Saturday: Hard on the wind, heading N, with not a lot achieved down below because of the 4-5m seas throwing us around all day long. Wind has been W, backing to SW over the day, and mostly around 25kt with frequent gusts to 30kt or more. Earlier squalls occurred during heavy rainfall but there has been no rain since sunset when breaks in the cloud first appeared.
Spent a time trying to catch up on a lot of emails - mainly brief replies, to save on battery power, but thanks to many of you sending messages of support. Best are the very brief ones saying "No reply needed" ! Anyone emailing should make absolutely sure their message does not include a previous email or any other bumpf - vital not to hit the 'send' key without deleting unnecessary stuff first. Batteries are not holding charge very well so I'm having to run the small generator frequently to keep the autopilot going & it's best to reduce radio time needed for emailing by keeping emails brief.
Worked at trying to get Aurora going - still no joy, despite confirming power is getting at least part way. Must check a cable join - might have got water in there, under the tape covering it.
Made a big pot of food - need to keep myself fed!
Sunday 2:20am NZT Bright moon shining from a mainly clear sky with just a very few clouds around. Hard on the wind and banging into the 5m swell with 28kt SW wind. Heading NE but soon to turn around to head SSE back down to Stewart Island, arriving after the strong weather that's presently there and in the area between until Monday.
4:30am Just furled in more genoa to slow us down and changed course to head further W. Now making just under 5kt instead of 5.5-6kt. Had been thinking of turning around to head SSE but wind still over 25kt from SW so will wait a couple of hours more.
Sunday 7am NZT (=1900GMT Saturdy) Turned around to try for Stewart Island again - weather window looking good for Wednesday rounding but present wind direction not too good to make it around Puysiger Point, two days away.. Wind is forecast to veer later to the SW-W which will make possible the change of course needed. If I clearly can't make it safely, will have to abort the SW Cape and head N from here instead. Present wind is 26kt from SSW.
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While sailing around the world, I'm trying to raise funds to help support the superb life-saving work done by the RNLI (Lifeboats) in Britain each and every day of the year, regardless how bad the weather. In fact, the worse it is, the more likely they are out there, helping someone in distress - whether a swimmer, surfer, small boat or big ship, night or day, summer or winter. They are all volunteers with normal day-jobs who respond immediately to a call and it is a charity - no government funding - so they rely on our help to fund their intensive training and maintain their equipment.
It would be great if you would take a moment to click on the Lifeboats link here (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Jeanne-Socrates2), if you'd like to show your support for my efforts at sailing solo, nonstop, unassisted around the globe, trying to set a World Record as the oldest person to do so, by donating something towards the great work the RNLI do every day. If a lot of people put in even a small amount, it all adds up... Thanks a lot! If you can help, it will be very much appreciated. Let's see if we can reach my target!
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1900GMT (= 7 a.m. NZT, 12 hrs on) - end of Day 227. We made 107 n.ml. DMG, over the time since pulling in the JSD and getting underway around 2245GMT yesterday, measured in a straight line between the two positions.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 227 (by daily DMGs):19,548 n.ml.
Distances (at 1900GMT): SW Cape, NZ: 276 n.ml SSE; nearest SW NZ coastline: 155 n.ml.
Position & weather report for 1900 GMT just after knockdown, posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/05/18 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 43-13.70S LONGITUDE: 164-25.78E
COURSE: 340T SPEED: 4.0kt
WIND_SPEED: 25kt WIND_DIR: SSW SWELL_DIR: SW SWELL_HT: 5.0m
CLOUDS: 80% BARO: 1015.1hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 15.0C SEA_TEMP: 16.0C
COMMENT: 155 ml off SW NZ coast
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At 18/05/2019 19:00 (utc) our position was 4313.70'S 16425.78'E
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