testing the images

To sail around the World, a vessel must start from and return to the same point, must cross all meridians of longitude and must cross the Equator. It may cross some but not all meridians more than once (i.e. two roundings of Antarctica do not count). The shortest orthodromic track of the vessel must be at least 21,600 nautical miles in length calculated based on a 'perfect sphere'. In calculating this distance, it is to be assumed that the vessel will sail around Antarctica in latitude 63 degrees south. A vessel starting from any point where the direct orthodromic distance is too short shall pass one single island or other fixed point on a required side so as to lengthen his orthodromic track to the minimum distance. No starting point will be permitted more south than 45 ° south. 1 degree of longitude at 63 degrees south will be taken as 27.24NM

7.40pm Sun PST/0340 Mon GMT

Just checked in to the Pacific Sefarers' Net - heard nothing at all on frequency yesterday so it was good to make contact with Jane, NH7TZ, on Kauai, who was just about able to take my report. Propagation is particularly bad on 20m at present.

I'd been hoping that the strong winds forecast for tonight wouldn't arrive - but they did - with a vengeance! .... Just to remind me, as if I hadn't already found out several times recently, what winds in the N. Pacific can be like!

We're presently getting 33-44kt of wind, frequently gusting up, and with accompanying 4-5m seas to match, with steep faces fairly close together, making for an uncomfortable ride.

With just 115 n.mls to San Diego harbour entrance, arrival is expected after sunset tomorrow (Monday evening LT).

The good news is that these conditions are supposed to ease somewhat shortly, this being the peak period - let's hope the forecast has got that right!

10.30pm Sun PST/ 0630 Mon GMT Wind only up to mid-30s now... not mid-40s... Great!

San Clemente Island 40 mls off. Seas pretty rough. Will make sure I'm awake as we near the island... a Navy Base.

5am Monday PST/1300 Mon GMT Passing 8 ml south of San Clemente Island. Just changed course slightly to round the island and make for San Diego, 60 miles off.

Beautiful, clear, starry sky... Pleiades astern, high up in West, a bright planet (?) high ahead in East

Wind died down nicely a while ago - to around NW 25kt now - unfurled most of genoa to speed us along - making 5.6 kt in 4m swell. Expecting wind to die more as we close the coast.

Spoke to radio friends on East coast - from Florida to Maine - was great to speak to a few of them that I've not made contact with for some time. All very sympathetic.

7.30 am Back to my bunk for an hour or two of sleep after some brief contacts with West coast radio friends...

12.45pm Enjoyed a late brunch of a very nice onion omelette, followed by fresh coffee and brown bread with home-made marmalade (thanks, Susan - lovely!).

Wind is up and down but slowly dying - presently WNW 15 kt, giving SOG ~5 kt. Sky getting quite cloudy but glimpses of the sun still.

Seas are also down, to 2-3m, so we're ambling gently towards SD, keeping an eye out for frequent shipping - Golden Energy (tanker) just crossed our bow a mile off half an hour ago, on its way to the Panama Canal, and the motor vessel Sally Ride is off to port. (Later: I thought she was on a pleasure jaunt of some kind, out of SD, but it seems she's a very well-equipped scientific research vessel!)

Not long now to having to break the engine seal so we can motor in to Shelter Island's Police Dock for our Clearance procedure to take place - a 24 ml actual passage from here but only 19 ml away as the crow flies - the N-S SD harbour entrance channel to the east of Pt Loma is very long.

2.20pm Time to furl in genoa, break that engine seal & turn on - making less than 3 kt in dying wind of 7 kt from astern... We're not getting very far like this! 19 n.ml.from San Diego.  Must break engine seal & motor rest of the way - very loathe to do that.

3pm Cut the seal with a bit of effort... Started motoring at 2.30pm. Point Loma has been in sight for a time. Slight drizzle now...

Fairway buoy to entrance channel is 11 miles away. Seas still rolly, with 2.5m or so swell, wind W 6 kt .

4.40pm Mon PST/0040 Tues GMT 2.5 ml off main channel entrance and 7 miles to Police Dock. Grey and murky - very restricted visibility - radar on plus AIS - all helpful to see what's ahead... ETA at Police Dock for Clearance into US still around 6pm, possibly slightly later. Must hoist yellow 'Q' flag for international clearance in...

Arrived Police Dock in San Diego Hbr well after nightfall - stressful entrance in darkness and rain, following the long, lit main channel and then turning to port to make the final entrance inside Shelter Island, avoiding a shoal area to starboard.  With plenty of open water beyond the Dock, I was able to take my time preparing for coming alongside but it was a very difficult final approach, due to a strong current pushing our stern out as we tried to come alongside gently...  More speed ahead was the only answer, in the end, but that made things a bit fraught with an unhelpful kick to starboard in astern and Police boats moored up not far ahead!  Luckily, I just managed to secure the lines ... no-one around, of course...

Took a long time for two very friendly officers to arrive to do paperwork but finally got away and motored over to San Diego Y.C. where a convenient berth, with plenty of water for manoeuvring, had been arranged by friend Rod.  Ed came down with his flashlight to help make sure I knew where to head for and then helped tie up - many thanks to both for their welcome help...   I cooked a late meal and had a very good sleep!

Many thanks for the supportive messages. I'll get repairs done & figure out my options.

7pm Sat PST/0300 Sun GMT

What a lovely downwind sail just now - seas a little down but still quite big, sunset colours just faded, wind ~20kt, SOG 6 kt, clearish sky with bright Venus hanging high in W.... Beautiful and completely therapeutic! No rainclouds in sight...

Pity the forecast is for stronger, even gale force, winds to arrive later Sunday into Monday, as we near the coast...

Getting my position and weather report ready for Pacific Seafarers Net on 14300 at 0330 GMT. (Later: Nothing heard at all on the Net - propagation poor to present position.)

9pm Wind backed into W and down to 15kt - dead downwind - not a good point of sail without poling out the genoa - and that won't happen until daylight - especially in the rather rolly seas at present. Later: veered into WNW at 20kt again - better. Pleasant sailing, most of this evening.

1130pm Sat PST/0730 Sun GMT still sailing gently along: 20kt WNW wind, 5kt SOG - too good to be true! Waiting for the stronger stuff to arrive! Sleep in the meantime...

6.30am Sun PST/1430 GMT A good, peaceful night - gentle sailing in 20-22 kt WNW wind - so had a good night's sleep, with few gaps. Sunrise around now.

Made up log, checked emails and weather and then made contact with friends on the ham radio morning Nets - mostly West coast and inland US and northern Mexico - Baja California. All very relaxed and finished around 9am, ready for late coffee and breakfast.

Midday Wind and seas are up rather - seas to 4.5m or so, quite steep and not that far apart, so feeling quite rough, and wind is WNW-NW at ~25kt. Could reach 30-35kt later today. Cleared up in galley and I'm eating fresh fruit a lot, ready for clearing in to California - they won't let you bring in any citrus fruit from elsewhere so I'm finishing up some delicious, juicy mandarins!

12.20pm Wind is slowly increasing - up to 28-30kt now and just gusted to 33+kt with grey cloud nearby, SOG 6.2kt and over. Blue sky with plenty of cloud around and sunny in between - quite pleasant although seas are well up.

I hear some parts of S. California are having a lot of rain now - good for the reservoirs, ready for summer? Hope it has stopped by time I pull in to SD!

3pm Frequent lulls of 24 kt in between the stronger winds. Blue sky, scattered clouds, lots of sunny spells. Replying to emails.

5.30pm Sun PST(1.30 a.m. Mon GMT) Sun set short while ago... Seas still 4m or so and often steep. WNW wind either ~23 kt or ~ 30 kt... keeps varying....

10.45pm Fri PST/6.45am Sat GMT Wind was up over 30kt from SSW a short while ago but now 24kt with higher gusts - so far direction is unchanged. Rough seas - short and steep, so we're being tossed around a lot and have to be careful how I move around...

Wind got up to 33 kt for quite a time afterwards and veered to W. Had to change course twenty degrees or so to keep the wind to starboard and postponed gybing until wind eased later - as it surely must! Nice to have had all reefs tied in earlier.

6am Sat PST/1400 GMT Wind down to 15-17kt - from WNW, so changed back onto course and gybed the main, changing over the preventer (essential in these rough seas to prevent boom from crashing about). Was pleased to find rain had stopped but as I set to work it came down hard - but not for long... Lovely clear starry patch among the general cloud overhead. A flash of lightning on the horizon astern - hope it stays there!

Back to my bunk for some more sleep -beginning to get lighter - dawn not too far away.... Brown booby that had decided to sleep on our port bow pulpit around sunset had taken off during the night - conditions just got too much for it, I presume. (A sign of how far S we've come - they're not seen much further N, being tropical birds.)

6.40am PST just noticed wind up again - gust of 30 kt, then down to 27kt and back up - to 33kt ... SOG 6.6kt - rain started again.... raincloud - reason for strong gust? Expecting quite strong conditions for next few days.

8 - 9 am Was nice to speak to various radio and boat friends on Chubasco Net and later, briefly, on Baja Net - when I suddenly realised that winds had got up to 45 kt under dark grey mass of cloud, SOG 7.6kt. The 40-45kt wind lasted for quite a time, slowly down to 35kt, then fnally 25 kt at around 9am... TSTMS?? Seas built up, of course, as well... A good 4m or so now

Going to be a rough ride to San Diego - 300mls off - with gale force winds forecast for Monday... which is what we already just had now in a big squall!

Why San Diego? I've had to make the painful decision to head in there for repairs needed to the boom connection and genset, among other, more minor, items. Not a comfortable thought while heading towards the Southern Ocean that the genset would probably be out of action for the next 7-8 months (an epoxy repair would almost certainly not last long, always assuming it could be done and would work at all), giving an ongoing battery power issue with not enough fuel (main engine takes more diesel and is less efficient at frequent topping up of wind and solar power inputs), and the boom connecion can only get worse with more rough use and is already badly worn.... Not something I can repair- it needs proper attention.

Feeling very disheartened and sad.... So many people have been so supportive and helpful in so many ways, for which I have been deeply appreciative... Thanks to you all!

.........................................................................

1pm Wind keeps gusting up under or near rainclouds - frequently to over 30kt, occasionally more strongly. Seas are over 4m and higher in the strongest winds.

Mostly the sky is overcast. but occasionally the sun gets out between te clouds and it feels warm - San Diego is in southern California, by the Mexican border, so has a pleasant climate.

Forecast is for more weather like today for the next few days - I just hope for not too many of the over 40kt squalls to come by!

Thurs 11.30pm LT/ Fri 0730 GMT Just ran the engine for an hour... Still trying to deal with genset cooling water problem - tomorrow should be calm, at least to start off with, so can work on it more then.

Hazy sky - stars not looking so bright as usual. Sea fairly calm. Wind W 7kt, boat SOG 3.6kt. Heading SE for a bit longer but will turn S later tomorrow before the Front arrives. Had a nice asparagus omelette with my usual 'chiplets' (diced fried potatoes) tonight.

Seeing ships on AIS screen more often now - until yesterday had seen none since near Cape Flattery. One is getting a bit close in just under an hour's time, so must stay up to make sure all OK - late to sleep tonight! Called on VHF 16 to check on their intentions. 2.10 am: 'Silver Euplecta' changed course to stay just over a mile off - that felt far more comfortable than when they were coming to within 0-1/4 ml of us! Closest approach in 2 minutes' time.

2.20am Fri LT/ 1020 Fri GMT A gust... and wind backed to SSW-SW, very light (6kt) so varying somewhat between SSW and WSW, ... it was W just before. To my bunk for some sleep while no ships are within 30 ml or more - alarm set...

8.30am Regular sightings, visually and on AIS, of shipping heading to/from LA - busy port. We're 330 ml due W of it now. Wind SSW 9kt, SOG 4-5 kt - varying lot in gusty conditions under grey, overcast sky - hint of blue sky on horizon to E.

2pm Genset problem has turned into seawater cooling circuit problem - there's a big hole in a (soldered?) connection leading from motor towards anti-siphon loop - which must be part of the seawater cooling circuit. Don't see how I can make anything other than a temporary fix with epoxy - not likely to last for long. Along with the gooseneck problem, I've a lot to think about just now...

5pm Seas are getting up as daylight fades - getting quite rough. Took in reefs and reduced genoa ready for the stronger wind expected - overnight, a Front will come through and wind will switch (veer) from SSW/SW to NW.

9pm Wind now over 30kt mostly... Glad all reefs are in and genoa well-reduced... Waiting for wind to veer more - will it be sudden or gradual? I suspect it will be rather quick... If I catch it changing just beforehand, I'll try to gybe in advance.

Sleep will be hard to come by tonight, I think.

=-10.30pm Wed/ 0630 Thurs GM

Decided to have a look at genset despite it being dark - had to use a headlamp anyway, so what difference? It still died after trying to start so looked at starter motor terminals and disconnected the wire from the chart table switch. As expected, when I tried to start it nothing at all happened - confirmig I had the correct wire. When I tried to short across the terminals of the start motor, to get it to start, nothing happened, apart from a small spark, with or without the switch connected.

Went back to chart table switch and tried starting again - it started but as I quickly went to the genset, expecting to hear it dying, it kept going - but white smoke was billowing out from it - i hurriedly shut it down! There seemed to be a lot of water everywhere and I remembered that I'd already noticed some water in the engine sump which had seemed odd. Water still seemed to be dripping everywhere after I stopped it... I removed the back cover and started it again, getting back to it as fast as possible to see where the problem lay - quickly stopping it once I'd seen where the water seemed to be coming from - the fresh water side of things.. After being stopped, water continued to come out from the same area and I'd seen white smoke (steam?) comig from the back of the fresh water tank

This was turning into a bigger pron\blem than expected. Interestingly, the motor had fired up well on that last attempt but with the fresh water cooling not happening, I didn't want to risk further damage by running the generator any longer than I had already.

6.30 am / 1430 GMT First light, a lot of broken cloud. Gybed mainsail with wind having backed to NW. Genoa on pole to starboard. Running downwind still. Wind still very light - mostly 5-8kt - so sails slatting a lot in the slight swell - 2m from NW. Running engine to charge. AP on - uses power... Eastern sky beginning to show a streak of colour....

10.20 am Been busy in the galley while I had my breakfast - dishes and pans needed a good washing and general clearing up. Also took the time to clean the cabin sole of the oil there from the spillage a few days back. Meant I also had to clean the soles of my boots and deck shoes as well, of course.

Had sensed an increase in our motion - on checking - sure enough, the wind had come up - to around 16 kt from NW, giving SOG just under 6 kt. Expecting light wind all day - so a pleasant surprise to find the boat moving nicely - but will check up-to-date weather info - don't want to be caught out by the approaching Front, as I was last time!

11am - That was short-lived! Wind dying.... down to 12kt, SOG 4.5kt.

5-6pm Thurs LT/1-2am Fri GMT Wind slowly died further but we've been making reasonable speed - not becalmed, as I'd feared we would be.. Used calmer seas to check items on deck. Have closed up and taped the two rings on the staysail Furlex fitting. Gooseneck connection to mast is moving more than I'd like - making a loud banging noise quite often as vertical bolt moves in what must be an enlarged hole as the boom tries to move with the action of the sail. Noticed a split pin on the gooseneck/boom connection was working loose - I've had that one come out before now, with the pin nearly lost and the boom nearly swinging loose as a result, so I always keep a good eye on it.. Turned the split pin ends back some more - they were getting straightened, ready for the pin to come out in the near future!

Took the pole down - possibly might regret doing so but seemed best to get it stowed away. Meant lines had to be dealt with and genoa sheet re-run differently back to cockpit.

Work on the freshwater cooling side of the genset has mainly involved drying the area all around and looking for obvious damage - none seen so far - work will continue on that this evening. Water must be getting out from somewhere - just have to find the place, if I can...

5am/1300GMT Generator not firing up (job for tomorrow in daylight), so running engine in neutral for an hour to charge batteries - not enough wind now for wind generator to cope at moment. Lovely crescent moon and lots of stars in between some clouds - mostly clear. Seas abating but still often rolly.

Heading on a broad reach a bit E of S to try to avoid worst of calms ahead near centre of H pressure area we're heading into- being squashed by Low that is still to our N, whose associated Cold Front we came through yesterday. That Low is still affecting our weather - could even give 20kt winds on Saturday if the High builds as forecast and pushes the Low SE towards the coast.

10.30 am Just had a relaxed breakfast after another good sleep. Bright sunshine, lots of thin white cloud around. Had to remove my thick fleece top - too warm in the cabin - 19C. Sea temperature has increased noticeably over the last two days - from around 10-11C all the way S, it was 12C yesterday and reached 14C today.

Boat is going really slowly - need full canvas now - wind is NNW 12-14kt so we're running nearly dead downwind - poling out the genoa would help - doing that will get interesting in these very rolly conditions! Time to gear up and get out on deck...

3pm Unbelievable ....! Finally got genoa poled out a while ago so we're goose-winged downwind now in wind just W of N at ~12kt, making ~4 kt.

Looked forward to check the set of the sail, I saw its foot was flapping loose! On going forward to investigate - the sprung shackle pin holding the shackle onto the foot of the sail had totally disappeared! Next thing that could well have happened was the genoa bolt rope would get torn out of the bolt rope track in the foil as it flapped in the wind and the sail would fly loose... Damn!!!!

Hurriedly went down and got the first piece of thick twine I could find and spent the next twenty minutes tying the foot of the sail to any hole I could find in and around the shackle (which was still in place but with its jaw not able to close) - including a ring which is looking fairly sturdy. Lots and lots of turns... I'll need to find replacement shackle(s) since I doubt the twine will last very long but I furled in the sail several turns, hoping to ease the load.

I'd been running the engine to charge the batteries - I'd expected to look at the generator problem earlier but poling out always takes a long time, especially in these rolly seas. I still have to deal with the damaged rings at the foot of the staysail (that have been catching the lazy starboard genoa sheet)

We're under wind steering now so our path downwind is rather wiggly - don't be surprised if the tracker gives a weird course reading - it's instantaneous, not giving an average. The wind has veered to just E of N, so we're making a course S-SSW now.

4pm Noted position & weather info now - at 0000Z Thurs24Nov GMT. Have made 120 n.ml. 'distance made good' in last 24hrs. Presently, 260 n.ml due W of Pt Estero which is just S of San Simeon and Morro Bay and N of San Luis Obispo.

About to work on the generator control panel now - maybe it has a loose connection?

4.30pm No obvious sign of problem there - so now to genset itself ... power not getting to solenoid...? (Tries to turn but doesn't fire up)

6pm Well, that didn't happen - had to sail the boat! Having checked weather forecasts, seems clear we need to keep heading SE, not SW, wind now from NNE, still 11 kt, so gybed the main and changed course...

6pm Mon PST/0200 Tues GMT

Daylight amost gone. Reefed the main (two reefs now) and furled in genoa a good bit - expecting winds to increase overnight and be quite strong by morning - so being cautious!...And we could still have occasional clouds giving stronger winds.. Speed down from just over 7kt to 6kt. Far less heeling - excellent since I'm about to cook a meal. (Thanks a lot, Linda, for the mild curry - made a perfect quick'n'easy complement to the last of my ratatouille stew)

Seas built a little with the good wind this afternoon - there's a W swell of 2m underlying the wind waves from SW.

Have been too busy sailing the boat today to have done as much by way of jobs as I'd hoped and next two days could see quite strong winds of over 20kt so jobs needing calmer seas might have to wait a bit longer.

Tues 3.40am PST / 1140 GMT Wind up and down around 20-23 kt from SW-SSW. Making 5.7kt on 143T, banging into seas a bit.

7.40am PST Having to head SE with wind backed more into SSW - boat speed is killed if we get too close to the wind. Expecting wind to be more veered by around midday and continue to veer to NW so we'll be able to head more S on a broad reach by later today.

This time of morning, from sunrise on, the 40m band is pretty busy so it's a good time to catch up with ham radio friends.

By 8.50am, wind was 24kt, SOG 6.8 kt - doing fine with two reefs in mainsail.

Interestingly, no ships seen for many days now but I expect to cross paths with some headed from Asia towards L.A. when I get further S. Pesently, we're 240 ml almost due W of S.F.

1.30pm Heavy rain... wind 28kt (gusting often to over 30kt) and is veering - to NW now. Hope it stays veered so conditions feel gentler as we sail more downwind.

Well... I don't want a repeat of the next hour's events in a hurry - if ever! Wind rose in no time to well over 40kt sustained... Clearly a Front was coming through and I didn't realise it was happening in time to reduce sail further (good thing I'd reefed well down overnight!) We careered madly downwind, being tossed around by the building seas, speed reaching 8.3kt quite soon, in 43kt wind - held there for a good hour... I knew I still had some clearing up to do before, but I certainly have a lot more to do now.... A definite 'worst moment' that lasted far too long - but we survived it - well done, Nereida!!

3pm Wind down to 26kt, still from NW. Speed 6.7kt due S. No pressure change to give any warning - doesn't happen ahead of time when a Front goes through, just the isobars on an isobaric chart show 'kinks' in them to indicate where the Front is because of changed wind direction at that point. I hadn't been expecting a Front, so hadn't looked for the signs and was happily working at my computer, assuming all was going smoothly and keeping an occasional eye on the instruments from time to time when - bang!!

Have retrieved two trailing sheets that had gone overboard. Think I'll have some coffee and try to relax and soothe my nerves.... Some food (ready waiting - excellent! Thanks again, Linda.) would be nice also... Then to clearing up... Wind now (nearly 4pm - teatime!) 23kt, still from NW and getting lighter. We made 70 mls in the 12 hrs from 4am!

Just about to post this - sun setting at 5pm, wind NW 12kt , swell still well up so knocking us around as a big wave catches us.

9am So much calmer now! Let out reef and unfurled full genoa to speed us along - had dropped way down while I was asleep with less wind now - ~10kt from WSW at present. Seas down although a good 2.5m / 7-8ft still.

Lazy genoa sheet was tangled on a damaged ring (two, in fact, ...those rings again!) on staysail furler/foot of sail - released and not looking very damaged, TG. Chain locker lid was closed properly after one side had opened in the stormy seas. (A friend had closed it and I'd stupidly not checked to make sure it was locked down - it wasn't... Long Falklands 3-strand thick fishing line in bag was retrieved from having tried hard to get washed overboard at the stern in same strong seas. Staysail pole was fixed in place at one end - it had come off its support there when staysail furling line tangled with it close to furling line lead... furling line slightly damaged. (Looks like in same place as I'd found the previous line had been chafed and cut.) Iridium phone handset is no longer working - phone adapter normally has four lights showing - now it shows none... Good thing I had set up my smartphone with the software and had already been using it at times - so my backup is now my mainstay...

Just noticed wind has increased a tad and gone more into SW - means our course has changed... to SSE.

Time for breakfast - and some coffee now its calmer. Then on with more jobs - plenty to do still.

2.30pm Was just about to settle down at midday(!) with coffee and breakfast, having managed a bit of a clear up in galley area, when realised wind was building .. Up on deck... big, wide area of rainy grey cloud ahead. Over next 45 mins, wind got up to 24-28 kt (apparent) and our speed got to well over 8 kts for quite a time - even reached 9 knots - we were really speeding along!! Early on, had eased the mainsheet a lot to reduce the heeling - and then, soon after, ran off more downwind - on 120T. That helped a lot - despite amazing speed and strong wind, it felt much more comfortable heading downwind. Good news was there'd not been enough time for seas to build... Bad news, once it was over, was seeing another grey mass directly ahead, despite lovely sunshine and blue sky overhead just then...! Tried to steer upwind of cloud ahead, in hope that would help - but we're now (2.30pm) headed directly for another mass of rainy grey cloud... and wind is building again. Think we're following a band of raincloud - can see strip of blue sky on horizons on each side of us.

3.15pm Think heading to windward side of cloud mass helped - raincloud is mostly off to port of us - great! This mix of winds is certainly keeping me busy today - so glad I left the first reef in earlier.... This area of showery raincloud is clearly extensive - maybe this is what gave the SF Bay area the heavy rain last night that I heard about this morning from a radio friend?

125n.ml. roughly - seems to have been our distance made good over 24 hrs Sun midnight GMT to Mon midnight GMT.

5pm Sun close to setting. Wind 16 kt from WSW, SOG 7.3kt COG 147T 236 ml due W of Pt Arena, Caifornia.

7.15am Sun rises over fairly calm sea - swell just 2m from NW.
Position is 273 n.ml from Pt Conception, nearly 400 n.ml WNW of Los Angeles

Greetings from Jeanne and 'Nereida' - hope you have a great day and a good long weekend!

5am - Saw wind had veered a lot, so was able to change our heading more towards SW from SSE. Want to get further W to reach area of NW winds arriving soon, so we can head due south, rather than be stuck in SSE-SE winds. Still very rough conditions - but getting plenty of sleep in my warm, cosy bunk!

8am So glad I didn't untie the second reef last night! We're making around 7 kt, close-hauled, fairly well heeled, in 16kt wind with full genoa and staysail - that's just fine.

Made contact on 7155 with the ham radio group there - nice to chat briefly but couldn't spend long with boat heeling a lot and being thrown around so much - makes life difficult unless I strap myself in or use the steel restraint bar - and I dearly wanted some breakfast! Good that the repeater station in Half Moon Bay was hearing me so well - meant that people who otherwise could not copy me could hear me using their computer, although likely still to have a problem transmitting my way over the radio.

11.30am Gusty conditions with clouds around. Had been very pleasant earlier this morning, with relatively calmer conditions for a time, although seas quite big still, but then had to furl in some genoa with wind increasing to 20+ kt - so it's feeling rougher again with lots of being tossed around added to our usual heeling. Course is still good, trying to make some more westing while it's possible in WNW wind.

6pm Had a nice hot stew again, followed by a fresh mandarin - lovely! Light is fading - noticeably later than further north now!

Changed course to head due S at 3 pm - resulted in an immediate lessening of the seas' effect as we headed downwind, although, of course, there's always a rolling effect whenever sailing downwind in swell. Wind got up even stronger, giving SOG ~7kt, but wind strength not noticeable heading down the waves, instead of into them. Wind presently ~23kt from WNW, gusting to 28-30kt with rainclouds around.

Soon we'll have passed Cape Mendocino (like C.Blanco, notorious for bad weather and seas) but well off - over 200 miles. Another Low and Cold Front will arrive to the N of our position Tues/Wed but we should be well S by then so hardly affected - except possibly getting becalmed on Wed and/orThurs before getting to the Trades!

(Heard we were making 7.8 kt in the strong winds earlier - that's going some! Aurora tracker gave:3:28:00 PM (EST?); 41.44N, 128.87W; Speed: 7.8 kt; Heading: 230°T )

Badly need some really calm weather to wash the cabin sole and get rid of the oily surface - getting dangerously slippery, especially as we lurch about....

Later: Seeing lots of stars now - overcast sky of daytime has cleared away, with just a few clouds in the W. Have been working on trying to post photos - still not happening so more effort needed.

Listened on 40m HF band - busy everywhere with a contest going on - no chatting this evening!

Sunday 7pm / Mon 21st Nov 0300GMT - Had good copy on Tom, K4XV, on Kauai, who took my position report on the Pacific Seafarers' Net. Chatted also briefly (propagation was so-so) with John, VK4DBJ - a long-time PacSeaNet radio friend in E. Australia.

 

Chart table at night...

Fri 6pm LT/PST (Sat 0200 GMT) Pressure 990 hPa, grey cloud overhead with clear patch on horizon to SW - centre of Low?

Wind is S 20-25kt, swell S 4m. Making very little speed close-hauled but don't want to bear away too much if means we head N of W. Present course is WSW at 4.6kt.

Cape Blanco is 230 ml to ESE, Cape Mendocino 300 ml to SE. If we were to head due S from here, we'd pass each 240 ml off - far off enough to avoid the nasty seas and wind coming towards them soon, I hope!

8pm Wind seems to have settled down to 27kt from S, resulting in making a course due W at 5kt.  Seas not bad.. Hoping for wind to change direction to nearer W overnight, so we can begin to head S.

10pm Just gybed around (tack stalled!) onto SE course in 20kt SSW wind. Keeps us away from centre of Low we were heading into and wind should slowly allow us to head more S overnight and tomorrow.

 Saturday 3.40am LT  Much calmer now than it has been for last 2 days- no rough seas, just big swell and wind down completely... 15 kt, instead of 35kt, gusting 40kt, is definitely preferable !

10.45am LT (1845 GMT)    Didn't last.... A rough night and seas & wind still up now... 35 kt from SW means course to SE (COG 143T) possible. Difficult to move about well-heeled cabin while seas knock us around but sun is out and pressure has risen to 990 from earlier 985 as Low moves N from close by and we can turn more to the S.

Saturday midday LT (Sat 2000 GMT) Wedged myself into the chart table seat - seas are still big - TG for Baden's hinged steel side-support that stops me from falling out when heeled well over to port!

A rough night and morning -a good thing the computer is well tied down at the chart table. I was keeping an eye out for wind to veer so we could head more S, having been forced to head E most of the night. At 8am, I spotted the wind shift and adjusted our course in 35-40 kt wind - so since then we've been heading more S - around 145T. Really need the wind to veer more into the W, so we can hed more directly S or even SSW. Still well up in mid-20 kt range now.

A late combined b'fast/lunch = brunch ... It's been so very difficult to move around safely, especially since the cabin sole is slightly wet with water and a touch of (olive) oil. I landed on the floor when I tried to check on our heading and wind direction etc this morning - fortunately not badly but was a good reason to stay mainly in my leeward bunk! Seas are still well up and knocking us around quite often, even now.

6pm A lot calmer now, with wind right down to 15kt or less and seas still big, at around 5m, but not rough with a lot of wind waves on top of the underlying swell. Headed almost due S now, with wind from SW-WSW.

Been busy clearing up this afternoon - mess of items on cabin sole, including my ship's and radio logbooks without their covers..  Next, before I could let out any reefs or the genoa, the tangle of wet lines and sheets on the cockpit floor had to be dealt with - some tangled with the midships cleats and with each other,... outboard, also. Looking forward to it being calm enough soon for me to wash the cabin sole with detergent to get rid of the slippery oil!

Pressure has been climbing steadily over the day and has reached 995 hPa now - still low.

Looking forward to a hot meal again - warming up now.

Finishing the day on two unhappy notes - one is the news about Alex Thomson hitting an underwater object when in the Vendee Globe lead, the other is that the Windex at the mast top has lost its tail fin and so is useless to me - I'll miss that.

Otherwise, all is well on board the good ship "Nereida"!

(For position and tracking info see website 'Travels' pg, noting that the Aurora tracker misses its hourly position report if the phone is in use or an Iridium satellite is not high enough to give a good signal at the time. My own Winlink reports are fairly regular and also get posted to Shiptrak although the times might be a bit erratic if I forgot to check before posting - I'm havig a problem with my computer clock misbehaving. AIS reports depend on the server/company being used and whether it's a free or paid version.)

Thurs 6pm LT(PST)/Fri 0200GMT Pressure dropping slowly. Got ready on deck for strong weather coming in tonight - tied in mainsail reef2 and reduced genoa a touch. Wind 13kt from SE-SSE - pretty constant in direction now which simplifies things. Reducing sail early slowed us a little but not by much - still making 5.5kt SW with most of genoa unfurled.

Checked staysail, sheets and all lines were ready or stowed, also preventer in case needed (which it will be, if heave to under mainsail alone) - nothing like being prepared and I'll reef down again and/or reduce genoa early as the wind rises - I'm not racing in the Vendee Globe!

Having some tea while food is warming up - nice to have it ready!

Keep checking weather forecasts.

8.30pm Headlamp so very useful in the dark. Getting a little rougher - not so much size of waves, rather that they're getting rather closer. Wind ~20kt, apparent wind higher. Furled away genoa , unfurled staysail. Speed down for a short time but soon back up to over 5 kt. Waiting to tie third reef in mainsail - don't want to kill our speed too soon!

10.30pm Pressure dropped 2 hPa/mb in two hours. Wind 25 kt and rising, seas getting rougher - decided to tie in 3rd reef sooner rather than later. Try to get an hour's sleep?

Friday 4.20am LT/PST (1220GMT) Pressure down to 1006hPaa, wind up to 31kt, bumpy ride.... Wind still from SE so making SW course. Slept well.

9.30am Pressure 995 and still dropping. Centre of Low not far off (at below 990). Still seeing winds at 36-38 kt, occasionally dropping to low 30s. Seas are really throwing us around as they hit our beam and we're well heeled over most of the time, so difficult to move around. Hopefully, we'll soon be out of the worst of it, into less strong winds around 25kt, although seas will still be up for a time and another small belt of stronger winds likely to follow the slight easing.

Seas are constantly thoroughly washing the decks. Put clear hanging screen up beside the chart table to protect area from some drips of water coming in from above the companionway. Haven't needed that for quite a time.

Think it'll be a cereal bar and a banana for b'fast...

12.45pm In the event, it was prunes and almonds - kept at the chart table for times like this! Just had some hot stew for lunch and have a banana ready for later. It's not easy cutting off a banana from a bunch swinging madly as the boat lurches and you have to hang on or be thrown around......

We're in a 'lull' of a mere 25-30 kt of wind just now but rough seas are unchanged.

Sun is shining and I took advantage of daylight earlier to check the cockpit - lines & sheets were in a complete mess with several trailing overboard - a result of the boisterous conditions we've been in. I also furled the staysail slightly to get its clew away from a shroud it had been touching, making a lot of noise. Of course, I got a dousing - wet hair again!

The seas are coming mainly from forward of our port beam, some big ones we plunge into directly - that's when the whole boat gets a washing from bow to stern, over the coachroof and often into the cockpit.

I've also cleared up a bit down below - olive oil spilled from a bottle that landed on the cabin sole and lost its top. Thanks to Rose for bringing some extra butter before I left - I'll definitely need it now, if only for cooking.

More strong winds are expected soon from another Low close to this one - another bout of possibly 35-40 kts - but not long before we can head S and winds ease. I'm keeping us as far as possible from Capes Blanco and Mendocino -they'll be getting nasty seas and strong wind this weekend for quite some distance off, far worse than where I hope to be.

Wind generator has kept batteries well topped up with all this strong wind!

2.30pm Rainclouds..! Back to the 'cloud effect'... One moment, wind has died and with it our speed; a short while later, wind is up strongly, veered, and we're rushing along... but not for long.

Pressure down to 992 hPa - waiting for those strong winds, maybe tonight.

5pm Tea, as a cloud squall passes through... Wind has veered to SSW at 30kt or so... Darkness falling. Got some sleep ready for tonight -expect constant strong winds. Pressure now down at 991 hPa, so Low's centre is close. Seas died down a bit with eased wind over last few hours.

Wed 6.30pm PST/LT (0230 Thursday GMT) Ratatouille stew almost ready for me to test.. I'm hungry - looking forward to it!

Looked up to the sky and thought I must be seeing the Space Station... Waited for it to move steadily across, as it does. But it didn't move - so must be Venus, ...close to Earth? Shining amazingly brightly above the light light over the W horizon. Plenty of other stars to be seen, with very little cloud overhead.

Wind has been fairly constant for some time, at around 10 kt from WSW and we're making over 6knots - nice. But if we get too close to a cloud, things can change rapidly... Dark now, so I hope the night proves calm, with no frantic getting up on deck to deal with things as we heel in a sudden stronger wind!

Wed 7.30pm PST (Thurs 0330 GMT) Pacific Seafarers Net - checked in with Peter, ZL1PWM - propagation not too bad to NZ but impossible to N. America. I was able to hear him relaying info on the N. Island 'quake.

Wed 8pm - Wind started getting up...boat began to heel more .. and more, as wind increased ... just as I was just abut to serve up my stew! Up on deck eased mainsheet to relieve pressure - heeling lessened. very nice to be speeding along at 7.2kt but once the (big) cloud has passed over, we're back to ambling along at just under 5 kt.

Wed 9.15pm Here we go again - heeling over.. SOG 6.6kt and increasing.... up on deck we go...

Wed 10.15pm Back down below, finally - 'blow' lasted about 15-20 mins, with apparent wind over 20kt and our speed around 7kt again... Decided to take in first reef in mainsil plus same for genoa, although no big dark clouds upwind seen nearby but some high ones on the horizon... Having finished that, wind had dropped (now 8 kt) and so has our speed. Seeing 4 kt, I decided to unfurl most of the genoa again, leaving the line on the winch ready.

Will take short, timed naps, in hope not to be caught out overnight, starting now, while the sky seems clear of dark masses. (That didn't happen!)

Thursday 4.30am PST/LT One hour later, another squall came by - but not so very strong... Since then, the wind has died and we've twice gone around in a circle while getting back on course for a while ... Dificult in 4 knots of wind. Now making 2.5 kt SE in SW wind.... which soon after decided to back to S-SSE... Time to gybe around...

5.30am ....And to gybe back again with wind now SSW again - we were slowly heading NNW! Better to be making SE slowly... at least that's a better direction. Basically, the wind has turned S but very light, so it's just swinging around. But slight S-going current is being seen so best to make use of it... we're making 1.5kt... Seems to have settled for a bit - time for some more sleep - maybe.

8am No sleep yet - more drifting with fluky wind to contend with - but wind now up to 8kt, occasionally 10kt, from SE, so making SW course at 4-5 kt. Hope it stays and doesn't die again - could be another 'cloud effect', I fear...

9.45am Cloud it was ... Now wind has veered to SSW and dropped again so we're drifting along a 2kt heading W ... but as I write, it backed to S-SSE again - it keeps changing, even more so as clouds pass by, which is why I've got so little sleep...Try my bunk again...

10.30am Got b'fast but not sleep. Raining now - usual veered, increased wind with cloud - heading us WNW - lasted about five minutes and then wind died down to SSE 4 kt, so we're making just 1.3kt. Sun getting back out.

Looks as though light wind today, until later tonight, by which time Cold Front will be getting close enough for wind to have increased to 15kt, reaching 20kt by 3am Friday and 25-35+ kt over the morning, diminishing soon after midday - a 'blow' of about 12 hours, maybe

2pm Just had an egg & eating a banana as I type - an excellent quick meal! Just slept, with one break to adjust boat heading, for three hours - feeling rested. Wind is SE at 10kt and we're making 235T at around 4kt SOG. Seas are relatively light, well spaced at 2-3m . Sun is shining in between white clouds.

3pm Wind 13kt, SOG 6.5 kt ... but just a short gust! Back, just after, to 10kt SSE wind and SOG ~5kt. As wind increases, will reef mainsail and eventually furl in genoa and use small staysail.

4pm Teatime! Sailing smoothly at 5kt SW in SE wind of 10kt. Cloudy ahead of Cold Front.