Sunday 1st April 2012

0000Z/10am LT
A fast overnight sail towards the SE Cape, in rough seas and winds to 36knots - we were often right 'on the edge' but just managed to keep going - and what a great welcome soon after dawn! Sailing nicely, in less strong conditions, with Mewstone and Maatsuyker islands in sight ahead, patches of blue sky above, rain well away in the distance (!) - and a big school of large dolphins speeding towards the boat, to leap in twos and threes out of the water close by, to greet me to Tasmania and Australia...!! This is what landfall is all about - exhilarating ....couldn't ask for better! To cap it all, several Shy albatross (the Tasmanian albatross) were circling around the boat, close to their breeding ground on Mewstone, and soon after, some small 'muttonbirds' (diving petrels) were seen skittering along the water surface before diving out of sight.

I had trouble getting below decks to pour out my freshly-made coffee - all I wanted to do was to stay on deck and drink in the scene!

8.30pm Safely tied up to a buoy overnight (in a flat calm!!) in Dover, Port Esperance, off the D'Entrecasteaux Channel leading N to Hobart.

Unexpectedly, I had a thoroughly enjoyable sail in veering wind for quite a time this morning - to well past the SE Cape when suddenly the wind died completely under a blue sky. I wandered in to Recherche Bay under motor to check it out. It's a lovely Bay, with two good anchorages, with a dramatic backdrop of Mt Laperouse and Pindars Pk and other mountains. Then on up the SE coast towards S.Bruny Island .... & Partridge Island, at the start of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. On the way, we passed the George the Third Rock - where a ship full of convicts had hit and sunk, taking with it all the convicts - they weren't unlocked from the hold so they could escape when the ship hit the rock....

Coming into Port Esperance was interesting - shallows and lots of fish farms! I picked up the buoy three times but only managed to get the line on a cleat at my third attempt - it wasn't organised quite as I was expecting and I nearly lost my boat hook! I arrived near sunset, which was lovely - enhanced by a perfectly shaped, old volcanic cone as a backdrop to the bay. I opened a celebratory bottle of champagne that I was given for my birthday last August and watched the sunset, before switching on for a pre-arranged radio 'sched' to speak to Petr on 'Singa' (who's fine) and to chat to other ham friends who wanted to know how my day had gone. (I also made voice contact this morning via a radio Net with friends on 'Chautauqua', now in Australia, who I've not seen since Hilton Head in N. Carolina in 2000!).

My daily chat with Greg on 'Alcidae' found him lying to the drogue (JSD) in 35-40 knot winds, 8-9m seas and pressure right down at 980 hPa - again... He's discovered that he's lost the last portion of his drogue - he said he'd used a section of old line when he spliced the little cones onto it - and clearly it had broken under the strain of the big seas and 50 knot winds he had the other day. He'd commented to me yesterday that he wasn't lying to the drogue as he should have been - now he knows why ... He thinks he might have two more days lying to the drogue - until the seas lie down. The system he's suffering from now is the one I was trying so hard to get in here to avoid...

I plan to leave Dover in the early morning (not too early) and only need 6 hrs motoring to arrive Hobart soon after lunchtime tomorrow.

DMG today: 102 n.ml. Distance to Hobart: 36 n.ml.

Saturday 31st March 2012

Midday - Cloud coming over what was a lovely clear blue sky up to now... We've made excellent progress since yesterday, with wind up to 34+ kt in gusts, but mainly 26-32kt, initially from N but slowly backed to present WNW. Speed has mostly been well over 7 kt, & 6-7 kt in lulls. Seas have built to 5m, so in the strong wind we often roll around as they pass - but not too badly!

Land is in sight... at least on my AIS screen!! It shows Cape Sorel, halfway up the W coast of Tasmania. I'm making for the SE Cape and the D'Entrecasteaux Channel which leads 50 ml NNE towards Hobart. Another sign we're close to land was a sighting of a pair of gannets - along with a pair of sooty shearwaters, a broad-billed prion and an albatross. Wasn't possible to say whether it was one of the Shy albatross which breed on Mewstone - an island 20 ml offshore that I'll be passing tomorrow. I'm told the island makes quite a sight in moonlight, being of white quartzite!

2pm - Cloud dispersing to give a nice sunny day again. Wind seems to be well down on the 36kt or more it just got up to for a few hours - mainly 26-30kt, so maybe that's the trend now. Downloading a weatherfax while I warm up the stew I made yesterday, despite the rough seas, when I realised I wasn't eating properly, with my constant concern over the bad weather in prospect. It was very welcome!

Evening - Wind has died from the 36kt it kept gusting up to from 32kt, to just 24knots now. Pressure has shot up and I'm expecting little wind from here on... We're rolling around in rhe occasional leftover swell, and the stays'l is poled out to port - we're DDW just now!

Landfall will be in daylight - especially with wind dying ... SE Cape is ahead 70 mls and channel up to Hobart is beyond. Should be in Hobart Monday for Clearing In with Customs etc.

Must get some sleep while well offshore....

TIME: 2012/03/31 12:00
LAT: 43-48.51S LONG: 145-04.84E
COURSE: 084T SPEED: 6.1
WIND_SPEED: 25 WIND_DIR: 280T
SWELL_DIR: WNW SWELL_HT: 5.0M SWELL_PER: 8
CLOUDS: 20% BARO: 1011 TREND: 4 SEA_TEMP: 16.0C
COMMENT: Superb speed -over 7kt most day ETA Tasmania:Sun 1st April.DMG:144 n.ml

Friday 30th March 2012

I'm feeling so much better now that the wind has finally backed to N and so is allowing us to make our course towards the SE Cape of Tasmania and the protected waters beyond, leading to Hobart. I just reefed right down, tying in not just the 2nd reef but 3rd as well. Dark of night is no time to mess around! The apparent wind was up to 30 kt and we were heeling quite a bit, with seas building. Speed has dropped from the 6.4-6.7 kt we were making at times, but we're still making 5-6 kt, so that's fine.

It's been a difficult few days, seeing the nasty weather heading this way and trying to decide how best to keep heading E in an effort to avoid the worst of it, if possible. Using the motor is not normally an option, but it allowed me to keep up some semblance of speed when the winds were light and also to keep heading roughly East, although to keep the sails filled and drawing, we were forced SE more than I liked. It has been quite a balancing act between keeping up some degree of speed and not losing too much position, in the E-NE winds we have had for the last two days.

Having got this close to Tasmania has definitely turned into a good thing - the strongest of the winds are set to pass to the S of our position, along with the biggest swells - due to the High just to the N - at least for the next few days. I may yet have to heave to tomorrow (Sat) but, with any luck, the winds will stay around 30knots, rather than go much higher. They should be backing into the NW by morning and then to W by this time tomorrow evening, so that should make for a more comfortable ride ... winds from abaft the beam are always pleasanter than from ahead! We're presently banging and crashing frequently off waves and into troughs!

Greg on 'Alcidae', 650 mls to the W, is getting the full brunt of the strong weather. When I spoke to him this afternoon (4pm LT), he had just deployed his series drogue (JSD), having heaved to under sail around 7am, after sailing in increasingly difficult seas overnight.... Pressure was down to 980 hPa and still dropping, he said, winds were over 45 knots and seas were 7-8m ... nasty! It sounded as though the centre of the Low was possibly just then passing over him - which would mean the winds would swing to W-WSW from NNE and stay high. He expects to have to stay hove-to for several days, possibly. It suddenly occurred to me that one of the reasons for him wanting to stop in Hobart for repairs was the state of two of his shroud bases- lifting deck-plates & tabs.... I just hope his mast stays put in the strong winds he's getting.... fingers crossed for him.

So long as I can keep going, I should be in safe waters before the system he's suffering from gets too close to me.... that's the plan....

DMG today: 109 n.ml. (good sailing later today) S.E.Cape: 218 n.ml.; Hobart: 275 n.ml.

Thursday 29th March 2012

Bright sunny day, clear blue skies, seas fairly calm, warm - good braai/barbie weather! Would be thoroughly enjoyable if only wind were NOT from ENE-E, so heading us and making us fall well off our preferred course in order to keep some wind in the sails and so make a half-decent speed!

Weather forecast is not looking quite so grim - trysail is now on deck ready, but hopefully won't be needed -winds are showing as 30-40 on Saturday, with possibility of gusts up to 50+kt, so it's still likely that I'll have to heave to, but hopefully not for too long - all depends so much on the sea state and swell direction at the time of the stronger winds.

At time of writing this (5pm EST), wind is ENE9 kt - making our course 120T instead of the preferred 094T. I can't wait for the wind to back into the N more and strengthen, as it should be doing sometime soon.

9pm (EST) A lovely moon in a clear, starry sky - except for a low layer of grey cloud astern which has been there all day. Sea still relatively calm.

Wind has backed a little since sunset - now from NE but still only 8-9 knots so still not really useful, except that we're now only 10 degrees off our course, rather than 15.

Had the usual radio chats this afternoon and evening. (I was amused the other day by Carol of American River Radio, on Kangaroo Island, referring to the loss of an antenna as being due to a possum up there - did it eat it??) Greg now has good sailing wind of 15-20 kt - as I'm hoping to have tomorrow. My storm on Saturday will be with him at least a day earlier - looks as though it might not be too bad - 30-40 knots, possibly a bit more - a fairly 'normal' bout of Southern Ocean bad weather! But with the next Front coming along quite soon and strong winds in between and following, he might be hove-to for several days.. time will tell, as usual! Jeremy told me of a good mooring close to his boat, a few hours from Hobart, that I could make use of in strong winds if I needed to.

I've noticed that Tasmanians (and Australians in general?) seem to use the word 'ordinary' to describe something nasty..! e.g. "Sat looks a bit ordinary" for "Sat looks a bit horrible".... and it's the Brits that are supposed to be full of understatement!

Had a surprisingly good contact with Petr, OK4SNG, on 'Singa, tonight - maybe the earlier time of 0800Z helped? He was telling me that he had a 30h.p. tractor engine in his 28ft self-built boat - one that he had 'marinised' and installed himself. Only problem being that it weighed well over 200kg, which compared with a new, modern lightweight boat engine meant he could have taken 100 kg more by way of provisions on his voyage, for the same total weight. He was stopped in light ENE winds, not wanting to be forced any further S than he was already (at 48S), waiting for them to pick up and back to the N more - similar story to where I am, W of S.Tasmania. ... Wind still from NE at around 9 knots at 10pm EST....

DMG today: 89 n.ml. SE Cape: 330 n.ml.; Hobart: 384 n.ml.

Wednesday 28th March 2012

3.30pm - We've been sailing nicely at around 6 knots all morning and up to now - 1 reef in mains'l and up to 18knots of N wind - but wind is dying fairly quickly.... down to 13 knots and boat speed now down to just over 5 knots...

4.30pm - Drizzle, grey overcast, wind around 10kt, speed around 3.5kt, about to shake out first reef. Just spoke to Greg - he's 570 mls behind me. Conversation was almost entirely on weather - our forecasts are both looking nasty - but his even more so than mine IF I can make Hobart before a second lot of ugly weather gets to me.... but he can't avoid that, nor yet another one following close behind. He has a sturdy steel boat and he'll deploy his Jordan series drogue - so he should be safe with his JSD.... which I don't have now - I'll have to heave to under mains'l, as I have been recently. (A replacement JSD will soon be waiting for me in Hobart.) I'm digging out my trysail, so I can have it ready to use, in case winds get up as strongly as presently forecast. I'm also checking that nothing loose and/or heavy can fly about...

10pm Weather, weather and more weather.... I can't stop studying gribs and weather info and checking my options.... "What if...." ! Such nasty winds and seas coming soon .... Possible gusts of 60-70 kts and 8-10m seas being forecast for Fri/Sat, at present! Greg is going to suffer a lot more than I will, it would seem...

Made contact again with Jeremy of Dover Radio (and of S/Y 'Rosinante' - back home today) and had a useful discussion about possible safe anchorages in strong westerlies, once I round the SE Cape. Also spoke to Mary of Smithton Radio, after Jeremy. Later had a fair contact with Petr, OK4SNG, on 'Singa' - he's 670 ml SE of "Nereida", has had very little wind all today and was making only 2-3knots. He was very grateful for my putting him into contact with Bob McDavitt who had very kindly offered to help him with his weather to Auckland, where he's headed after reaching his 'antipodal waypoint' SE of New Zealand. Catherine, VK4GH, in Brisbane, came on frequency with an excellent signal afterwards to have a short chat - I remembered her making contact with me the last time I sailed these waters, when I sailed through the Bass Strait direct to New Zealand...

Sealed up around the sides and bottom of the washboard - just in case we get pooped ... Plan is also to make an easily-removable and replaceable seal over the inside of the sliding hatch/washboard join when I heave to - anything to stop water ingress!

Time to rest...

DMG today: 126n.ml. - reflecting the excellent sail we had earlier today, before the wind died and we started to motor-sail.
Distance to SE Cape: 415 n.ml; Distance to Hobart: 470 n.ml.

Tuesday 27th March 2012

Today seemed to disappear today ...!

Some time spent downloading weather faxes and gribs - and then studying them, over and over - bad weather coming up is looking pretty nasty.... Then downloaded emails and answered several, chatted to John, VK4DBJ, on Pacific Seafarers Net when he took my report, talked again to Greg for a time and then later to Jeremy of 'Rosinante' and Mary of Smithton Radio - they're both from Tasmania.

Looked around on deck - found a thoroughly rusty small ring - hope it's the one I'd not found before, and not a third one come away from a batten end car pin. It's becoming quite common, unfortunately, for supposedly 316 stainless to turn into a rusting heap - the Chinese, and others, have a lot to answer for - quality control is clearly not high in their priorities!

Checked my fuel use - looking OK. so long as I'm extremely careful. Was able to turn motor off for a while - lovely peace and quiet! Decided that while it's relatively calm, with stormy weather coming in Friday and Saturday, I should empty the heater fuel tank and transfer the fuel to the main tank where it's needed. Managed not to spill too much, kept 10 l in reserve in a jerry can but maybe that should go into main tank as well.

I'm getting rather concerned about the weather forecast for the weekend.... 40-50 knot winds are likely where I'm expecting to be on Saturday, preceded by headwinds - NE and ENE winds will make heading E very difficult and probably force me to head further S than I want to go.

The night sky was superb soon after a lovely sunset - so many stars up there.. Being on deck at night in relatively calm conditions has definite bonuses - sparkling glints appear in the water as we disturb it on passing through and every so often, a large being glows gently - a squid, maybe, or a jellyfish - whatever it is, it's slowly passed by and the glowing yellow-green light fades away astern.

Time for rest and sleep, after food ...

DMG: 117 n.ml. SE Cape: 543 n.ml. Hobart (by more direct route, since stormy weather expected): 604 n.ml.

Monday 26th March 2012

Beautiful warm, sunny day until late aftenoon, when some cloud came over - but not enough to obscure the crescent moon close to Venus and Jupiter at sunset - forming a triangle once Jupiter appeared - being much less bright than Venus, he didn't show as early as she did!

Enjoyed breakfast sitting in the sun in the cockpit - unusual pleasure! Had to dig for sunglasses.. and remove two layers of fleeces - too hot in the lovely sunshine!! Had the last fresh grapefruit and some fresh coffee with my breakfast. Later, finished the last of the fresh cherry tomatoes with lunch - they've lasted quite well in the fridge, despite that often being turned off, on the way here, to save power.

Motor was run most of the day in light wind around 4-6 knots from W - sails couldn't add much to our speed with so little wind from astern!

Seas were fairly calm this morning - just a slight 2-3m, long, SW swell. But the swell picked up later in the day - it's now 3-4 m - not so very big, but the occasional larger wave rocks us about somewhat. Very few birds in these calm conditions - a pair of storm petrels and a soft-plumaged petrel are all I've seen.

Had a good time on deck in the sunshine, sorting out a few minor problems with lines and sheets. Some had got very twisted, like the mainsheet, for example - I was finding it difficult to release it, it was so very twisted between the traveller blocks and the boom block. I undid it completely, having tied down the boom, and straightened the line out - similarly the running backstay on starboard side which has been used a lot.

Also re-ran a few lines that weren't quite right and on having a good look around the deck fittings, I found a couple of bits of plastic - clearly come off the sides of a couple of blocks - no big problem for the time being, but it shouldn't have happened! When later checking the anchor pin closure and windlass operation (thinking ahead to landfall!), I noticed the genoa foot shackle was undone and only being held in place by the leathering there - it's lucky I've only been using the genoa well furled or the sail would have come away by now - first job for tomorrow, if it's still calm, is to unfurl the sail completely and release the halyard a little, to slacken it so I can close the shackle. I could take the genoa down and change it - I'll see how calm the conditions are, but I'm inclined to leave it now to Hobart - we've some strong wind coming up soon and the stays'l has been working well with the small amount of genoa.

Organised a downhaul on port side for the stays'l pole and then poled stays'l out - with WNW-NW wind from astern likely over the next few days, could well need the pole regularly on that side - up to now, it's only been out to starboard in the mostly SW winds we've been having from astern.

All in all, a very pleasant, relaxing, useful day - with lots of radio chat as well. On the Pacific Seafarers Net at lunch-time, John, VK4DBJ, took my details on 14310 kHz and several others came there to chat when he'd finished, (I'm thinking of setting up a 'sched' for 0400Z on 14310 - could become a regular chat session!) and in the late afternoon, an hour after my daily chat with Greg on 'Alcidae', I talked to Mary of Smithton Radio and to Jeremy, on board 'Rosinante' in Port Davey. Mary was going to be in Hobart this weekend - and hoping I'd be in by then, to see me - but I'm likely not to be there until Monday at earliest - there's a nasty Low heading this way for Friday/Saturday which could well slow me down with stormy conditions just as I get close to making landfall. Appropriate weather, perhaps, for rounding the SE Cape - one of the 'Big Five'!! Murphy is alive and well!!

DMG today: 113 n.ml. SE Cape of Tasmania: 662 n.ml.; Hobart 755 n.ml. Wind just now: 2 knots from every which way....!

Variation became zero last Friday (around 124-125E) and is now 3 degrees East - have to ADD 3 degrees now to compass readings to get True.

Sunday 25th March 2012

To my delight and surprise, the wind suddenly picked up to 15 knots around midnight and I was able to cut the motor and sail goose-winged with the stays'l poled out to starboard, making excellent speed for quite a time - lovely!!

The pleasant sail continued through the day in slowly lessening winds until by 5pm, with the wind down to 6-9 knots from astern, we were into motor-sailing once more ... the wind has since steadied at 4-6 knots!

The bonus tonight is the beautiful night sky - clear, with a million stars and the Milky Way strewn across like dust, Southern Cross high up and Orion doing his headstand, as usual. No moon tonight.

Quite a few birds around later today - a small flock of prions, several storm petrels - frenetically dipping into the sea, soft-plumaged petrels, yellow-nosed albatross... and the most glorious of sunsets - a golden-red glow reflected for ages by a low cloud layer onto the sea surface - absolutely stunning!

I've been busy today with emails - I seem to be forever trying to catch up with my 'correspondence' - it's mostly a pleasure but takes a time each day - luckily the radio connections on Winlink and, finally, Sailmail are both good now, so it's not such a struggle sending/receiving my 'post'.

I managed today to make contact on the radio (by voice, on 4483kHz) with three people simultaneously! .... Mary Kay of Smithton Radio (with whom I'd chatted daily when I sailed through the Bass Strait and on to New Zealand nonstop from Cape Town the last time I sailed these waters), Carol of American River Radio on Kangaroo Island (I'd connected with her station every day also, two years ago) and finally with Jeremy on 'Rosinante' at anchor in Port Davey - he's been very helpful to me by email with info on anchorages and the coastal area in the S of Tasmania up to Hobart.

I had my usual chat with Greg on 'Alcidae' but couldn't have a proper chat with Petr on 'Singa' because of too much noise on frequency his end - not helped by a radio 'contest' on 14 MHz - people madly trying to connect with each other, exchanging callsigns and some other number/info - presumably the 'winner' is the person with the most verified contacts over the weekend - yes, it was going on over Saturday as well... and has made normal 20m contacts impossible... Even the Pacific Seafarers Net on14300 kHz, which is a safety Net, had problems with interference from the contestants. TG, it's Monday tomorrow....

Good news on my damaged mainsail batten end holder and cars is that through Nicki of Carol Hasse's PTSails, the relevant parts have all been organised to be sent to Hobart - so when I get in, I'll be able to repair things quickly.. Thanks for the organising, Nicki! And thanks to John of Tides End for sending so promptly the spare pins and rings I need for my Strong Track cars. I've quite a long list of repairs etc I need to do on landfall - and I'd like to squeeze in something of Tasmania, as well!

DMG today: 111M Hobart is 868 sailing mls away; SE Cape of Tasmania (one of the Five Great Capes): 774 n.ml.

Saturday 24th March 2012

Wind died just before dawn - all reefs shaken out, working as it got light, under a grey, overcast sky. A showery, gusty morning. Every now and then, wind increased from the usual 6-9 knots as a cloud came over and I rushed to turn off the motor that was idling at low revs, to help us along at a speed in excess of the 1-2 knots we'd be doing otherwise - but it never lasted long! Mains'l was flopping about in the 4m swell and the light wind... The wind varied in direction, so sail trimming was frequent, trying to get the most out of what there was.

I decided to let the motor run gently for a 20-24hr period, so long as the wind stayed around 6-7 kt or less (which it has), to help us get further S to where there might be wind - which may not be until 2-3 days' time, maybe longer... We don't have a lot of fuel, but I'd like to see just how much we use when going gently like this, rather than slopping about in the left-over swell of the last few days and going nowhere.

Motor-sailing is a luxury I often don't have the choice of, but in calms, it is a definite plus! The other bonuses are lots of hot water, hot air (from the cooling water pipe lead to a fan by the chart table area), as well as charging the batteries really well ... and I ran the watermaker to fill the tanks.

The afternoon has been lovely (speed apart!) - the sun came out once the cloud overhead cleared away, although there were plenty around on the horizon and a low, dark grey cloud close astern which fortunately stayed there all afternoon and didn't spread over us - it was raining heavily under it in a few places. Two yellow-nosed albatross flew majestically around, near and far, gliding with their long wings held out, rarely beating them. Of course, when I went for my camera, they disappeared for quite a time!

Wind tonight has died to 3 knots from WNW - not much use for sailing SE!

We might have to flop about for the next few days - I can't run the engine to help for much longer..... From one extreme to the other - from gales and big swell one day to calms a couple of days later...... At least the swell is decreasing ... down to just 2-3m tonight with the occasional larger wave, but all well-spaced and water surface fairly smooth. (Greg, on 'Alcidae', 500 miles away at 43S, had 20knots and was sailing nicely this afternoon!)

DMG at noon today, with motor-sailing from dawn, was 94 n.ml. - we'd been doing reasonably well overnight, beam reaching in wind of around 15 knots.

Sailing distance to Hobart: 977 n.ml. - under 1000 n.ml. !! Normally, would take about 8 days... now, who knows?

Friday 23rd March 2012

Brief report today....

Got under way around 6:30am LT - so lovely to be sailing, despite the still large seas! But they weren't anywhere like as rough as they had been, so sailing has been good and quite fast, in winds of SW-SSW 22-24kt, gusting 28kt or so at times.

Skies have been mainly overcast, with some light rain, although at one point this morning, there was blue sky to the S and a fogbank to our N - weird! Tonight, there are some stars out but it's difficult to see how much cloud there is with no moon!

Wind has died toward evening - we're struggling to make over 4.5kt just now - and the weather news is grim - looks as though a Big Fat High is going to sit over us for several days, extending right down almost to 50S... bad news.... No avoiding it and it will be difficult to move far in such light winds - so that will put the ETA back quite a bit...

Time for sleep ... The best we can do is to head SE as we're doing ... que sera, sera..

DMG today, not having got underway until 2230 GMT, was 85 n.ml. - not too bad!

Sailing distance to Hobart: 1071 n.ml.

Thursday 22nd March 2012

Kept checking weather info all day long - several grib files downloaded. Tried to persuade myself that maybe it would be OK to get under way, with wind down to around 20-24kt,sometimes less, but each time I looked out to see how the seas were doing - I was quickly persuaded to stay put! They've been big all day and increased towards tonight - BIG! So we've been rocking and rolling all day - excellent exercise, even when seated!!

Having failed to make radio contact twice today, I was thoroughly relieved to get a late email tonight from Petr on 'Singa' - TG I had stayed up late, as usual, so I got the reassurance that he's OK, has managed to replace his damaged mainsail and has been underway in reasonable conditions - although the swell I've been trying to avoid is clearly headed his way now... Difficult not to worry, having not managed to make contact over the day, after his bad experience of yesterday... but he's fine now, although without his parachute anchor for strong conditions.

Not much else to report.... Mainly dull, grey day today, with usual albatrosses, petrels & shearwaters for company, although few in number. Spent several long sessions watching the seas - impressive! Had usual radio chat with Greg, who was only making 2-3 kt in lovely sunshine - trapped by the High to my W, which is fast catching up with me... He was happy to get a few jobs done and dry out things a bit.... and thinking of starting his engine, maybe. I was pleased when my genset started up tonight - my 'fix' has clearly worked!

With our drift, despite being hove-to, we made DMG of 36 n.ml. today!! In the right direction, what's more... due E!

Cape Pasley is 370 n.ml. due N; 1144 n.ml. of sailing to reach Hobart

Better get some sleep if we're to move tomorrow early-ish....

Wednesday 21st March 2012

Early in the morning, was able to cut the engine which had been gently turning over to keep us pointing in the right direction when speed dropped to 1-2 kt in very light wind overnight. As I poled out the stays'l to starboard, a juvenile Sooty albatross flew around - distinctive pale collar on its upper neck, otherwise all dark. The albatross outline, together with relative wing size & shape, is very eye-catching - you can see it's an albatross long before you know which kind it is! A Yellow-nosed was also nearby, later in the morning, and a Wandering, and our company included a pair of the usual Soft-plumaged petrels... and a prion I couldn't see well enough to identify properly - haven't seen one of those for quite a time... lovely blue-grey and white plumage and distinctive dark 'M' marking on its upper wings.

Went to start the generator overnight - started but wasn't putting anything into the batteries - same problem as I'd had shortly after leaving Cape Town -so, hopefully, same solution... Opened the case, ... sure enough, the actuator spindle wasn't moving freely, as it needed to. Got a spanner to the actuator spindle nuts ... freed the spindle... sprayed some lubricant for good measure (needs some proper grease when we get to Hobart)... genset worked fine when started up again ... YES!

Had a long radio chat with Greg, VE0MUR, after our daily contact with Graham, ZS2ABK (on shore in East London, running the S.African Maritime Mobile Net) - who I've had only poor copy on for quite a time now, whereas Greg seems to be able to hear him OK most days (Greg's about 730 ml WSW of me) . Our chat started, as usual, with a long discussion on weather coming up but then we got onto birds - he's also keenly interested in them but has a different birdbook from me that he's referring to - Harrison - very well-respected, but very out-of-date, with all the recent studies and research that's gone on since 1985 when the book was published....It was very interesting to compare notes.

Was very sad to hear what Petr had to tell me when we made radio contact tonight (a very good one - for the first time we could hear each other very clearly!). He was hove-to in winds of 45knots, but had seen 75kt on display earlier and it had ripped his reefed mainsail, so it was now useless. Even worse, he was busily trying to deploy his parachute anchor (his boat has a long keel for which that works well) when he lost the line - and the parachute with it. He had already been having problems with his autopilots (several!) and has been making use of rubber bungies oto his tiller for most of his 'autopilot' steering help of late. So he told me that he's decided to abandon his solo nonstop RTW attempt and head for Auckland via his 'antipode' WP - which is even further to the SSE than he is now. He's had a lot of very strong weather and has hove to constantly over the short time I've been in contact with him. I feel very sad for him - he's put so much time and effort into it, having built the 28ft sloop 'Singa' himself and, from what he's told me, he's clearly made thorough preparations for his attempt and can repair most things on board. He has a spare mainsail which he hopes to be able to hoist in calmer conditions - as and when... but I worry that there's more bad weather headed his way shortly, so I hope he'll be OK. He's clearly upset by his experience, understandably. I hope to hear things are better when I speak to him tomorrow.

As for me, I think I also could well heave to shortly... Most of the time, we've nice wind around 21-22kt, but it keeps gusting up to near 30kt and we rush along at speed, sometimes surfing on a big wave that happens by. The worry is that the wind is set to increase from now into Friday and an area of very big swell is on its way with the increased wind - so conditions will get more difficult. If I want to rest tonight, the best answer is to heave to. That would also neatly solve the problem of heading too far N (Hobart is to the SE) if I were to run before the wind, or too far E which would end us up in the really big swell later tomorrow.

10:30pm ..... Well that's it - we're hove to! Overhead, the stars were beautiful, but clouds were lurking all around. For now, it's some nice hot stew and a good sleep.... I can always sail on again in daylight - when I can see what's happening with the seas.

With the light wind last night overnight, DMG was just 99 n.ml. Hobart was 1181 n.ml. away at 1200GMT.

Tuesday 20th March 2012

Had been thinking of getting underway at 8am LT, but seas still big at 6am, and wind, although mainly around 24kt, gusted to 30kt in rainsquall. Decided to take my time, check weather info, have breakfast, clear up in galley...

On looking over weather forecasts (downloaded fresh set of localised gribs to help in decision-making), it seemed clear that I'd be better off staying around 40S and NOT going too fast - later on Thursday into Friday, another area of really big swell and strong winds is due to be all over the E part of the Gt Australian Bight area - making for another probable heaving-to situation overnight Thursday.... better NOT to be too far E at that time, to avoid 8-10m seas and stronger wind .... so I was NOT in a rush to get under way!

11:45am LT: Another rainsquall came through at just over 30 knots and seas are still well up - decided to have some coffee, relax, catch up on emails and make another big stew.... then I'll review things....

1.30 pm Under way - seas still big - big wind waves on top of the big swell - but wind settled down to SSW 20-22 kt. Beam reaching under sunny skies, but air cold - S wind bringing colder air with it... (Put the heater on for a time this evening.)

Later: Slowing down, unfurled some genoa.... Often tossed around by remaining swell... Outlook: even slower until later tonight ..

Enjoyed my stew tonight - had used lots of vegetables and tried it with corned beef instead of ham - seems to be fine! Also enjoyed some kudu biltong at lunchtime.

Greg on 'Alcidae' has incurred so much damage to his steel boat from gales down S that he's decided he must come in to Hobart to make repairs - Customs were contacted and have been very helpful to him. He's about 5 days behind me now.

DMG today: 44 n.ml. (drifted 11 n.ml. while hove-to, under way for just 6 1/2 hr). 1267 n.ml. to Hobart; 380 n.ml. S. of Esperance (Hi there, Sue!)

Today's report:

TIME: 2012/03/20 12:00 LAT: 40-11.65S LONG: 120-44.02E
COURSE: 095T SPEED: 4.3
WIND_SPEED: 14 WIND_DIR: 190
SWELL_DIR: SW SWELL_HT: 5.0M SWELL_PER: 8
CLOUDS: 40% BARO: 1022 TREND: 2
AIR_TEMP: 13.0C SEA_TEMP: 16.0C

Monday 19th March 2012

Shortly before dawn, having sailed nicely overnight, the wind gusted fom a sedate 22-25kt to around 33knots - definitely time to tie in the third reef! Took a time, not helped by the loose batten end, high up, trying to catch in anything it could, but I eventually finished in daylight - and was rewarded by seeing a pair of Wandering albatross flying nearby.

We had a great day today, sailing in slowly increasing seas and SW6 wind, anything from 23-27kt, occasionally dropping to below 20kt, making good speed despite the frequent big waves from astern. It was nice to see long spells of speeds of over 6 knots consistently and the boat was behaving well under autopilot- which has been coping fine with the difficult conditions - sometimes in 'windvane' mode,n which I find useful for 'dead downwind' situations when the wind is rather variable, as today.

By sunset, with the wind regularly in the high 20s and waves that much bigger, I was seriously thinking of heaving to, realizing that I'd not be able to rest otherwise overnight, when I caught sight of a mass of dark grey cloud astern... that decided me! By the fast-fading daylight, I hurriedly furled in the stays'l as the cloud came over and the wind started whistling around us, and got us hove-to - just in time, as daylight was gone, the wind was around 30 knots by then and the forecast was for winds to stay up overnight.

It was a good decision and the winds have varied a lot since then from 22 kt to well over 30kt in the frequent gusts. I was able to cook a decent meal and will get a good sleep... Amusingly, Greg on Alcidae', who was hove-to for 36hrs until this morning, is probably still underway in nice winds and little swell where he is now, while it's my turn to be hove-to. Being a good distance apart, I'm now getting the area of wind and swell that he suffered from over Saturday night onward.

Despite over an hour of being hove-to, our 24 hr DMG to noon GMT was 122 n.ml.

Hopefully, by morning, the wind and seas will have died down somewhat so I can get underway again - but there's another, similar, area of big swell and winds forecast for later in the week... I might stay around 40S to avoid the worst of that too....

Sunday 18th March 2012

Writing this as I wait for latest grib (weather) files to download - slow tonight, despite trying different stations to find one with best propagation. (Had a big problem last night trying to send off my log report)

It's been a relaxing day - seem to have had several of late, which is nice! Last night was very bumpy, sailing ENE close-hauled, but fast (around 6.9 kt), in NNW 22-24kt at times, although mainly around 20kt, dying to 16kt around dawn and then to 13kt over most of the day. The expected Front came through suddenly, as I was preparing to let out the 2nd reef, at 0230GMT/10:30am LT. Wind switched from NW to SSW in very little time- gybed the mains'l, which fortunately was slowed by being on a preventer lead both through an open jammer and partly around a winch - both just released as part of my sail change preparations - so no great drama!

Beautiful clear sunny skies of the early morning were replaced by murky, slightly drizzly overcast ahead of the front and then by showery grey clouds behind. Soon after sunset, the skies cleared again - lovely starry night now, S. Cross high above us. Sea temperature has risen quickly from this morning's 17C to this evening's 19C as we've ambled further N..... more Indian Ocean than Southern Ocean!

By stark contrast, Greg on 'Alcidae3', to the WSW, down at 43.5S, 103E, is having nasty 30-35+ kt winds, gusting higher, and had been hove-to since 9pm LT last night, in 7m seas .. All as forecast, but I think he'd rather hoped conditions might be less strong and he'd be fine after deploying his drogue - which he hasn't because of the tack he was on when the strong winds came through, heaving to under sail instead. He sounded a bit fed up at the thought of possibly having to stay hove to until tomorrow morning, judging from the forecast... I think he's now been persuaded of the advantage of being slightly further north than he has been...

I'm also expecting the same area of strong wind and big seas to reach us tomorrow into Tuesday but hopefully, having come this much further north than I was 3 days ago, they'll be less than if I'd stayed at 42.5S.... we'll see ....

White-chinned petrels have disappeared of late, to be replaced recently by Sooty shearwaters who seem, in turn, to have been replaced, today at least, by several, all-dark, Flesh-footed shearwaters - with a noticeable pale, relatively slim bill with dark tip. A yellow-nosed albatross came around several times over the day. Also, saw a Wandering albatross, looking rather like a juvenile but with a noticeable dark chest band (could be a Snowy, Tristan or Amsterdam, my book says!).

24hr DMG - was going to be excellent, if we'd managed to keep up last night's speeds, but with the wind down so much over today, we've only managed a mediocre 119 n.ml. We've passed Cape Leeuwin, which is now 380 n.ml. to the NNW, and have 1411 sailing miles to get to Hobart.

Saturday 17th March 2012 .... St Patrick's!

Tied in the 2nd reef around 10pm last night, in expectation of stronger winds - which didn't happen (of course!) but wind did veer more - so the effect was the same and I just had to gradually sheet in the sails as we got closer to the wind.

Sky cleared nicely around midday from the gloomy overcast of earlier, but pressure has been dropping all day... another Cold Front on its way - but this one should be fairly gentle as it passes by where I am now, having sailed further north! (Still expecting those nasty swells and gales on Monday - reason for heading N now, trying to avoid worst of them)

Magnetic variation is changing rapidly - it has gone down from 25W overnight Tues/Wed to 10W now - I check it daily. (Variation gives difference between compass reading and true heading) When I started from Cape Town, it was also 25W, it has increased to a maximum of 47W at 067-069E and has been decreasing since.

4.50pm: Just spent ages with a mug of coffee in the companionway, as we plough our way close-hauled through the confused seas in N-NNW wind of around 20knots. We're in 'wind-vane' mode to keep our speed up - presently 5.7kt. Otherwise, speed can drop to 2kt if we get too close to the wind, trying to make a course of 065T, whereas being about 60 degrees off the apparent wind works fine, giving a reasonable speed through the water. I can spend hours gazing around when conditions are pleasant - as now, with some light cloud and plenty of sunshine - & even feeling warm at times! Watched several petrels and shearwaters swooping and gliding gracefully around the boat - they've adopted us, it seems!

Earlier, had absolutely no copy on Graham, ZS2ABK, of the S.A.M.M.Net, who must have been trying to contact both of us at 0610GMT as usual. Even Greg, on 'Alcidae3' who has been hearing him better than I have, heard nothing. So we went to our usual frequency of 8297, which works well for us, to exchange our posiitions (he's at 43S, 103E; I'm at 41S, 114E) and current weather info and discuss the weather coming up (as always!!), grib files, RF interference, and other chit-chat. His weather is so much stronger than mine, although he's only 2 degrees S of me... with 30-35 to my18-20 knots of wind... He hove to again for a few hours overnight.... Seems he has sustained a lot of damage on his steel boat, including tangs come loose from the deck-plates which have lifted (nasty!) and steering gear not behaving properly, among other things, so he's seriously contemplating following me into Hobart to repair his boat - he's clearly into welding and sounds as though he needs to be! Also managed a chat just before sunset on 14350 kHz with Petr, OK4SNG, on 28ft 'Singa' - he's about 350 ml SW of Tasmania and making now for a waypoint S.of New Zealand (his 'antipode' compared with Falmouth, Cornwall, England, from where he started last year).

Low cloud came over and blotted out the sun around 5pm - moist, warm air, almost foggy, with very reduced visibility, but wind still up around 20kt, from NNW, so we're making good speed still, but very bumpy in confused, rough seas!.

At 1200 GMT/8pm LT (Perth time!) DMG: 129 n.ml. 413 n.ml.due S of Cape Leeuwin; Hobart is 1559 sailing miles away (via the S. Capes) to the ESE.

Friday 16th March 2012

Another lovely sunny day of good sailing, in winds around 20knots, until late afternoon, by when grey cloud had covered the sky. We've been making excellent speed, around 7kt consistently, and while the seas have definitely increased over the day, to around 4.5m or so, they've not cut our speed down - so we made a pleasing DMG of 142 n.ml. over the noon-to-noon (GMT) 24hrs.

The disturbing news of today is that another sail batten end has come adrift from its mast track car. I spotted it this evening as I was thinking about taking in the second reef, with possibly- increasing wind forecast for overnight. Another rusty ring has, I presume, gone missing from the pin holding the batten end to the car, allowing the pin to move up and release the two parts. It's the second batten, above the previous one that I fixed, and needs attention as soon as conditions allow me to get to it.... I can't leave it too long, or the sail could end up damaged.

I made a special point of cutting my nails today - several had got broken over the last few days, so it was time for a visit to the manicurist! Think I need to visit the hairdresser also - but that's a more difficult one to organise...

I've been busy with emails to and from Ace Sails over the last few days, trying to organize a replacment Jordan series drogue. There were several options as to the way forward but hopefully now, it's all in hand and one will soon be on its way to Hobart, ready for my onward passage.. Dave Pelissier has, as usual, been very quick and helpful in his responses!

Another day without managing to make contact with Sailmail by radio - those solar flares, presumably, aren't helping. And no contact either with Petr, the Czech single-hander, but a long chat with Greg at lunch-time, discussing options and weather forecasts - there's a nasty swell and srong winds expected next Sunday night into Tuesday and it's difficult to avoid them, although I'm now heading ENE (again!) in an effort to get out of the worst of the conditions. Greg, at least, has his series drogue ready to use (which he's deployed five times recently!) whereas I don't - I can only heave to under sail and I'm not totally convinced as to my safety doing that, so I'm better to try to head out of the way of trouble if I can, even though it adds to my journey time. I've been pleased with our excellent speed yesterday and today, making 141 and 142 n.ml.

I saw another juvenile wandering albatross this morning - underwings were whitish with black edges, rather like the adult, body all-dark, distinctive white face - very eye-catching! Spent several sessions standing in the companionway, enjoying the warmth of the sunshine and watching the birds around - very pleasant!

Present position: 42S, 112E making a course of 065T at around 6-7 knots. At 1200 GMT today, we were 487 n.ml. SSW of Cape Leeuwin (S of Perth) and had a mere 1687 n.ml. to go before getting near to Hobart....

Thursday 15th March 2012

1700GMT/Just gone midnight LT! Just finished gybing the mains'l - we're on port tack now, in winds which have finally decided very definitely to veer to just north of W ... to WNW at present. Took a time for the wind to settle - I'd been waiting to gybe for some time, but the wind kept backing to WSW from W, so I waited.

Wind is 20 knots or under - and has been all day, making for very pleasant sailing under mainly cloudy skies. This time yesterday, the wind was varying between 14 and 20 knots and I was debating whether to tie in the first reef ... By 2am, I'd got up from my bunk to do just that - we were swinging about in the stronger wind, well over-canvassed, so we've had the one reef in all day. There's been an increasing SW swell over the day - to over 4 m by this evening, from 3m or less this morning.

It was lovely to watch a pair of storm petrels flit about on the water surface soon after sunset, as I sipped a mug of tea - round and around "Nereida" they circled in the gathering gloom. I couldn't understand how they could possibly see anything in the water, but they kept dipping their feet and bill in the sea, clearly expecting to pick up something. A pair of Yellow-nosed albatross and several Sooty shearwaters, along with some prions and soft-plumaged petrels, were also flying around - the usual group! .... but no sign of a white-faced, dark, juvenile albatross I'd spotted yesterday evening at dusk.

We're expecting strong conditions on Saturday and again on Monday, both following Cold Fronts passing over - along with a nasty, big, unavoidable swell Monday into Tuesday... the result of cyclone Lua's remnant coinciding with a deep Low further S and a High SW of Australia - all looking rather complicated, but definitely giving strong conditions.

For now, my late meal is waiting, before I get to my bunk for some sleep...

DMG: 141 n.ml. - the result of good sailing, in relatively calm seas for a change!

Present position: 43S, 110E , heading 085T at 6 knots.

Wednesday 14th March 2012

1pm LT: We're ambling along now under full main, staysail and some genoa, in bright sunshine and rising pressure - it's all contrasts out here!

The Cold Front passed over around 2a.m.LT (roughly when expected), preceded by lots of very heavy rain - good since it will have washed some of the salt off the boat, although my hat, hair and outers got soaked. Soon after dark, with wind beginning to increase, I'd taken in the 3rd reef to be safe, not being sure how strong the winds would become as it got closer... In the event, the most I saw was 32kt, so having kept slightly further N might have helped - certainly, being on a broad reach and in wind-vane mode was good. We headed NNE for a short time while I gybed the main, set the stays'l on its pole and generally sorted us out in the SW6 winds behind the Front... Nothing too dramatic - in fact, almost pleasant, with the moon giving some light from behind thin cloud following the rain, and seas not too bad. By 6am, we were rolling a lot in confused seas, in SSW5 wind (only 18kt) and with pressure rising... There was a lovely sunrise, made all the better by seeing a Royal and a Yellow-nosed albatross as well as a Sooty shearwater nearby.

We've several Sooties around now, swooping around the boat and close to the water... and the Royal albatross glided by again, on fixed long wings - it's so much larger than the Sooties, they seem small by comparison, but they're quite big birds really.

1300 GMT/8pm LT - Dark! Feels as though we're going so slowly, but in fact we're making reasonable speed (5-6 knots), considering we're on a very broad reach, heading E in 14 knots of WSW wind. The relatively calm seas make it seem as though we're not moving much, although we're constantly rolling slightly in quite a definite 3m, 8 sec SW swell running - clearly being caused by a Low in that direction.

I feel so very relaxed in these conditions! Sitting here, after watching the sun set and the birds swoop around as darkness fell and the stars came out...as my food warms up! Catching up with emails and looking over a newly-downloaded set of grib weather files and weatherfaxes (Tropical Cyclone 'Lua' might cause us a small problem after it passes S over Australia as a strong depression and on into the Gt Australian Bight early next week, Bob McD tells me...) I even caught a station in Iowa calling clearly on 14300 kHz - I responded and sent good wishes to a friend!

Propagation is so variable - I failed to be heard in Kauai by Tom, K4XV, who was Net Control for the Pacific Seafarers Net this morning (although I could hear him!), but yesterday's Net Control, Jane, NH7TZ, heard me quite well. I finally, after several days of trying, managed to have a radio chat with Petr, OK4SNG, single-handing on board 'Singa' as he makes his way to S of Tasmania - he was hove-to at 45S, 136E in E winds of 40 knots - not useful, when you're trying to sail E!! I had my usual daily chat on 8297 with Greg on 'Alcidae' - he's close enough for poor propagation due to solar flares not to cause us any probem.

Time to finish with emails and eat... Keeping an eye on the wind strength - keeps going up to 18 kt from 14 kt... If it goes much higher, will need to take in the first reef... (Conditions are looking reasonable for the next few days...)

Noon (GMT) DMG today: 115 n.ml. C.Leeuwin: 647 n.ml. to the NE ; Hobart: 1876 sailing miles away to the E...

Present position: 42S, 106E

Tuesday 13th March 2012

Dull day with solid overcast skies. But the seas were down, after the calm of yesterday and the N wind slowly increased overnight until, by 9am LT, it was at 20 knots - and stayed there the rest of the day. Yet another Cold Front is on its way - sometime after midnight, probably... May have winds up to 35 kt but hopefully not - it looks as though it might be fairly mild when it reaches us - unlike the fairly strong conditions it gave Greg overnight last night, making him heave to for a bit.

I enjoyed a nice meal last night of ham and eggs with sauteed potato and onion - fresh eggs are still fine, just keep turning them every now and then, where they sit in their bubble plastic protection in the aft cabin. On today's menu is lentil and onion soup with chunks of ham.

A different bird appeared among the usual petrels today - all-dark with lighter flashes on its underwings - almost certainly a Sooty Shearwater (definitely not an albatross). Kept coming close to the boat and was clearly very curious - or maybe it was hoping to get some 'chum' to feed on? Wondered whether it was thinking of trying to land, at one point!

Solar flare(s) making radio comms. difficult - emails taking noticeably longer to transmit and receive. Graham, ZS2ABK had trouble hearing me on 14316 kHz and I hardly heard him at all to begin with. Had no problem chatting to Greg, VE0MUR, 'Alcidae', on 8297 (marine frequency) afterward. He's now at my latitude although some distance to the W (he was close to 093E today and I'm at 103E) but close enough for good reception. Petr, OK4SNG, on 'Singa', came up around 1000 GMT on 14350 kHz - he's well to the E. I heard him quite clearly but he had too much noise again to hear me well enough to chat - I think he's feeling a bit frustrated, having turned off everything electrical, including his wind generator - and still he has too much noise - those solar flares, probably! Hopefully, over the next few days, things will improve slowly. Jane, NH7TZ, on Kauai, was delighted to be able to make contact during the Pacific Seafarers Net - well enough to get all my details.

It's dark now and I'm going to get some rest - having set the autopilot on to 'wind-vane' mode, so it gives me good warnings of any windshifts as the Front gets closer.

With the light wind of yesterday, we didn't quite make 3 figures on our 24hr run: DMG: 99 n.ml.

Cape Leeuwin 735 n.ml to the NE; Hobart 1989 sailing miles away - under 2000!!