Tuesday 5am The lull we were in seems to be finishing - wind is definitely increasing again and, with it, our speed. Being tossed around still with speed well up when on a wave crest and being taken forward by it...often at up to 10kt or so, but only momentarily... not maintained for any length of time. Pressure has risen a bit (987.6hPa) so expecting the wind possibly to come up more as Front on Low to the S passes over soon... Back to my bunk for some more sleep.
10am Beautiful sunny day - very little cloud around. Seas still well up - around 8m now, so we're really being thrown around and lurching from one side to the other - far more than before. Wind has backed slightly to the W and is around 25kt at the moment, having got up a lot more earlier - to well over 35kt. Wind forecast to be around 30kt all day long.
Didn't get much sleep - was listening to every noise on deck, trying to figure out what was making it - some I must check on in daylight, once seas have calmed down a bit - might not be possible until late today or maybe even tomorrow. Noises I know are one thing but there were several unfamiliar ones.
Will get some breakfast and then some more sleep - will need my lee-cloth to make sure I don't get thrown out of my bunk - it's that rough just now!
12:45pm Blue sky has gone - replaced by grey clouds everywhere. Seas still very big - swinging us around and making us heel over a lot.
No sleep yet - eased sheet on staysail, hoping to improve speed - helped a bit... Had to re-run a sheet (control line) to do that.
Also been spending quite a time working on wi-fi problem with Colin, VK6CI - thanks, Colin! Wifi signal had been looking good for the last day and then went down again ... WHY?? Did some 'pinging' after changing over a small connector box for another new one I happened to have spare - don't think that's the problem but just in case it helps ...why not? Working on the problem more after a couple of radio scheds.
2:40pm Short rain shower - arrived with strong, backed wind. Sun out afterwards - grey clouds clearing away.. bright and sunny again.
Was delighted to make contact with Alex from Slovenia on the ANZA Net just before - totally unusual call sign which had me foxed until someone commented to me where he was from.
9pm Bright moon shining between scattered clouds onto big seas with plenty of white foam patches from tumbling crests ... A rocking and rolling day this has been, for sure... Heeling over every which way as breaking crests of waves hit the boat or we get carried along on a smooth crest for a brief interval of time. Wind has got up tonight to around 30kt from W- and our course has become more N of E as the evening wore on - 064T now.
3am Wed LT (1900GMT Tues) Dark night with no sign of moon or stars. Wind well up and from WSW so needing to make ENE course still to keep staysail filled. Seas still well up and rolling us around. Had some good sleep - back to bunk after posting reports...
1900GMT (= 3 a.m. LT) - end of Day 195. We made 114 n.ml. DMG, over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 195 (by daily DMGs):17,281 n.ml.
Distances (at 1900GMT): Cape Leeuwin LH (SW Australia): 467 n.ml. to NNW (348 n.ml. to WP due S of Cape - now passed); Melbourne (VIC, Aus): 1025 n.ml. to ENE; SE Cape,Tasmania,LH: 1112 n.ml. to ESE; SW Cape, NZ: 1982 n.ml ESE.
(345 n.ml. SSE of Albany in W.Australia, 806 n.ml. WSW of Adelaide, S.Australia)
Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/04/16 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 39-25.09S LONGITUDE: 122-35.85E
COURSE: 065T SPEED: 5.6kt
WIND_SPEED: 28kt WIND_DIR: WSW SWELL_DIR: W SWELL_HT: 8.0m CLOUDS: 100%
BARO: 1007.6hPa TREND: 2 AIR_TEMP: 13.0C SEA_TEMP: 15.0C
COMMENT: Seas still very big .. Dark night. No moon or stars seen