Monday 10:30am Hawaii/Tahiti time (Mon 2030 GMT) Rolling around a lot, every so often - from side to side. Not much wind, maybe 8kt from NE, but quite a big swell which really heels us over. Overcast sky - grey cloud with frequent but light showers. Very quiet with so little wind. Trying to download latest weather to see which way Erick is heading - due W or slightly more WNW as it heads this way... A big difference from my point of view!
11:25am Just had a reassuring chat with Peter, ZL1PWM. According to the usually very reliable ECMWF (European weather model), Erick is expected to be at 15N 150W on Wed 31 July (2 days' time) at 5pm LT and at 17N 160W on Fri 2 Aug (4 days' time) at 5pm LT. We are presently at 10 30'N 147 45'W and won't be going any further N than 12N, maybe a lot less since wind is expected to stay very light or disappear in these parts, to S of Erick's track.
Erick is a very tight, contained system, with its strong winds not reaching out very far from its centre.
Feeling pretty tired - not enough sleep overnight - will lie down very soon, after a late breakfast...
2:30pm Rain, again... Not very heavy this time, and with only about 12-15kt of wind, so not so very strong, but prolonged and coming from a totally grey, cloudy sky, not an isolated raincloud as has happened often, recently.
Just finished chatting to Kier Shorey of ABC Radio Far North (Queensland) in Cairns, Australia about my journey, now into Day 300 - unbelievably long and now longer due to the need to avoid the two hurricanes threatening this week!
Feel a bit less tired after catching up on some sleep before our chat but will probably take another siesta after some lunch.
Speed around 2.5-3 kt and heading WNW still. About to have some more water - feeling parched... Good to know that the watermaker is working fine. Cabin temperature is around 32C/90F.
Downloaded more weather info on Erick and Flossie from both Honolulu and Miami Hurricane Centre. They are both forecast to move more WNW from now on so we should be fine on our present course and (very low!) speed, expecting to stop around 12N and heave to once we get there. The main unknown is how long it will be before we can safely move on again - I'm hoping to make use of wind behind Erick as it passes to our N, but need to know that Flossie will not be a problem if I do that.
4:45pm Sun well hidden now by darker grey clouds, threatening rain again - no longer any blue patches visible in sky. Rocking and rolling a lot in the swell. No wind - Superwind blades not turning. Nearly time to check in to Pacific Seafarers' Net.
Have been looking in bird book - seems the bird I saw a day or so ago was a petrel because of the wing shape, among other things - but there are so many different ones I need to see it again to check its features in more detail. A photo would be helpful but it's often really difficult to get a good enough photo of a fast-moving, unexpected bird passing close by... Often the camera just isn't nearby, anyway.
5:30pm Heavy but short-lived rainfall - boat speed increased to 4.5kt for a time, with sudden wind, but back down to rolling around in little wind now, at just over 2kt. Getting near to sunset - light beginning to fade.
8:45pm Wind is clearly well up - we're making 3.5-4.5 kt - but, of course, now I don't want the increased speed! Hopefully, it's a passing big cloud and we'll slow down soon. Otherwise, when we reach a certain waypoint, we'll have to heave to so as not to make any further headway - but we're some distance away from there still.
Overnight, plenty of clear gaps between the occasional big clouds around to see the many bright stars. Wind has been fairly steady and we've been making 2-3kt on 290T - trying to parallel the course being followed by Erick so as not to have it get any closer. Didn't need to heave to overnight since WNW course kept us from making much northing.
Tuesday 8:20am Sun is already getting hot, shining from gaps in between the many clouds around. Swell is a good 3m from NE and quite close, so plenty of rolling around - especially when swell from another direction (E-ESE) combines.
Downloading latest batch of weatherfaxes and checking latest gribs.
Also getting regular text updates over the day on Erick and Flossie from Honolulu and Miami.
As of now, seems our position is fine - clearly don't want to get too close, of course, and expect Erick to pass to N of our position tomorrow. Was good to see it heading WNW instead of due W yesterday...
Will almost certainly heave to sometime today, to make sure of being well S as Erick passes by - and that will leave just Flossie to worry about...
____________________________________________________
"QSO Today" podcast of interview with Eric, 4Z1UG, is at:
https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/VE0JS
Link to the Adelaide ABC interview about my Equator crossing is:
https://www.dropbox.com/l/scl/AABxD90n-HB3iQfK-iF5EdSDK2zXs4iF3DU
*****************************************************
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, 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!
(I hear that some readers might need to talk to their bank BEFORE trying to make a donation to the RNLI since many US banks routinely block foreign transactions unless
they are notified in advance.)
***************************************************
1900GMT (= 9 a.m. LT = Tahiti/Hawaii time) - end of Day 300. We made 64 n.ml. DMG, measured in a straight line between the two 1900GMT positions.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 300 (by daily DMGs): 24,731 n.ml.
Distances (at 1700GMT): Cape Flattery LH: 2550 n.ml. to NNE; Honolulu: 820 n.ml. to NNW; East Cape, N.Z.: 3449 n.ml. to SW; Papeete, Tahiti: 1707 n.ml. to S
Position, as posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/07/30 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 10-53.32N LONGITUDE: 148-37.54W
COURSE: 290T SPEED: 2.1kt
WIND_SPEED: 12kt WIND_DIR: NE SWELL_DIR: NE SWELL_HT: 3.0m SWELL_PER: 5s
CLOUDS: 80% BARO: 1011.4hPa TREND: 1 AIR_TEMP: 32.0C SEA_TEMP: 36.0C