reason for the lack of wind or solar power input. Jobs for yet another day.)

The WSW swell this morning, as predicted, was enormous - easily 6m/20ft!! Well-spaced out, with a period of about ten seconds, so not a worry... but fascinating to feel the wind pick up each time we rose over the tops of the waves. And FOG all day ... not so thick, but wet and cold!

After midnight, I spent 1 1/2 hrs on deck adjusting our course continually in shifty wind of around just 4 knots and then retired to the chart table to use the autopilot control there with the plotter display in view to show me which way we were headed and where the wind was... all to keep the boat pointing in the right direction, trying to make SW! In the big swell and with such light winds, the windsteering couldn't cope, nor could the autopilot, but at least I could easily keep telling it what to do so we would point the right way - but only with my constant intervention...pillow to hand, hoping for some sleep - fat hope!! It was a case of either this or sit at the wheel in the damp cold of night to keep us going sensibly in such light airs - this was the preferred option! I'd slept earlier for several hours so didn't feel too lacking in sleep. Several changes of sailtrim later and I eventually goosewinged the stays'l in the morning when the wind went to ENE for a while... We'd kept a good heading, so the effort was worthwhile and we finally got back onto windsteering, which saves such a lot of battery power. It coped fine, dead downwind at 4 kt, in 9 kt of wind with the stays'l out to windward helping the boat balance.

At one point this morning, I gybed and got a big section of the genoa wrapped wrongly around the forestay - a 'genoa wrap'!! I felt very much at risk as I crouched in the bow struggling to persuade the sail to unravel itself, along with the sheets, and get it untangled. Several times when I managed to get a bit of the sail off and wrapped the right way, the wind caught it and ripped it back the other way, the boat heeling as the sail billowed in the wind ... it was a real battle - but in the end, I won, and the genoa and its sheets were calmed and sorted properly - phew! No wonder I had a good sleep later!

If I hadn't paid so much attention to the boat, we'd either have been heading in towards the coast or going around in circles.... Steerage is a big problem with light wind and consequent low boatspeed. I re-traced my path several times...

By this evening, the wind had backed to the N and finally , by midnight, to NW - so we're now heading SSW under full canvas, making around 4 knots in 8 knots of wind on a beam reach. The fog, present all day long, dispersed with nightfall, so we've had a beautiful starry sky - I've seen meteorites and artificial satellites and the Milky Way really does look like stardust strewn across the sky. (Is that Saturn shining so very brightly, high in the W sky tonight??)

It looks to me that for several days, it's to be either more very light winds, often from S, or strong wind from S ... so heading south might still pose a problem... frustrating! Might be some wind off the two Capes, Blanco & Mendocino which we're trying to pass now..

(NOTE: My position is posted daily : Go to 'Travels' and click on "Where is Nereida?" to see where I am and have been recently)

I can't believe how slow this passage south is - previously, it's taken from 5 to 7 days maximum from Neah Bay (at entrance to Strait of Juan de Fuca) to San Francisco .... but today (Day 7, Monday), we're still trying to get past Cape Blanco beating into a SW wind! Each of those previous times, twice in October and once in May, I had winds from the north, with High pressure to my west....

Sunday 31st October (Day 6)

Around 6am, the light wind (7-8 kt) veered from SSE to SSW - better since ESE course could be laid - not fantastic but a lot better than the previous ENE! I always hate having to go north when I want to head south.... I had deliberately given myself plenty of searoom by heading W more, so heading slowly towards the coast for a time was OK. And being more west might have been the reason why the wind was not as bad as f'cast.. grib files showed a band of lighter winds here among the strong winds...

I took in all reefs and put out the staysail in readiness for the 'big blow' expected. Talk about 'the calm before the storm' - absolutely so!! We had flopped about Saturday night and into Sunday morning... but around 8am the wind began to increase and pressure dropped slightly. By 6pm it had reached 27-30 knots from the S, with building 3-4m seas. Not until 6am Monday did it suddenly 'switch off', with the wind shifting to WNW and dying rapidly to 9-10 knots. By 10am it had backed to the SW where it stayed, more-or-less, all day.

My worry is that winds will get too light for heading S after the storm - that's a definite possibility... And more strong S winds are forecast for later this week - getting S is not going to be easy!!

While waiting for the storm to hit & thinking about food for that evening, I remembered the big fresh prawns, sitting frozen in the depths of my fridge, that Kathy & Mark had brought me when they made a special trip down from Nanaimo to see me just before I left...I decided on a prawn curry - which worked fine with fresh tomatoes and onions. I had to cook the prawns anyway to peel them and had some separately before adding the rest in to the curry - they were supremely tasty!!

Can't do anything to fix solar or wind power problems just now - must wait for calmer weather!!

I'm checking in around 2230 UTC on 14300 kHz to the Maritime Mobile Net in the US - Roy, KR6RG, near San Diego, took my details and posted them on Shiptrak on Sunday and Rex, KC5AGO, in Texas, did so on Monday. Each time they checked if all OK on board and queried if my problems had been sorted out yet. It's a 24hr Net, run by volunteers, that is also there to help anyone in an emergency.

Monday 1st November

Writing this at sunset - we've been under grey skies, with lots of rain, all day - suddenly a beam of bright orange shot through the cabin - a spectacular sunset with a tiny band of clear sky on the W horizon!

It's been so frustrating today. After the 32-34 kt of overnight suddenly died down to 7 kt eventually, I've been on deck a lot of the time, shaking out reefs, adjusting sail trim, tacking, gybing... anything to try to get us to head S in a shifty wind, mainly from the S-SW which makes it impossible to sail a good course. When it came from WNW, that was great because we could head due S!! We've just re-traced our path (10 miles in total!) from earlier, and are,yet again, now heading SE - directly for Cape Blanco, in fact... We're 100 mls NW of it and from Coos River.

I'm trying to keep well clear of the coast, especially between Capes Blanco and Mendocino since they have a well-earned bad reputation for their own nasty weather and seas, but the SW wind is forcing me to head closer in. The alternative is to head W-NW, depending on the wind direction. And being close to the wind really slows us down, trying to make a reasonable course. A definite tidal current has often also not helped. Seas have calmed down a lot now from overnight - then it was really difficult to move about at all, let alone safely!

Present plan is to tack or gybe around (depending on boatspeed!) once we reach 126W - I don't wish to get closer to land than that. (I'm now seeing some shipping I didn't see when well offshore.) Present weather forecasts are not looking helpful - either strong southerlies or light fickle winds for this week, possibly combined with some big swell at times ... The frustrations look set to continue!!

One piece of good news is that I managed to stop my propshaft from spinning when we make decent speed. Since the gear cables were wired to prevent engine use in forward gear (a mistake to wire that, I now wonder?), I've been unable to engage reverse gear, as had been intended, so unable to prevent the prop from spinning. (Normally, I engage forward gear when sailing to stop the prop from turning) But in light winds on Monday, it occurred to me that it was the ideal time to tie a cord around the gearbox-propshaft connection while it was stationary - that seems to have worked ... and it's easy to remove.

As I'm about to post this, the wind has backed to SSW... I might have to change tack soon ... but first I must eat!

Saturday 30th October

Well, I'm sitting here in the calm of a beautiful night under a starry sky... Oriion and Sirius high in the SE.... with the wind just swung to the WSW from W a short while ago - but only around 10 knots so far.... We're close-hauled since the sudden wind shift woke me from sleep with sails flappping. Genoa is still full to give us some speed in the light conditions .... I put in 3rd reef before getting to sleep in readiness for blow, even though that slowed us down .... (We were headed S, but now SSE.) Pressure has increased to 1016 from 1005 12 hrs ago, showing H building to SW of here - but Low is swinging around it, aiming at us possibly!!

The morning started quite well with the sighting of an albatross soaring powerfully by!! Great excitement on board "Nereida"! Unmistakable from the many seen in the Southern Ocean earlier this year ... long, 'elbowed' wings, grey-and-white uppers and white underparts and big, cruel-looking beak. I'd heard of people seeing them in N. Pacific (Al on 'Dogbark' in the Single-Handed TransPac of '06 mentioned seeing them up here) but I'd not seen any until my first one seen in the South Atlantic in '08, on my way from Luderitz, Namibia, to St Helena. Later, in the afternoon, a sooty shearwater, or similar, came by - all dk brown with black wing tips and yellow beak... Must get out my birdbook on 'Albatrosses, Shearwaters "& Petrels..."!

The depressing news of today is no input fom the solar panels .... regulator showing no input from panels although it's still showing battery bank volts OK. Fuses in circuit are OK - but I managed to drop one 20A fuse to between the wires below - impossible to get to so far... grrr! Seems I need calm weather to check wiring at panels themselves. Maybe water has got to connections there?? Unscrewed fuse box to look at wiring more closely - seems OK.
Still no joy on wind generator - input still looking erratic - occasionally inputs power with temporary 20A fuse in place (not strong enough .... but still not found missing spare fuses!), mostly nothing... so far have come up with no bright ideas there. Seems like a wiring fault - but where?? Only possibility I've thought of is thermal cut-out in switch on wires down from generator- could have suffered when fuse blew in strong winds of the other night. I actually have an identical spare switch buried away in the forepeak, so must check that in calm conditions sometime soon and maybe try replacing it.

Sun got out late in the afternoon... nice!

Spent an age this morning letting out sails in the lighter wind and tidying upthe mess of lines in the cockpit and sorting out a tangled staysail sheet. It was so much calmer going downwind with NW wind, instead of beating into SSW wind...

Took down courtesy flags etc and ensign - also flagstaff - might lose it and not needed - no ensign flown as would get shredded by so much wind over 7 mths!!

This evening - wind died right down - lovely clear starry night with barometer rising .... Cleared everything ready for expected big storm - but in higher pressure and calm conditions right now!! Easy meal of beans and crab (thought I was picking out a tin of tuna ... but no matter!!).

Sat all geared up, ready to jump up on deck and furl in genoa when wind rises ... staysail 'ready to go' in placeof genoa - better in strong wind and sea conditions.... We're in the 'dangerous quadrant' of coming storm - so when it comes, plan is to head SE to avoid worst of it - maybe...! Decided must try to get some rest - doubt I'll sleep, but must rest at least. (Back to top!!!)

LATER ( SUNDAY 1130UTC): Wind is slowly continuing to back and rise - now from 200T at 14-15 knots, pressure 1017 hPa.... Will post this while still calm out here!!
(Posting noon UTC position to Winlink very soon - 0500 PDT here! We're 188 mls due West of Newport, Oregon at present)

Friday 29th October

Big decision of this evening was: Do I tie in the 3rd reef, well in advance of stronger winds expected, or do I first cook myself the mushroom omelette I really fancied for tonight?...!!

Omelette won, on basis that air pressure was not yet down anywhere near the 1008 hPa I'd been told to look out for by Bob McD (front possibly not arriving until near dawn), winds were rising but not above mid-twenties yet, boat was doing fine ... and I needed energy and a feeling of well-being for the reefing job! I really enjoyed the omelette but needed the cooker strap to hold me in place safely in the bumpy conditions while I cooked. The reefing went well in the darkness - despite the occasional wave splashing me. I took on board the idea given to me by Ian just before I left - to use a winch on the opposite side of the cockpit to help in the reefing (I'd run out of winches on that side with the genoa, staysail and running backstay all taking up one each...) My new Helly Hansen foul gear (given by Pauline of Force Four during my Southampton Boat Show visit) has been proving very useful in the bad weather since leaving and the seas have definitely been testing its waterproofness!

Suddenly realised this afternoon that the wind generator wasn't putting in anything. I got quite depressed for a while, thinking I was going to have a major power problem without it, and then I remembered I should check the fuse .... the 25A fuse had blown - presumably with strong winds first night out from Strait. I know I've spare fuses somewhere .... but could I find them? ... more cause for feeling down... I did find ones at 15A rating, so was able to confirm eventually that the generator is working fine. Initially, I wondered if wiring were dodgy since, even with fuse in place, and before it too blew in good wind of today, we were putting in good power for a time and then nothing...or nearly so. But I think maybe it was the fuse failing erratically that gave that impression. So problem now is to find missing fuses and make sure I shut down the generator if wind gets up above 30 knots. I might have to dispense with fuse and join wires together to give supply to batteries - dangerous since could damage wiring if unprotected.... But without its input, we're going to run short of power regularly....

Well, I had a good sleep this morning and I'll get some now - it might be a busy night if the front arrives early or winds get up a lot more. Presently we're going well under triple-reefed main, well-furled genoa and staysail at 4.5 knots on 235T in 23 true knots of SSE wind.... The front can't be far away since pressure has dropped now to 1009 hPa (from 1016 this afternoon and 1010 an hour ago).

Thursday 28th October

What a contrast!

Rough seas and winds, getting up to 30 knots on occasion, all night long ... a bumpy ride! And then suddenly, mid-morning, pressure rose, winds were from the SSW rather than SSE-SE & we were into very light winds and struggling to make speeds over 2-3 knots, changing tack with the fickle wind direction to get best advantage and avoid being forced north...... But oh so slow, even with all reefs shaken out and full canvas... but quite a lot of sunshine and blue skies in between clouds.

Great excitement at one point - winds increased rapidly and veered, only to turn into a typical 'cloud effect' - heavy rain came & went,.. wind died ... and died ... as a dark grey cloud moved away - and we ended up, yet again, wallowing around! Kept light winds all day, with the occasional shower for excitement, and on into the evening...

Forecast is to continue light on Friday, with a very stormy weekend - a DEEP Low headed this way and a deep trough tagged on - so two 'hits' on their way: on Saturday and on Sunday... Can't be avoided since the system is so extensive... Maybe the forecast will turn out wrong - that wouldn't be a first!! But if right, there's some big swell coming on Sunday/Monday.

Amazing how gusts always come after reefs have just been shaken out.

Decided I must eat better, since important to keep up energy levels, so had a 'proper' meal tonight - but the lazy way - a pre-cooked meal in a vacuum-packed foil pouch - delicious meat, potatoes and gravy with the last of some fresh broccoli I added in. Followed by dessert of dried cherries and prunes - added in a Mars bar for good measure - totally decadent!!

Will have to tack around soon, to avoid going too far west, towards the centre of the forecast storms. Wind is SSW 10 knots just now and we're due west of Grays Hbr, about 100 miles off, so a fair amount of sea-room, although I prefer to stay outside the continental shelf until past Oregon..

Wednesday 26th October

With more slopping about overnight in the middle of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, getting absolutely nowhere, I finally decided to accept we weren't moving anywhere until the ebb would begin, just before dawn, and took to my bunk for a few hours of good, if broken, sleep (broken a few times to check around) while there were no ships around. With boatspeed of 0.0 and SOG of 0.1-0.2 kt in a slight flood tide, it felt safe to relax, knowing the AIS would give a loud warning well in advance if any ship were to threaten to come too close. I'd hardly slept the first night and needed to be ready for bad weather still expected.

On checking on deck at first light, it was great to find the light NW wind had gone to the SSE - together with the ebb tide, we were finally able to drift along at all of 1.1 kt and gently make our escape in a pink dawn, speed slowly improving as the tide and wind both increased. Just before noon, we were making 5 kt in 13 kt of ESE wind and the Strait was finally behind us.

Soon after, in watery sunshine, I found us surrounded by lots of different birds - there must have been a big shoal of fish around us! Brown shearwaters (?) with black face, wing-tips and tail and a yellow beak.... gulls with silver grey upper wings edged in white, grey face, white underparts.... and one distinctively-marked bird (prion?) - dark grey wings with a zig-zag of rose-pink, a black cap on its head, white underparts except for dark chin.... (Identifications, anyone?) I enjoyed the feeling of being back at sea, sailing in the fresh air and enjoying the birds - despite the cold air and the rather rough seas! But I was glad of a mug of hot soup later!

But I had work to do - the wind increased rapidly as we sailed away, further off shore - and with 22-26kts eventually, and a dropping barometer, I was kept busy taking in firstly reef 1 and, soon after, reef 2. The strong winds, with corresponding seas, had arrived...! Hit by a 30-knot rainsquall, as darkness fell, I decided three reefs sounded good, along with a vastly reduced genoa, using the staysail instead!! Boatspeed dropped initially, but picked up later... The wind has gone more to the S, but I wanted to head well offshore anyway, so that's fine for now....

We could have strong conditions like this for several days - I'm looking forward to warmer air as we head further south!

Tuesday 26th October

3pm local time (PDT) - marked the end of Day One - with none of the strong winds forecast ... Instead plenty of flopping about and changing of sail-trim, especially later today, in very light winds of mostly 2-4 knots. So instead of being well clear of Cape Flattery by this evening, I still have well over 15 miles to go - and then it will be a time before I can turn to head south, even with favourable and strong enough winds. At least I'm getting a very helpful ebb tide again tonight.

Most of the small distance made today has been the result of the ebb tide carrying us, needing a lot of effort on my part, trying to keep the sails filled and the boat pointing in the right direction, especially when the tide changed to flood and tried to take us backward .... Not a good feeling when you see the boat has slowly turned around, having no steerage, and is pointing East instead of West ... 7 months too soon!!

I really feel at risk knowing there are rocky shores in places along the Strait and engine power isn't available to help when the wind is so light ..... so I've tried to keep us right in the middle, both of the Strait and, coincidentally, the dividing lane down the middle of the shipping lanes. I've put out several 'Securite' calls to shipping around, to let them know of my situation. The fact that I'm transmitting on AIS (the Automatic Identification System which uses a VHF radio frequency) has been a help - they can see me on their display, with my speed & course, just as I can see them. I shall try to keep well north of Cape Flattery and Tatoosh Island, with its invariably rough seas and nasty Duntze Rock not far off.

I got especially worried last night, several hours after leaving Victoria Harbour entrance, when I first realized that the wind seemed definitely to be dying (I'd put in all 3 reefs before leaving, expecting 25-30 knots or more!). Having stayed close inshore on a long port tack to maximize the favourable current and then tacked around to clear Albert Head, I was now likely to be taken either on to the rocks at Race Rock or through the narrow, rocky channel between the island and mainland, in the strong ebb current. While there was still enough wind to do so, I tacked out into the middle of the Strait of Juan de Fuca - and with increasingly light winds most of the time, that's where I've been ever since.

Present speed over the ground (SOG) is all of 1.7 knots with zero boatspeed showing on the instruments - possibly the rotating speed impellor isn't turning, having got clogged up, or we really aren't making any way & are just being taken by the ebb tide - that's very likely since the wind strength now is only 4 knots! The most I've seen since leaving is 12 knots... we managed a superb 4-5 knots around midday when the wind gusted up for a short while!

The first two times I tacked the staysail, it flew up in the air - the shackle pin at its foot had come undone. Fortunately, it was still daylight and I was able to pull the sail down in the relatively light wind and secure it both times - but I then tried to make sure it wouldn't happen again by attaching two more shackles to hold the tack down more securely. By then, there were some very steep and short seas, with the strong ebb tide running against the opposing wind down the middle of the Strait, so sitting on the foredeck, figuring out how to fix the problem & then do the job, got a bit cold and wet!

It was altogether a cold, wet, grey afternoon, but I was given a lovely, warm farewell by friends and well-wishers - some in the towboat, skippered by helpful Mark of 'Prince of Whales', and others standing at Ogden Point to see me across my official start line ... and Glenn Wakefield, despite the weather, even made a much-appreciated, special effort to come around from Cadboro Bay in his newly-antifouled boat 'Westwind' - complete with her new mast. It was good to see him there, sailing alongside 'Nereida'. I felt very trepidatious, expecting some strong weather right at the start of my long voyage, so it felt great to have so many supportive, helpful people around at such a time. Thank you, all of you.

This is my last Internet session for 7mths or so - just a quick note to say I'm planning to leave from Victoria Hbr entrance Monday afternoon - around 3pm, to catch the strong Springs ebb from Race Rock and on westward...  Will be tough going against the expected headwind but storm will have abated by time I exit Strait of Juan de Fuca and swell should lessen quickly over Wednesday.
Mark on a 'Prince of Whales' RIB  will be towing me from the dock to the start line from Ogden Pt to just outside Macaulay Pt (a lit green buoy - in case I return in darkness!) 
On Saturday, Campbell of Trotac kindly came by on his day off work to resolve a problem with my watermaker and Mike at Coast Industrial Parts Ltd generously went out of his way to help with a last-minute problem with my propane supply to the galley - grateful thanks to both....
And the staff at Milestone's Restaurant, here beside the Empress Dock where "Nereida" has been berthed, have kindly plied me with coffee and friendly comments while I've made use of their wi-fi Internet connection!!
I'd like to thank the people who have helped me while here in Victoria (especially Tony & Coryn, Shaun & Penny, Ian & Susan, all of whom have given me a lot of their time)  -and all those who have come by, or emailed me, with their good wishes for a safe and successful voyage.  I hope to be back here in May/June next year!

I'll be posting daily positions and regular news updates, as usual when on passage, here to my website.

Au revoir from Jeanne on "Nereida", in Victoria, B.C.
 

Tuesday 19th October 2010

I'm delaying leaving Victoria - the weather forecast for the next five days shows a deepening Low system tracking in, giving very strong headwinds from the S in a couple of days' time, in conjunction with very light winds inshore over Wed & Thurs, making it difficult to exit from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Frustrating since I'm totally ready to go.... but there's no point in beating my brains out, tacking madly in big seas and getting nowhere for several days right at the start of my journey, following on from problems sailing out of the Strait in the very light winds I'd be seeing.

So suddenly I'm able to relax, catch up on sleep and do a few less important but nonetheless useful jobs before getting away - maybe by Monday.

Tony Gooch is my official 'starter' and 'finisher' (on behalf of the World Sailing Speed Record Council) and he wired my gear cable the other day - I can use the engine in neutral or astern but not in forward gear, although in an emergency I can cut the wire if I need to. (I'm not going for a speed record but they are the people who 'validate' round the world nonstop attempts, solo or otherwise.) A little 'black box recorder' has been installed on board - my GPS position will be recorded every 300 m of my journey. This particular one was on board the 6.50m mini used recently by the Franco-Italian skipper, Alessandro Di Benedetto to complete a 268-day single-handed round the world voyage - so maybe it will bring me luck!

I've had welcome help over my stay here, since arriving on Friday 8th October from visiting friends near Gibson's Landing, at the entrance to Howe Sound, north of Vancouver, from people who have taken me shopping for provisioning and Glenn Wakefield has come by to help in a very practical way several times. We first 'met' over the radio in the S. Atlantic when he was attempting to sail from Victoria westabout nonstop in 'Kim Chow'. He was on his way towards the Falklands and Cape Horn as I was heading NW to St Helena from Namibia early in 2008 and we've stayed in contact since then. We've a lot in common, having both lost our boats in a circumnavigation attempt, and both trying again to succeed this time around - he's preparing a new boat (S&S 42 'Westwind II') for his re-attempt which he hopes to start in July next year....

I'm also getting a lot of friendly support from local people and visitors here in Victoria.

Quite apart from provisioning for 8-9 months, in readiness for my expected 7 months at sea, I can now turn off the solar panels' input, to avoid the RF noise the regulator generates, and a proper switch has been installed between the start battery and domestic bank, to avoid the use of 'jump leads' as I had to recently when I had charging problems from Cape Town to Hawaii. My hot-air diesel heater is now working again (it had a 'leaky' connection to the fuel tank so fuel drained back into the tank from the feed pipe when not in use), I've just received a replacement VHF handset for a faulty, corroded one and I've replaced the mainsheet which was chafed in two places. I serviced the final (big) winch on Sunday and today stowed the bow anchor in the cockpit locker. Since I've time in hand now, I'll be able to deal with the loose fixings holding my chart-plotter/radar display in place.... and maybe also organize boat paperwork/manuals/info more usefully. The boat is looking far more tidy now I'm ready for passagemaking.

It's been so very calm here that I took photos of the lovely nearby lit-up Parliament building reflected in the still marina waters - a beautiful effect!

I just hope that once this Low pressure system has passed by, I'll be able to get out and away before the next one comes in - normally very soon after. In the meantime, I'm really enjoying my tidy, well-organized boat, after all the mess resulting from the work done in Pt Townsend!

The old Empress Hotel faces the waterfront and marina where I'm berthed.  I went inside on Wednesday - amazing!   Worth spending more time exploring... The Bengal Room was fabulous, with Indian artefacts and interior design... ... All from the turn of the 19th century, by the look of itl.

Tuesday 5th October
Back in the water, at last, on Friday, for final sail adjustments and work.  Removed all cabin doors and several bunk cushions, together with dinghy, outboard,
folding bike, etc, etc, to leave behind until my return next year...  Will simplify access to below bunks in case of problems, make moving around in rough seas easier and give better stowage..
 Even less wind today than when I left Port Townsend on Monday...  grrr!!!    Left Orcas  Island at sunrise and negotiated narrow Pole Pass with bated breath....   I'd cleared out of USA at Friday Hbr on Lopez Island and then cleared into Canada on reaching Vancouver - very friendly, helpful officials in both places. 
So very nice to be back in the water after several days of delays due to more work needed - a badly leaking chainplate needed an urgent repair and waiting for a rudder sealing ring to arrive very much later than expected also didn't help ... Everything seems to take so much longer than hoped for - I'm a perpetual optimist where timing is concerned...! 
I'd forgotten just how good it feels to be back on passage ....  always the expectation of the unknown.... a great feeling of freedom and escape ..... until, that is, I found problems with the radar, VHF radio and charting software.. to add in to a non-firing, newly-'fixed' heater I'd discovered on a cold Sunday night !!!  Oh well, ....  C'est la vie en bateau!!  Hopefully, I can sort them out before I leave.

Photos...of calm sea, penguin guillemots (?) about to dive below the surface and sealions hauled out on an islet - all on the approach to the San Juan Islands from the Strait of Juan de Fuca.....  a beautiful sunrise over Orcas Island looking back to Pole Pass and the approach to Vancouver from Pt Grey, with snow-capped Rockies as a backdrop.

Just received 'Happy Equinox' good wishes from Bob McDavitt! I'd been noticing the full moon and I'm hoping by the next one to be on my way.... Always nice to start passages with good moonlight.

Life has been pretty hectic of late - so much to do - & quick trip to UK (spent 3 days in all at So'ton Boat Show), while needed & very useful, didn't help!!

But I'm feeling quite optimistic with progress - actually may have achieved a dry boat with portlights having been pulled out and re-positioned, being now well- bedded in sealant. Also achieved major re-wiring of SSB/HF radio and solar panel regulator, among many other jobs done - so might be able to hear people as of now, without stopping the boat & switching off all instruments etc to avoid RF noise generated (not been too convenient!). I should actually see a decent solar input from now on also...! Spent time this afternoon balancing new Kiss wind generator rotor blades, ready to replace old generator tomorrow - if not raining.... Also now have both diesel heaters working and have organized getting hot water from immersion heater (will need to keep a good eye on battery voltage when using inverter for that) - useful for cold climes... Another plus is avoiding getting seawater into heater (diesel) daytank and also into freshwater tank by improving vent systems . One bonus of recent long, often rough, passages is finding all such problems before taking off on next (very long!) passage.

Saw my sails being worked on today - Carol Hasse and her crew at Port Townsend Sails always do an excellent job and I've had equally good riggers (Dan & crew at Pt Townsend Rigging) advising on, and implementing changes to, rig & reefing system - I've high hopes of reefing being a lot easier & less problematic from now on, especially with them having found cause(s) of my earlier persistent chafe problems.

Had lots of queries answered by helpful technical people at Southampton Boat Show - very productive time was spent there and urgent instrument repairs were seen to speedily by Raymarine & Simrad. Met all four new 'top' people at Najad who sounded very supportive - total change of ownership & top management there, which looks to be good for the company's future.

My proposed RTW nonstop route in outline: I'll probably need to leave from Victoria (B.C., Canada) as soon as a depression has passed by to get the 3-day weather window needed to get safely down past the Washington/Oregon coasts to the California border and better weather at this time of year. I usually plan to stay ~70-100 mls offshore initially, to avoid the continental shelf and fishing boats, and expect to end up rounding C. Horn early in the southern high summer of the New Year - then it's ENE from there, hoping to avoid nasty conditions around Cape Horn & near the Falklands, aiming for 40S or further north in the S. Atlantic and then on eastward (40S worked well for me ealier this year from S.Africa to past Aus - see my track via 'Travels' page on website). Then I'll pass S of Tasmania and N.Z. to pass the last two of the 'Five Gt Capes'.... I hope the weather S of N.Z. won't be too bad at that time of year (it's a bit shallow there...!) Then from N.Z. it's north to Cape Flattery & the Strait of Juan de Fuca - I hope the position of the N. Pacific High is more favourable than on my recent passage north, since I won't have the option of motoring in any calms encountered.... Back to Victoria - in May, if I'm very lucky, but could well be June.

I need to get back in the water, off the hard - next Tuesday, I'm hoping - so headsails' work (new anti-chafe patches) can be completed. I'd hoped to leave here well before the end of the month but it looks like being a few days later than that, but that's not too bad. Need to go sailing for 2-3 days to check all systems out & calibrate items before heading in to Empress Dock for final preparations for starting from Victoria Harbour just as soon as I'm ready - before next full moon, I'm hoping.

Jeanne
"Nereida"
Port Townsend, WA, USA

28th August - 4th September

Generally lovely sunny weather - but temperature has been dropping rapidly at sunset to give very cold evenings and nights.  (Photo shows Pt Wilson LH, just north of Port Townsend)
 

Work has gone far more slowly than I'd planned, with a major hiccup in dealing with the Sigmar heater when a lot of fuel siphoned out of the main tank into my bilges... now dealt with and the fuel feed and tank venting system improved to prevent a recurrence - but not pleasant and wasted two days... Heater finally finished with and working fine.

My servicing of winches is almost complete, although a winch part bouncing into the water one evening wasn't exactly welcomed...! Luckily disaster was averted because I had a similar gear cog wheel in my spares....! Once I'd got the centre hole slightly enlarged, we were back in business....

Cleaned and oiled my tools and found someone to adjust the settee cushions and velcro fixings to make them more practical..

Secondary alternator alignment turned into a simple 'fix' by adjusting drive pulley position with a spacer. A new 'Kiss' wind generator arrived from Trinidad - it's a great generator - silent but powerful, very simple in design & designed to be easy to mend with readily-obtainable parts anywhere (not that I needed to do much over the ten years I had it!). Main engine has developed an oil leak from its front seal - being replaced under warranty - but had to contact Cape Town to get new engine registration sorted out - the ten hours' time difference makes for difficult phonecall timing - I had to set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night...!

Hauled out on Wednesday - prop anode had totally disappeared, screws included!! Berthing here is becoming a problem since they're renewing many of the marina docks in the next few weeks.

Internet is also a bit of a problem - I'm having either to go to the local supermarket or the riggers nearby to get wi-fi access.

Invited out two evenings by local boaters - both very enjoyable, sociable evenings - made a nice change from working on boat!

'Hams' Aaron and Owen came with the suppressors Aaron had made up to instal in the power leads close to the autopilot hydraulic pumps... They seemed to make a definite difference in the RF noise heard over the SSB radio - I'll know for sure when I get back out to sea since there's a lot of noise in the marina here. I could make another suppressor for the fridge noise with the bits Aaron left with me - just a bit of soldering needed.

Visited Port Townsend Sails to discuss the sails Carol Hasse had taken away to be looked at in her loft after our sail last week to see how they performed in action. All three are in need of repair but the mains'l is particularly bad with UV degradation and chafe, closely followed by the stays'l. I've decided to dispense with my 'stack-pack' sail cover system for my RTW attempt - the lazyjacks have been an ongoing nuisance in strong winds, especially when tangling with the battens or going downwind, and are best made more easily movable to the mast. Also, the sail cover on either side of the boom has made it frequently impossible to see what's going on when I'm reefing so, since I shan't need a sailcover whilst solidly on passage for 7 months or so from October, it's best got rid of. I'm also adding cheek blocks to the boom for reefs 2 & 3 which should make it easier to reef and give a flatter foot to the mains'l - a good thing in strong winds.

Single-hander Seattle friend Harry ('Rhiannon'), last seen when leaving St Helena in April 2008, came over from Everett to visit... We enjoyed the live Friday night music and a tasty burrito in the Pt Townsend Brewery garden nearby....

Saturday started a long holiday weekend here (Monday 6th September is Labour Day in USA and Canada). I started the day off in relaxed fashion, after deliberately sleeping in for a change, with a visit to the locally-famous 'Blue Moose' cafe for a leisurely cooked breakfast accompanied by reading a novel before spending a lot of time chasing around getting extra bits and pieces for my toolbox. Also bought quite a few clip-on ferrites for further noise suppression in instrument cables and some brush-on liquid which I painted over Aaron's soldered joints to protect the electrical connections from corrosion.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, I'll be trying to get as much work done myself as possible as well as organizing people here to get on with work while I make a short visit to UK where I'll get to the Southampton Boat Show on Friday and Saturday. That will be useful for discussions with people to get a few more boat problems resolved, I hope, before returning to Port Townsend the following weekend, planning to finish off boat jobs in readiness for my October start from Victoria. 
 
 
 

'Big Mitch' ferried me out to "Nereida", at anchor in Hanalei Bay on Kauai, before sailing around to Nawiliwili.

Hanalei Bay, home of Puff, the Magic Dragon....

The Hokule'a was visiting Nawiliwili the day I left to sail north.  A traditional Polynesian craft, keeping alive the art of navigation by waves and stars alone...!

Grand daughter was visiting the skipper..... 

Red-footed booby comes to roost on pulpit of "Nereida" overnight - no mean balancing act, considering the seas at the time!

Cormorants on a floating tree trunk in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.....

Among many other jobs, thorough winch servicing was needed on arrival from Hawaii, after a total of well over 20,000 miles from England - nice to have clear blue skies and warm sun!

Low-water at the nearby haul-out in Pt Townsend

Typical Victorian house in Port Ttownsend

Port Townsend is a 'wooden boat town' : the lovely 'Martha'.

Lots of work still to be done...

The week has been a busy one, with a fair amount achieved.  The  rig has been checked thoroughly and re-tensioned, with various other improvements also made or in the pipeline after lengthy discussions, in the light of my recent experiences, with Dan of Port Townsend Rigging.  It looks as though the last of my chafe problems might have finally been resolved after the 2nd reef line was discovered to be wrongly lead inside the forward end of the boom - I do hope that'is the end of those long-running problems....

It also looks as though the secondary alternator re-alignment might have an easy 'fix' since the primary engine alternator drive pulley can be slightly adjusted in position - enough to align the two, hopefully - we'll find out if that works on Monday.  The diesel heaters have also been dealt with - disturbingly, the small diesel tank in the forepeak was found to have a lot of seawater in it - presumably having got in via the air vent which must now be looked at to see if something can be done to avoid that... maybe the pipework can be routed differently or a stop-valve added....  but in the meantime, the burner had corroded - so no wonder it didn't want to light, especially if it was now being fed with water...!

I've been giving a lot of thought to electrical and radio problems - with help today from Aaron and Owen, two local 'hams' from the Port Ludlow A.R.S.,, who kindly volunteered to help me & spent quite a time trying to work out how to get rid of RF interference.   I'm feeling quite optimistic on that front now - but need to test it out when a few more 'chokes' have been put in place on some data cables and power leads, to add in to the suppressors which are being placed in the autopilot hydraulic pump power leads.  Re-routeing the coax between tuner and  radio also had a definite and positive effect.  

Sailmaker Carol Hasse came out for a test sail yesterday to look at the sails and systems on board -  the sails are now in her loft, ready for repair and adjustments and the outing, as I expected, proved very useful - she has such a lot of good ideas and a wealth of experience....

I'll be servicing the winches on and off over the weekend and for several days  (there are eight in all!) - doing the job thoroughly takes time, but I quite enjoy doing it - and it's lovely to hear them purring in action after a good cleaning and greasing!! 

But tonight I took time off to enjoy an hour or so of Pt Townsend's regular Friday night entertainment - live music at the Pt Townsend Brewery's little garden, close by the Boat Haven.

Highlights of the last few days of my three-week passage from Kauai, Hawaii....

Tues evening:
'Happy Birthday' sung to me by the Pacific Seafarers Net choir! Thank you all so much for that - a lovely surprise!!

Wed 18th Aug (Day 20) Heading to Cape Flattery ..... Vancouver Island not so very far off

Wind got up to around 25 knots from NNW by midnight, seas big ... Vancouver Island only 90 ml away... reduced visibility with fog lurking, some shipping.
Made contact with Darlene, KL7OYC, near Ketchikan, Alaska, on Gt Northern Boaters' Net - last saw & spoke with her in 2006! Also Barbara, VE7KLU, Net Control for GNBN in Sidney, B.C., later, with Bill, VE7WSM, in Port Alberni, relaying.
Occasional storm petrels seen, also bits of kelp seen floating - sure sign of land!
Wind became flukey - dying and then increasing several times, over day - but fairly consistently from NW, so course directly towards Cape Flattery could be held. Seeing a definite tidal flow - sometimes helpful, other times not!
Spectacular deep red sunset, with overcast sky clearing from the west to give clear sky overhead, bright half-moon shining on sea which finally has phosphorescence with frequent vivid bright sparks in disturbed water beside the boat, under a bright, starry sky.
A lot of time continuing to be spent with emails to & fro, dealing with radio reception problems and what I must do to resolve them on landfall... I'm determined to fix that problem!

Thursday 19th Aug (Day 21) Unexpected brief landfall to see friends in Neah Bay!

Broad reach with full genoa in NW4 (around 11-14 knots) but dying over morning. Clear sky but dense cloud layer over Vancouver Island preventing me from seeing its mountains, even when closer later.
Chatted to 'W.E. Ricker', a Canadian Fisheries vessel carrying out a hake survey and later took VHF DSC call from 'John P. Tully', Canadian CG vessel, to warn me of a Panamanian tanker a distance ahead, just then leaving traffic lanes at end of Strait of Juan de Fuca and shortly to make a turn ahead of me, across my path.... Plenty of shipping now.
Feeling v. tired for lack of proper sleep - two nights with increasing shipping around, so not able to relax for long... and another busy night coming up...
Birds a-plenty on sea at entrance to Strait - flock of tiny grey/white waders and lots of sea-ducks which would skitter across the surface, rather than take off, or dive suddenly ....murres & penguin guillemots. I'm suddenly seeing birds I'd forgotten about since last this way in 2006!
Motorsailing east now in light wind from west.... came across a big area of kelp in deep water. Help! Get out of there as fast as possible, while avoiding big clumps where seen. Kelp is nasty stuff (normally a warning of shallows) and it's not good news if the prop hits it, the stem being really hard & woody.
Incredibly, got a call from 'Kokopelli' as taking photos of Cape Flattery in distance... Canadian boatfriends I'd last seen in 2008 ... now in Neah Bay - I just had to stop and see them....!! Spent two hours in Neah Bay - turned out Richard was helping to bring a boat up from San Diego, in company with 3 others, all of whom it turned out I'd met previously in B.C. or in Mexico - what a lovely, unplanned landfall ..... and in bright sunshine!! Such an incredible coincidence - they'd not long arrived themselves and heard me on VHF talking to a tug heading west towing a barge, to agree avoidance tactics...
So last leg of this journey now.... eastbound along Strait of Juan de Fuca on edge of traffic lanes, thick fog & cloud obscuring Vancouver Island, in Canadian British Columbia, to my north and lovely Washington (U.S.A.) coastal scenery, with Olympic range of mountains, to my south in lovely sunshine ... but feeling cold with a water temperature down to almost 10C (50F)!!
A beautiful sunset. Ferries crossing N-S between Victoria and Port Angeles adding to stream of E-W traffic I'm having to keep a constant eye on as I head past Dungeness Spit (so many British place-names hereabouts...!) and on towards Pt Wilson and Puget Sound, as dawn beaks...

Friday 20th August .... Final landfall in Port Townsend, WA, USA

Avoided early morning rowers out training in calm water inshore - preparing for Wooden Boat Show (10/11 Sept) racing, no doubt.

Arrived 0745 at fuel dock just inside Port Townsend Boat Haven - after my third attempt to get through mud of shallows close to entrance at dead low water - and it's not even Springs yet!! Twice I approached slowly, knowing there could be a problem, and had to back away hurriedly as the water got a mite too 'thin' and we started to ground.... Wind had died completely so I had no problem coming gently alongside with lines and fenders at the ready, stepping off to tie up and await opening of fuel dock so I could re-fuel before moving to a slip. It was lovely to hug friend Kathy who came by soon after, before work.

I'd already contacted people for a long list of jobs needing attention on board and spent the rest of the day in discussions on electrical, mechanical, sail, rigging and other problems - all to be sorted out over the next 2-3 weeks or so, so the boat will be in good order for my mid-October departure from Victoria, B.C., Canada - just 35 miles to the NW of here. I've plenty to keep me busy now! But I'm looking forward to getting together with friends I've not seen for quite a while, in between the work.

Sun 15th Aug

I've been sitting watching the wind display, in patchy fog, with the sun struggling to get out, waiting for the wind to pick up from its present 3-5 knots...! But at least it's from the West now - a major change, so that's good news for heading east to B.C. and Washington! Trying not to run the engine too hard, to conserve fuel.

Earlier, I managed to free the first reef line from the boom end where it has been stuck fast for a time - so now the main can be fully hoisted - for when we get wind enough to sail properly! I also took the opportunity to mark the lines near the jammers - always useful.

By evening, we got sailing, at last! I'd turned off everything - autopilot, motor, instruments, etc - as usual, so I could hear on the Pacific Seafarers' Net - and despite making only 4 knots SOG, left the motor off, hoping it would get better.... which it has. The wind has very slowly increased so we're now beam-reaching at about 4.5-6 knots - great!

Fog looks set to come down again overnight.

Mon 16th Aug Seeing ships quite often on AIS - but well clear.

Grey, murky sky - but boisterous, fast sailing!! Occasional glimpse of a hint of blue in the afternoon, with a weak sun struggling to show itself for a short while.... but no fog...

By early morning, the wind had increased to NNW 4-5 , at around 16 knots, so I tied the first reef in the mains'l and furled in the genoa a touch also - we were still making over 7 knots! Seas have increased to just over 2 m with the constant good wind, but that's not too bad. I've switched my berth to the starboard side now, being on port tack, since we're heeling more and getting occasionally knocked about in the bigger waves.

I've been spending a lot of time recently, 'talking' by email to various people about my RF interference problems on the radio and how to solve them. With help from several quarters, and in particular from Jerry, KL7EDK, a Winlink sysop who has been particularly helpful with lots of emails to & fro, I now have a clear idea of why I've the problems - and, most importantly, what I need to do in Port Townsend to improve the situation. I just need time and patience to sort it all out. My transmissions have never been a problem because of the excellent, dedicated radio 'ground' I insisted on Najad installing - glassing in a large copper sheet on the inside of the hull and connecting it to a large sintered bronze ground-plate on the outside of the hull, all then connected to the tuner directly beneath the backstay antenna with a wide copper strap.. The problem has been with terrible, noisy reception - but, hopefully, not for much longer....!

Time for the Pacific Seafarers Net check-in at 2025PDT (0325 GMT).... The two other boats ahead of me that I know have now made landfall ('Khulula' on Vancouver Island and 'Marcy' in Sitka) - but I still have several days to go.... Maybe the 20th, all being well. (Actually very late for Net check-in - had to take in 2nd reef in mains'l plus furled in genoa some more but still making 6.5 - 7 knots - wind and seas have definitely increased - and night will be falling shortly...!!)

DMG: Sun 15 Aug: 104 n.ml. Mon 16 Aug: 128 n.ml

Distance to Pt Townsend at noon PDT todaty: 525 n.ml.

Wednesday 11 Aug - sunset....

A pair of fast-flying, prettily-marked prions flew around just before sunset - I got dizzy trying to follow one of them to get a good look at it, they flew so fast, circling the boat, around & around.... Maybe these were the birds I've been seeing circling & hearing twittering overnight? Far more likely than Leach's petrels to be behaving in that way...

And then, as I looked around at the sea, as a vivid deep orange sun sank out of sight, the spout of a whale caught my eye - then a broad grey back at the surface... and then another spout - but from a short distance away from the first - TWO whales were cruising south, not far away!

And all the time, we've been sailing along nicely - at around six knots ... It's been a good day!

I nearly missed my 'sched' with the Pacific Seafarers Net - and was glad I hadn't when I was relayed a message from a friend of a friend that the said friend had been taken in to hospital - I just hope he'll be well enough to be out soon. A kindly 'ham' in Alabama ending up relaying between the two of us to pass messages, since we couldn't hear each other too well - the HF radio can be very useful at times and there are a lot of helpful people out there!! I also got an emailed message via yet another mutual friend to let me know - it's a small world, with Kauai connecting via "Nereida" with Port Townsend!!

Thursday 12 Aug
A whale surfaced just two boat lengths away!! I heard it blowing when I was in the galley - and came up in time to see its broad grey back come up to the surface, heading the same way as us, really close by.... I rushed for my camera - but it must have decided to dive deep and head away - nothing more was seen of it... but I kept a look out for ages, just in case. Exciting!

Another good sailing day - so nice not to have to turn on the motor over the entire day! I studied the latest weather info overnight - and decided to change course before dawn to get further East while that was possible in the S-SSE winds - heading for the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I hope that tactic works! The idea is that in a day or so, I'll be forced to sail more north anyway in more E winds because the High is moving north with me so I'll be keeping winds from the SE quadrant for some time yet.... until the High dissipates and then I'll be in light winds for a time.... That's if the forecasts are correct!

While it was still fairly calm, I transferred a lot of fuel from jerrycans into the main tank, using a little 12V pump to make it easy. It's so nice to have the filler cap right beside the cockpit locker - one of my many changes on this boat. I didn't want any chance of repeating seawater getting into the fuel from a leaky cap on the side deck, as happened to me on a similar journey (to Sitka from Kauai) in '06! (Another change was adding a sight-glass to the main tank, showing exactly where the fuel level is - very reassuring to be able to see exactly how much fuel is in the tank.)

Near sunset, there was a big flock of fast-flying prions around... and a sky full of nasty-looking dark grey clouds - a big change from the clear sky earlier!

Fri 13th Aug
Overnight, the wind died right down to just 6 knots - so on seeing under 3 knots SOG showing around midnight, we began motor-sailing - and had to keep on for the rest of the day, with occasional hopeful stops - but never for long. The wind was highly variable with some big clouds around. By midday they cleared to give nice sunshine - but the air feels COLD, especially in the breeze! Air temp: 22C, sea temp: just 17C - and going down... (to 15C on Saturday, with air temp 19C).

Saturday 14th Aug
Another frustrating day of being forced to head NNE-NE, motor-sailing, when our rhumb-line course is due East. The fact that this was expected doesn't make it any the less frustrating!! As usual, I've been spending a lot of time downloading, and poring over, weather info - gribs and weatherfaxes... We're still struggling to make sensible headway.... heading close-hauled into winds and swell from a generally E direction - but there's finally light at the end of the tunnel - it does look as though by late tomorrow, at least, after increasingly light winds until then, we might actually have good wind allowing us to lay our course under sail alone directly to the Strait of Juan de Fuca - and, most importantly, the wind looks set to continue that way, with this frustrating H finally moving to where it's meant to have been!! In fact, the 4-day forecast is showing a massive H centred south of the Aleutians, giving a nice Northerly airflow to help me to get East. Presently, it looks as though landfall in Port Townsend might be around 20th August .... we'll see!

As I'm about to post this, around local midday, I'm seeing the wind varying ... just saw it die down to ESE 3 knots for a while .... so maybe that wind change is on its way...

24 hr noon-to-noon DMG: Thurs: 133 n.ml. Fri: 133 n.ml. Sat: 104 n.ml.

We had our first rainshower for a time on Monday night - but not much. Coincided with veering of the light wind from E to S-SSW ... had to furl in headsails with such light wind - we'd been motor-sailing, as usual. But very soon after, the wind backed again to SE so seems it was just a cloud effect.... Unfurled stays'l yet again. Pity - I'd been hoping it was the West winds I want setting in.... but from the weatherfaxes and gribs, the High is set to move north with us for the next several days - bad news since it means we'll have to get much further North before we dare turn East, or we'll end up being headed - seems likely to me that will happen for a short time anyway if I don't want to end up in Alaska!

Tuesday was generally fairly calm, with continued light SSE-S wind. I decided it was time to chop up the four butternut squash still on board from S.Africa and cook them (they make a lovely soup) - they've lasted the five months since leaving Cape Town remarkably well! Definitely good for long-term provisioning! I was pleased the other day when the butane gas to the stove ran out in calm conditions as I was about to make tea ... It's such a pain changing the European-style butane cylinders under any circumstances but I've been very lucky since N.Z. - this is the second time it's happened in calm seas so the change-over was not too bad, except for the totally rusted tanks being nasty to handle. I much prefer the highly practical US propane system which has a very simple, easy-to-operate, pipe/tank connection. And at least the aluminium tanks I installed don't go rusty. (I was amazed to learn that it's against regulations in the EC to fill tanks made of Al! I couldn't get the new US tanks filled until I got to S. Africa... In the US, they have to be tested every so often to ensure they're safe, rather like dive-tanks, but there's no provision for that in the EC regulations.)

A few small birds (possibly the Leach's petrels seen before) were flying around with lots of twittering again overnight - they seem to be attracted by the navigation lights. Every time I came up on deck, I could see and hear them - I wondered if they ever rest!

Wednesday ... What a lovely day today!! The wind strengthened early morning, so the motor is finally off and we're now having a lovely sail in relatively smooth seas - we're actually making over 6 knots regularly under sail, which is so nice to see!! The sun is managing to get out from the light cloud cover, added to which, a large, mixed group of dolphins and Dall's porpoises came by this morning and played around for quite a time, some around our bow and others jumping straight up into the air before falling back in - just like schoolkids released on holiday! A lovely sight!

I spent a time today looking over my major (nonstop) passages since leaving Guernsey last September ..... and doing some calculations!

5-16 Sept '09: Guernsey to Lanzarote ................ 1484 ml...... 11.5 days
10 Oct - 9 Dec '09: Lanzarote to Cape Town .................. 6298 ml .... 61 days
9 Mar - 10 May '10: Cape Town to Nelson, N.Z. .................. 7575 ml..... 62 days
3 June - 10 July '10: Pt Underwood, N.Z. to Oahu, Hawaii .... 4590 ml .... 35 days
29 July - ?? Aug '10: Nawiliwili, Kauai to Pt Townsend ......... 1562 ml .... 13 days...and still counting! Distance to finish: 1136 ml... ETA: 19/20 Aug

24 hr (noon-to-noon PDT) DMG: Tuesday 10 Aug: 113 n.ml. (heading N then NE effectively reduced overall distance made good)
Wednesday 11 Aug: 138 n.ml. (all in a more-or-less straight line! ... and with better wind this morning.)

Days 7-11 from Kauai ..... and a lot more to go, by the looks of things, with a very large High pressure area in our path to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

I seem to be forever checking our course, speed and wind direction - none of which ever seems good...! Frequently, we're down to ~2.5 knots - so then I turn the motor on for some gentle motor-sailing, but even that needs wind in the sails, so often we're heading in a direction well away from our preferred course. Sometimes the wind is so light I furl in the headsails and try to make our course under motor alone, heading into what little wind there is.... but there's a limit to that - only so much fuel on board! We still need to get further N before safely being able to 'turn the corner' & head E 'for the barn door'.

I'm constantly downloading weather faxes and grib files, hoping to see better news - but, if anything, it's getting worse - the H is forecast to be moving N with us! Which means a delay in finding the good SW-W winds, which will later turn NW-N closer to the coast. (Wind since early Saturday has been E-NNE, mainly 7-9 knots). I keep calculating fuel consumption.... and trying to figure out how many more days of (gentle) motoring are available to me to get through the light winds still ahead.

If I weren't so impatient to get to Pt Townsend the sooner, to get much-needed repairs underway, I could simply amble along under sail alone and just go with the flow.... it would be much simpler! "Things will change within a few days, once the High is south of us," I wrote in my last report... Fat chance!!! I was expecting this passage to take over 3 wks, but it looks as though it could take even longer.

Frustrations apart..... what other news? Well, I have, most unusually, enjoyed several sessions of sitting in a warm cockpit with a mug of tea or coffee to hand, enjoying a good read. The sea has been generally very calm, with just gentle waves and no big swell and it has frequently been sunny. Air and sea temperatures have slowly been dropping - and, for the first time since11 days out from N.Zealand in June, at 29S, the daytime air temperature of 24C, is just a bit higher than the sea, 23C (we're at ~42.5N).

Occasional birds have been seen - several small, white-rumped, dark petrels (Leach's?) were near us overnight and yesterday, with shrill twitterings as they fluttered close to the boat, and a large, all-dark bird (except for its pale beak - Flesh-footed Shearwater?) came gliding by yesterday - could have been a Black-footed albatross if it weren't for the pale beak. It looked very similar to White-chinned petrels seen in the Southern Ocean.

No old glass floats, with or without the string netting around them - but I did go chasing twice after what turned out to be black plastic mooring balls!

Occasional ships have crossed our path - one saw no good reason to change course slightly in order not to head across our bows at night, passing about one mile off.... AIS is sooo useful... but I may have a problem with my VHF radio - seems to have been getting broken transmissions several times ... Is it their equipment... or my connections...??

Our course has so often been a zig-zag as the wind has shifted, or I try to head nearer our preferred course, and the light wind has rarely enabled good boatspeed with us being invariably close-hauled, so it's not too surprising to see increasingly poor daily runs.... hiding more frustration as I constantly try to make what speed I can!

Daily DMG over Thurs 5th - Mon 9th Aug: 122, 125, 119, 108, 97 n.ml.

Wind's dying yet again - we're down from 5.5 to 3.7 knots in 7 knots of E wind ... and that's with a slight fair current!! Oh well.... I'd better find a new book to read to take my mind off it...

Tues/Wed 3rd/4th August (Days 5&6) one tropic bird and one black plastic ball!

Not a lot to report these last two days ... except to say that, while there was good wind on Tuesday, the wind has slowly been dying over today to not very much (~ 7 knots by afternoon) and so the sea has calmed down and we're hardly heeling at all. Also, as the pressure has increased with getting closer to the N. Pacific High, the sky has cleared to give sunny blue skies by day - & bright Venus and lots of stars by night. Overnight on Tuesday, I spotted a brightly lit boat about 3-4 miles astern which was not showing on my AIS screen, only on radar.... A time I'm glad I'm transmitting on AIS, in case they have that. Either way, it seemed to keep well clear & I presumed, from its behaviour, that it was a fishing boat. Most commercial ships should be transmitting on AIS.

I've been so much more relaxed in the pleasant, warm conditions - gradually shaking out reefs and unfurling the headsails to keep our speed up, but eventually having to start the motor to increase our speed from around 3 knots - not something I'll be able to do the next time I pass this way headed north, since that will be purely under sail - hopefully by next May, as I head back to Victoria, B.C., to complete my RTW attempt - fingers crossed!! I've even been relaxed enough to enjoy reading a novel ('Midshipman Bolitho' - by Alexander Kent - fascinating - and following on nicely from the first three I've not long finished in the Patrick O'Brien series, set in the same era). It's also been calm enough for some proper cooking of evening meals (I still have onions and potatoes from N.Z., .... possibly from Cape Town...!). Things will change within a few days, once the High is south of us, I'm sure! But the good news for the moment is that we seem to have a small fair current - our SOG is slightly greater than our boatspeed - always nice to see!

I caught the occasional glimpse of a quite large bird gliding in the distance yesterday - but it never came close enough to the boat to see if it's an albatross or not - I've heard people say they've seen them when on passage here but I wouldn't like to say what this bird was. At least in the Southern Ocean the albatrosses come right up to the boat so you can identify them easily. But a lovely white Tropic bird did pass by for a short time just before midday today, inspected the boat and dived for a fish, before flying off.

I got all excited this evening just around sunset - I spotted quite a large ball floating on the surface of the sea - but when I circled around to close on it, it turned out to be a large black plastic float and not the glass ball I was hoping for. It had obviously been floating for a time, with lots of gooseneck barnacles hanging down from under it. I'll keep looking while the sea's calm.... it would be nice to find an old glass float and, by all reports, they do still seem to be around.

DMG: Tues: 132 n.ml. Wed: 138 n.ml. (Shortest distance to Port Townsend, by Great Circle route to the Strait of Juan de Fuca: 1770 n.ml. at noon )

I'm not able to head directly for the Strait of Juan de Fuca yet because the wind direction is still from the E, so our COG is only just E of due north still. Once we're a bit further north, the winds should veer to the SW around the High and then we'll be able to change to a better course.

Monday 2nd August (Day 4 to Pt Townsend)

Well, the red-footed booby stayed overnight Friday and put in a couple of appearances on Saturday - but nothing more has been seen of it - we must be too far from its usual haunts now. I did catch sight of one flying fish early today but have seen no other wildlife.... a noticeable lack of that.

Weather has been mainly pleasantly sunny and warm, although beating into wind and waves as we head north means it's invariably 'bumpy' which, together with being heeled over all the time, makes for difficult moving around down below. We've had the occasional squally raincloud but not often over the last couple of days. Winds look set to be good for the next day or so (presently E5, at 18 knots) but likely to get light by Thursday and stay that way for several days as pressure increases and we get close to the Pacific High, so I'll probably be using the 'iron sail' a bit then, to make faster progress.

It's been fairly relaxing on board and I've been catching up on both sleep and emails, while also giving thought to the boat repairs and work needed when we make landfall .... Every day, I check into the Pacific Seafarers' Net, giving my position and weather, and I've also been taking part in the Hawaiian Afternoon Net - an excuse to chat to people! Radio use has become an important part of my daily routine, keeping me in contact with people - either by voice or for emails (and weather).

Later (in the dark night): Well, I should have known it would happen - it's been far too relaxing & pleasant a day today.... Just got hit by a major squall as we passed under a dark raincloud... Boat well heeled over, wind steering suddenly having problems coping, so sails flapping as we head up and apparent wind hits 30 knots.... As I set to, winching in the genoa, seas crashed over the decks & canopy and I gasped as cold water landed on my back & head..... No, I hadn't thought to put on a jacket as I went up on deck.... we're still almost in the warm Tropics, at 30 N.... but night-time seawater showers in strong wind are definitely chilly and I was glad to change into dry clothing on getting back down below soon after, when things had calmed down again....

24hr noon-to-noon runs (DMG):

Sat: 126 n.ml. Sun: 132 n.ml. Mon: 137 n.ml.