Monday 20th December Day 56 - Summer solstice down here - so shortest day up north!

Full eclipse of the moon in these parts, as it rises tonight - but with the present total grey cloud cover, I doubt I'll see anything - pity!!

Overnight, we continued to make good speed in around 15 kt of W wind. There was occasional rain, starting out as drizzle just before midnight. By dawn, the wind had dropped to 7 kt under heavy overcast and occasional further drizzle. Not long after, the wind started rising and veered a little... and got stronger... I went on deck to reef the mains'l in heavy rain.... tied in the first reef ... wondered about the second .... but then saw the wind was up at 25 knots ... no question! We were broad reaching and by then were making around 7 knots in an increasing swell. It's only too easy to carry too much sail downwind - but then the wind steering gets overpowered and can't cope. There's often very little difference in boat speed with the reduced canvas - but the boat feels better!

It was nice to see several birds around - I'm still keeping an eye out for my first albatross down here!

Having got very wet and being definitely under-clothed for the cooler conditions, I went to get out some of my warm fleeces - and found a lot of them sopping wet inside the plastic bags I'd carefully stowed them away in. OK - there were a couple of tiny 'breather' holes in the bags, but they should not have been as soaking wet as I found them - this was not a case of condensation - and definitely needs thorough investigation- but at some future date. For now, I removed all of them from their bags, wrung the water out as best I could and hung them up in the head to drip - at least fleeces lose water quickly when hung up but I just hope I can dry them properly - not so easy in a cool, damp climate. Last week, in the hot sun, they'd have been dry in no time! (By early afternoon, in a weak sun and with the air feeling a bit warm, I hung them out to dry in the cockpit)

As I'm writing this at 5pm, I'm keeping my eye on the cloud upwind - with so many things hanging out to dry in the cockpit, I don't want to get caught out by the rain which looks possible. Nor do I want to get caught out by the quickly rising wind which often precedes the rain! The clothing will have to come in soon anyway but hopefully will have dried somewhat.

My other job of today has just been finished. I spotted one of my bits of anti-chafe plastic tubing on a lower shroud dangling loose yesterday. If it hadn't been secured at its lower end with some insulating (sticky) tape, it would have been long gone - so today I went around all the tubing and wrapped tape around in several places - hopefully, that will keep them in place now.

The wind has been right down to 7 knots or less over most of the afternoon, rising to 10-11 knots by 5pm, so our speed has been down again. This light wind is expected to continue for a day or so, before gradually strengthening, until by dawn on Wed 22nd it will be around 20 kt, peaking to 30-40 knots or more later in the day, very slowly reducing a little over Thurs 23rd Dec, maybe reaching 20kt again, by early on Christmas Eve... There's a chance it might have died down more by Christmas Day... but the swells are sure to be big still, for a time.

6.00pm Drizzle! In with the clothing ... checked the windsteering before the rain got any heavier - the wind keeps swinging about so our course varies quite a bit.

24hr DMG to noon UTC: 128 n.ml.

At 1200 UTC: Pitcairn 1033ml; Easter Island 975ml; Chile ml (nearest point) 1960ml; Cape Horn WP 2260ml; N.Z. (nearest pt - Portland Island) 2762ml; Mexico (Cabo San Lucas) 3850ml.

Sunday 19th December (Day 55)

We've started making good speed with the increased wind - but with grey sky, bigger swell and cooler temperatures by late afternoon.... The pole was removed and the genoa brought to leeward, although the pole might be needed again quite soon as we're on a very broad reach, in a W-WNW wind, in order to make our course of about 134T for Cape Horn.

The solitary bird was soaring gracefully on almost motionless wings nearby again today - beautiful. Dark above, white beneath, with dark breast, and dark edges & tips to its undewings.

I spent a long time on an Excel spreadsheet for my food stores - was all set to print off the lovingly-composed, highly useful, final version on my little portable printer, when the laptop died ... I tried to resuscitate it several times - but to no avail ... All that wasted time and effort ...! The PC was the old one, not the one I'm using now for emails etc, but it had the Excel software on it which this one doesn't have. So it's not the major disaster it might have been.... just very frustrating...! Had messages warning of 'imminent failure of hard drive'...!! Back to the quill pen....

Radio propagation was poor today - could hardly hear the usual Kiwis and Aussies on PacSeaNet tonight - whereas the other night we all had a great chat, hearing each other really clearly!

Every day for the last week, the magnetic variation has increased by a degree. It was 18E when I left Victoria, reduced slowly to stay at 10E for over ten days while we headed due S, including when I crossed the Equator at 118W, and is now increasing more and more rapidly - it's now standing at 23E and will keep increasing to a maximum East variation before reducing again to reach zero in the S. Atlantic... and will then increase as a West variation. 20 days E of Cape Town, in March this year,I saw it reach a maximum of 46W, reducing to zero at around 40S 124E, 3 weeks later, from where it switched to an increasing East variation. . Our Earth is really just an enormous bar magnet!

24hr DMG to noon UTC: 80 n.ml. -well down, as was expected!

At 1200 UTC: Pitcairn 911ml; Easter Island 972ml; Chile ml (nearest point) 2085ml; Cape Horn WP 2388ml; N.Z. (nearest pt - Gable End, Foreland)2703ml; Mexico (Cabo San Lucas) 3782ml.

Saturday 18th December Day 54

Before posting this, I went up on deck to enjoy the calm sea sparkling in the bright moonlight under a starry sky. The only clouds are low on the northern horizon... a beautiful night... The photo shows sunrise this morning - a few hours before we gybed onto starboard tack.

The only bird I've seen for several days flew around us, just the once, this morning - a graceful shearwater or petrel, I'm not sure which.... dark above with light underparts and dark breast - so many like that - impossible to identify without a longer, closer look .... but could well be the same one I've seen a couple of times fleetingly over the last week or so.

Yet another calm day with hot sunshine over most of it and a long slow swell from the North. By last night, the wind had backed into the NNE and around mid-morning it quite quickly backed further - to W of N - and dropped back down to just 5-6 knots, having teasingly got up to 9 knots around dawn. It's been swinging around from the N all day, sometimes just E of N, sometimes W of N... but rarely getting above 7 knots in strength, often just 3-4 knots, so we've been struggling to make way - but at least, having gybed the mains'l and poled-out genoa around mid-morning with the change in wind direction (that took a time...!!), we're making our course - just W of S. We're clearly crossing the High pressure ridge now - pressure has been dropping steadily over the day from the high of 1037 hPa yesterday to 1032 hPa by early this evening - so hopefully, quite soon, the wind will start increasing in strength, as it backs some more, and we'll be able to head more directly towards Cape Horn, with the High pressure centre safely north of us.

I spent some time cleaning some gooseneck barnacles off the stern at water-level this afternoon - they're so fleshy that leaning out with a knife to cut them off wasn't difficult. There are sure to be more I couldn't reach lower down on the hull and I was tempted to go for a swim, but contented myself with sitting in the hot sun and dangling my legs in the water instead - but not for long, though.... The water wasn't that warm (at 22C, it's well down on the 30C of just north of the Equator) ... and I didn't fancy finding out there was unseen life lurking in the deep nearby - as an ex-windsurfer, horror stories of legs lost to sharks while trying to water-start always come to mind...!

I'm actually looking around for jobs to do now! I ruled up my logbook pages for many days ahead (past Cape Horn, in fact!)... and looked over my distances to date - not very good, I feel, but I have covered a total, according to my daily DMG, of well over 5720 n.ml. from Victoria, so far. In fact, that's in keeping with my conservative estimate of 7 months' total time ... we'll see!

Radio turned up a couple of unexpected contacts - one on 21402 kHz, at my usual time of around 2245UTC, and the other on the Pacific Seafarers Net around 0315 UTC on 14300 kHz- Don & Priscilla of 'Chautauqua', now in Sydney. We first met at Hilton Head in early 2001 and have not met up since, although we've always kept in touch - so it was a lovely surprise to hear Don's call!

Food tonight was asparagus omelette with fried diced potatoes - fresh eggs are still fine, being turned every 1-2 days...

24hr DMG to noon UTC: 103 n.ml. - it will be even less by tomorrow, if today's consistent SOG of 2-3 knots is kept up !

At 1200 UTC: Pitcairn 834ml; Easter Island 934ml; Chile ml (nearest point) 2240ml; Cape Horn WP 2455ml; N.Z. (nearest pt)2713ml; Mexico (Cabo San Lucas) 3710ml.

Sunrise 38S 123W / Dec 10

Friday 17th December Day 53

Another calm, warm day - of decreasing, slowly backing wind, causing our speed to drop over the afternoon. Hardly any clouds ... although just before sunset, a thin cloud layer spread over the sky - but not long after it was clear again -with a bright moon.

I still feel as though I've had a reprieve - although perhaps it's more a feeling of "the calm before the storm"..... I'm constantly thinking ahead to the next few weeks and rounding Cape Horn - well down in the 'Furious Fifties" - that waypoint, well away from the Cape to avoid the relatively shallow sea there, is presently at 57S! That's why it's nice to have so many calm, warm days now - and enjoy relaxed breakfasts in the cockpit.

Spent more time finishing going through my food stores, discovering some things I thought I'd forgotten to buy and finding others in places where I'd forgotten I'd stowed them - took quite a time but has definitely been worthwhile listing it all carefully - still haven't come across my original lists!

While doing that, I went to the fridge to get some Port Salut cheese for lunch - which has had no problem surviving no refrigeration. It has the traditional outer coating that did the job for centuries so it's not too surprising that it's lasted so well. But the visit to the fridge showed me that that needed attention badly - so the rest of the day was spent sorting it out and cleaning it completely, having only partly done that the other day ...... lots of food for fishes ... and lots of washing of plastic wrappings. I never throw anything plastic or plastic-coated into the sea but to keep them until the end of my journey means I have to wash them all thoroughly (in seawater) to prevent them started to smell. I've just put one bag of plastic bits into the aft lazarette to await landfall.

By sunset, the wind had backed into the NNE and we were struggling to make even 3 knots. I was finally able to look at the pole, to try to free the jaw - fresh water, hard brushing and a good spray of lubricating fluid didn't seem to be working - but some knocking with a heavy metal tool helped it along no end! Suddenly it came free... and I made use of the bright moonlight to get the pole in place so I could bring the genoa over to windward - held firmly, it behaved far better and our speed gradually got up to around 4 knots, in 7-8 knots of wind.

24hr DMG to noon UTC: 125 n.ml.

At 1200 UTC: Pitcairn 751ml NW; Easter Island 865ml ENE; Chile ml (nearest point) 2190 ESE; Cape Horn WP 2523ml SE; N.Z. (E.Cape or Portland Isl.)2764ml WSW; Mexico (Cabo San Lucas) 3607ml. (012T)

Thursday 16th December Day 52

Photos show the poor squid that decided to board us overnight - big mistake! - and some spectacular towering clouds catching the setting sun the other evening.

Beautiful day again today - a few little white clouds lined up along the wind direction... not a raincloud in sight... until just before the Pacific Seafarers Net was about to begin, near sunset...when a big band of grey raincloud spread across and gave some heavy raindrops - but no big squalls!

It's good to have the time now to get done all the items on my joblist - and some extras. I feel almost as though I've had a reprieve, with so many days of calm sailing meaning I can move about easily and do whatever needs doing - on deck or below. I'll soon have to start reading some of the many magazines and books on board... Not often I get the chance to do that!

11:30am Just finished checking over connections needed to make the switch-over from butane (European) to propane (N.American) cylinders & fittings, sending gas down to galley for cooking. I want to make the changeover while in these calm conditions, so that there will be no question of my running out of cooking gas while in the strong conditions expected all too soon! I'm surprised that my butane tank has lasted so long, despite cooking a meal most days - I'm still on the one I started just before leaving Victoria - & it's not empty yet. I suspect my drinking far more plain water, and making so much less tea or coffee than usual over the day, is probably the reason for that...

I had a relaxed breakfast out in the sunny cockpit, having made some fresh coffee. I'm determined to make the most of these pleasant conditions while I have them to enjoy - an early Christmas present, I've decided!! All too soon, it's going to be a lot colder and rougher & sitting out in the cockpit over a leisurely breakfast will NOT be an option!

The wind died enough for the first reef to need shaking out (found a small squid - or is it a cuttlefish? - beside a winch!) .... and I must look at the spinnaker pole end again - I tried it in passing yesterday and couldn't open the jaw, so I suspect it's got jammed again with seasalt - despite having used it not so long ago. The hot freshwater treatment will work again, I hope! (Later - just checked again - can't budge it ... definitely on the joblist - could be needing it soon...)

I played around with the stays'l, using a snatch block to sheet it out upwind, to try to spill the wind onto the genoa - but the wind angle was wrong, so for a time I furled it away.

We were still headed on 200T, changing to 190T by the afternoon, trying to go around the light-wind centre of the high-pressure ridge to the ESE. We'll slowly turn to port, heading S and then SSE, as the wind backs more. It's in this kind of situation that wind steering can really come into its own - following the wind around as it shifts, to optimize course and speed. Hopefully, we won't end up in a 'wind hole' - as can happen so close to a High centre.... And we could get a sudden wind shift as we pass over the ridge - with the wind suddenly backing a lot.

I spent this afternoon going through my food stores, double-checking and making lists of what's stowed where. Very useful... so easy to forget where some things are, after a time.

Wind generator is still doing very little, with wind down in strength and just abaft the beam. So still only solar power for time being, with occasional top-up from diesel generator.

I'm noticing how much cooler it is over the daytime now, when not in the sun. Air temperature is around 26C and sea temperature almost down to 22C. So when in the wind, it's feeling rather cold!

24hr DMG to noon UTC: 140 n.ml.

At 1200 UTC: Pitcairn 675ml NW; Easter Island 770ml ENE; Chile 2235ml (nearest point) ESE; Cape Horn WP 2588 ml SE; N.Z. (E. Cape) 2841ml WSW; Mexico (Cabo San Lucas) 3480 ml. (013T)

Squid:

Sunset:

Wednesday 15th December - Day 51

Another lovely warm sunny day - a bit more cloud and swell than of late, and up to 2pm, no squalls.... but then a big raincloud came close ... Usual sequence ... wind dropped, then veered and increased quickly, as rain came in, then died and backed again once cloud had moved off downwind... Meant I missed my usual 2.20pm check-in to MMNet - too busy! But finally tried half-an-hour later. Only managed it near 3 o'clock, once I'd got us back onto windsteering, which meant I could turn off instruments and AP and lose the noisy interference that stops me hearing people on the radio. In trying 14305 and 21402, to see if anyone was waiting to make contact with me, I was delighted to find Steve, VA7SKM, on board 'Silas Crosby', on frequency - in La Paz, with lots of radio noise from electrical gear nearby making it difficult for him to hear me well, but he was clear to me - and a good test of him being able to talk from a less noisy environment in 3 days' time, when he sails to a small island nearby for Christmas. Later this evening, propagation was excellent on 14300 and had great radio chats on Pacific Seafarers Net!

I didn't mention yesterday just how exhilarated I felt after my radio 'sked' around the same time ... Not only had a couple of my usual contacts come on frequency to say 'Hi' and chat -which is always very nice - but two new voices came up - one a cruiser, heading for Panama who'd heard me on frequency and wanted to offer a useful contact in case I needed repairs down in Chile (!), and Jerry, KL7EDK, of Fairbanks, Alaska, who has freely given me so much help over the last few years whenever I've had a Winlink or radio-connected problem, who was clear as a bell, despite being nearly 6000 miles away! We had a short chat - his end wasn't too clear, with me fading in and out -- and we'll hope to do the same over the coming weeks - another good test of the 21402 kHz frequency becoming of use now, with my increasing distance from the US and Canada. After that, I was sitting in the cockpit, looking around at the sea and the sky, enjoying a lovely sail - and just glowing with good feelings!! I feel as though I'm connected in to two different but similar communities - the long-term cruising/sailing community - which I've generally found to be full of friendly people, helping each other if a problem arises. .. and now, particularly true of this last year or so of my passagemaking, the 'ham' radio community - equally full of friendly, supportive people, happy to make contact and chat to me, concerned for my wellbeing, out here by myself, and wanting to help me in any way they can. (Between emails and regular radio chats, I definitely don't feel alone here!) It felt good just to be alive - I took several deep breaths of fresh air - and I found myself thinking of 'Satchmo' - "It's a wonderful world"..... A pity the world can't be like that for everyone - it's how it should be always ... and not just because it's Christmas!

Sat on the foredeck in the morning, at the foot of the stays'l, with needle, thread, palm and pliers and sewed some Spectra line onto and around the leather pennant of the stays'l which is a tiny bit too long, and hanging loose so the sail is creasing near its foot when fully out and tensioned. The Spectra line was then tied around the inner forestay to hold the pennant and sail in place closer to the forestay.

Yesterday, took the topping lift off the boom end - been meaning to do that for quite a time, with it tangling with the upper SSB backstay insulator regularly and getting to be a nuisance when reefing. I've secured it near the mast foot, having checked it's not interfering with the main halyard which must be free to run.

About to check over stored food while we're still in calm conditions. It would be nice to update the really useful Excel spreadsheet organized for me last year (still has its use, Suzanne!), so I quickly know exactly where every item of food on board is stowed now!! Hope to finish that tomorrow - can't find my hand-written lists anywhere....!

Pressure is rising (1030 hPa now) and the wind has dropped a bit. Clouds are mainly astern and it's clear ahead... We're slowing down somewhat as we get closer to the high pressure ridge ahead. Even though we've changed course in an effort to avoid its centre, we'll still probably pass through a low-wind area and then I expect to change onto starboard tack as we make more directly for the Horn ... and be in the much colder air coming up from the Southern Ocean ... brrr! Already, I'm having to don another layer after sunset for overnight. Sea temperature is now down to 23C from the 27-28C of Sunday - just 3 days ago!

At noon UTC, 24hr DMG: 130 n.ml. Pitcairn 610 ml (309T); Easter 675 ml (068T); Chile 2355 ml; C. Horn WP 2664 ml (141T); NZ (E.Cape) 2935 ml (246T).

Tuesday 14th December Day 50

Had an excellent day again today - almost totally free from excitement!

Have been mainly ambling along in hot sun, getting a few more small, but useful, jobs done... like fixing bungy on shackle holding preventer line & doing some laundry while sun can heat water and dry things quickly!

I was about to sit on deck late this afternoon to do some sewing of pennant at foot of stays'l, with needle and thread all ready, when we neared a big mass of

shower-clouds.... I suddenly realized we were headed W, not SSW, in very little wind - which had veered with the proximity of clouds and rain... Being under wind steering, we'd veered along with the wind! We were nearly stopped but gradually the wind picked up and eventually, after I'd skirted around the showers, it backed to its original direction. We're headed on 200T now, trying to go around the light-wind centre of the High.

Days are getting longer.... sunrise 5am, sunset 7pm (PST).... All because we're heading S AND into midsummer...!

Very little power from wind generator now - wih the wind less, not enough to get anything useful. So only solar power for time being.

24hr DMG to this morning: 121 n.ml.

At 1200 UTC: Easter Island 596 ml ENE; N.Z. (E. Cape) 3027 ml; Cape Horn WP 2730 ml SE; Mexico (Cabo San Lucas) 3213 ml.

Monday 13th December Day 49

Mixed day of hot sun with good wind and sailing conditions, starting and ending with areas of rainclouds causing either sudden strong wind, resulting in lots of exercise, or almost no wind and consequent low speed... and on into overnight. (Making 3.1kt due S at present, in 8knots of east wind..!)

Short periods of activity (in building winds) apart, it's been another day of relaxed 'catching up' with jobs....

Finished looking over all zips - including the one on the immersion/survival suit, loaned to me by Warren when visiting on Orcas Island in October on my

way north. I sprayed it with PTFE and made sure it moved up and down OK. I also had a good look at the suit, although I didn't, as I'd been advised would

be a good idea, get into it to see how that went... The suit sizing, I noticed was 'Universal Adult' and definitely claimed to cover my end of the size spectrum

- so although Warren is a lot bigger than I am, the suit is supposed to fit me also! Hopefully, like the liferaft, it's something I'll never actually need.... but

I'm keeping it handy. Another zip I tried to fix (three, in fact!) was on a 9 month old fleece top - with seawater exposure and an aluminium zipper, the mix

guaranteed total failure - so I ended up with a zipper-less zip, three times over... How anyone can provide jackets and tops for boaters making use of

aluminiumn zippers is beyond belief - guaranteed they'll corrode and break and/or stop sliding once the seawater sits in contact with the metal...

Checked over to see where all my locker top and emergency hatch fixings are stowed - to be ready for really strong conditions. In case of broaching, or worse, in very bad seas, I can fix in place all lids in openings (to dry locker, fridge, cabin sole, etc) to prevent lids and contents from falling about the place and damaging either me or the boat.. (That's assuming they're already locked in place when things are getting pear-shaped....)

I got out two books - my only bird book (of albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels) and 'Laxton's Pacific Crossing' that I'm trying to get back into, having borrowed it for a few days in Pt Townsend - to read before leaving!

I'm even up to date with emails at present....

Some fabulous cloudscapes around today. And at sunset - tops of towering cumulo-nimbus were turned pink in setting sun. Before that, lovely rainbows

near a series of showers falling from clouds.

My check-in around 2220-2230 UTC with the Maritime Mobile Net on 14300 kHz is resulting in some confusion. It's getting very difficult to make contact now, so different people are acting as relays and posting my position on Shiptrak and/or Winlink ... with the result that my positions have sometimes been showing up as for some other boat - presumably because the person posting my position has either quoted his own callsign or has quoted my callsign incorrectly. So today, for instance, I heard of a nearby boat, at my Sunday position, with KC2OLV on board... mmm!!

24hr DMG to this morning: 128 n.ml.

At 1200 UTC: Easter Island 580 ml due E; Chile 2410 ml; N.Z. (E. Cape) 3080 ml; Cape Horn WP 2828 ml SE; Mexico 2935 ml.

Sunday 12th December 2010

A beautiful night, although I kept finding myself thinking about the VHF speaker wiring whenever I was awake! Up as usual for noon UTC (4am PST) position report & boat check - then back to sleep just after dawn... Sailing along nicely, due S, with Fred in charge.

Had a lovely relaxed morning - made some fresh coffee, found a nice fresh grapefruit (thanks, Susan!), had a leisurely breakfast in the sunshine in the

cockpit... Picked up several flying fish from on deck & finished placing anti-chafe tubing on shrouds. Pulled up the cockpit washboards and cleared the

drains - amazing how quickly fluff collects and clogs them - I want to be sure that any water getting into the cockpit will drain away fast...!

1pm - Was just looking at grib files and weather info over a cup of coffee when I felt boat beginning to heel over ... and then a lot more..... Wind was up ...

quickly on deck... ease mainsheet... take in first reef in the strong wind - a raincloud was just upwind of us!! A few drops of light rain... and then , when all

the excitement was over, the wind died right down to 4-5 knots... and we were struggling to make way ....grrr! Another cloud not far ahead - so time to

relax, go with the flow.... and not be tempted to start letting out that reef again, too soon...! Sky no longer clear blue - quite a few clouds had built up -

many with light rain falling...

By 3pm, all was over - very few clouds to be seen, although one or two cumulus piling up - but well off in the distance, not grey, nor any showers seen

beneath them.

In the meantime, I'd tried checking in with the M.M.Net on 14300 kHz - both Net Control and Gary could be heard clearly by me - but they could not copy

me. Fortunately, Jane, NH7TZ, in Kauai, was on frequency with good copy, so she took my details to relay to the Net.

Decided it was time to try getting somewhere with the VHF radio external speaker, yet again.... Got out the multi-meter, disconnected the speaker and

wiring to it, including a switch in the circuit and thoroughly checked out everything I could think of.... all parts of wiring, switch and speaker..... continuity,

resistance, voltage... connections to the radio unit .... Everything looks fine, and yet the speaker just isn't working when the radio is in use.... and I can't see

why not.... Time for an email to Navico UK, quoting the voltage and resistance measurements and asking for any useful suggestions......

I expect to stay in these nice sailing conditions for a few more days yet - lovely!!

24hr DMG to this morning: 121 n.ml.
Pitcairn 519 ml, due W; Easter Island 594 ml, 100T; N.Z. (E. Cape) 3140 ml, 241T; Cape Horn WP 2932 ml 145T; Chile 2460 ml

Saturday 11th December 2010

Photos show 'Under Full Sail' and 'Study in Blue'!

Another day of lovely sailing in bright sun and lessening swell. Gradually over the day, reefs were shaken out and genoa unfurled - until by lunchtime, we were under full canvas in around 10 knots of E wind, fairly close-hauled and often making 6-7 knots!

To avoid worries of getting too close to the light wind centre of the High, we reverted to a course of 180T. These calmer conditions are likely to continue for several more days - and that gives me the chance to deal with some outstanding jobs I'd hoped to be able to complete before reaching the bad weather of the Southern Ocean.

I cooked up a big curry with the last of my fresh meat, together with lots of onions, tomatoes and aubergine - it will form the basis of an ongoing stew/soup, possibly. I'll add in some potato & spinach tomorrow - I only recently discovered that potato in with a meat curry works really well, especially with spinach added!

Then finally I got to the thin plastic tubing I'd bought in Victoria just before leaving, to make some anti-chafe protection to go on the lower part of the shrouds where the sails rub at times.... I'd been getting a bit worried that I wouldn't have this in place by the time I was approaching Cape Horn where the weather is so much worse. When very close-hauled, I'd noticed that headsails, especially when furled, and sheets (the lines attached to the sails for handling) were often touching the shrouds - so to have some smooth plastic covering the wire would save a lot of chafe and so hopefully avoid future problems. Using a sharp Stanley knife, I sliced along the length of the tubing so it could be positioned over the wire of the shroud. This turned into a far easier (and safer!) job than I'd expected, once I found the right technique of pulling the blade along the tubing - AWAY from me... ! Then I pushed the tubing into place - a bit difficult and needing a bit of 'grunt' because the tubing is slightly under-sized and grips the shroud tightly. But it will work & should do a good job. I'll do some more tomorrow - sunset took place over that time so I paused working to enjoy it.....

Tonight - millions of stars and the pleasant, gentle sailing continues - with first reef in the mains'l as a precaution! A waxing crescent moon set quite early - I've been told that I might see a total eclipse of the moon at full moon soon, just as it rises - I do hope I get to see that...

24hr DMG to this morning: 127 n.ml.
Pitcairn 530 ml WSW; Easter Island 629 ml ESE; N.Z. (E. Cape) 3200ml WSW, Cape Horn WP 3000ml SE; Mexico 2700 ml. NNE

Full sail:

Study in blue:

Friday 10th December 2010 (Day 46)

Just before first light this morning, 'Aquila Voyager' came close, on its way to Onsan, China... AIS showed it on clear collision course. No response initially on VHF - but later, after made contact, immediately changed course slightly to starboard to pass astern. (Checked VHF radio with them - not seeming to work well and definitely no external speaker in use - must check speaker itself to make sure it's working... - bad connection?) Had language problems but eventually chatted with officer on watch for short time - 40 yrs at sea on merchant vessels, never been on a sailing vessel - his dream!! Captain wanted to know if i needed anything - could they help?? (Penty of offers coming in - but I can't accept them, even if I wanted to!)

0700 Squall!! Big mass of grey cloud and rain close by - we got no rain but plenty of wind!!

Slight change of course - from 180T to 170T. Air definitely feeling cooler these days - although still officially in the Tropics, not feeling very tropical -
except for those squalls!

Mid-morning - all grey clouds gone, after yet another squall at 10am! With so much solar power coming in to the batteries (16A seen at times!), in addition to windpower, I ran the watermaker (It runs off the 12V batteries.) It gave a slight problem, with some air in the system, I think, but with a bit of playing around, pressurizing and de-pressurizing the system, both pumps decided to work fine eventually, so I was able to run it for as long as was needed to fill my tanks.

It turned into a beautiful day - I sat in the cockpit during the afternoon, enjoying the warmth and sunshine ... Nasty cold weather ahead .. so something to enjoy and put in the memory bank...! After a time relaxing, I decided I'd best clean the glass of the windscreen of caked on salt - it was very difficult to remove but wasn't going to get any easier if left and it was not easy seeing ahead clearly through it.....

It's getting very difficult now checking in to the Maritime Mobile Net at 2220 GMT (2.20pm PST) - might have to give up on that - not very good propagation on the 20m band now. Randy (KH6RC) in Hawaii copied me and relayed to Net Contoller, Art (K7WAH) in Arkansas, after Gary (WB6UQA), in Santa Monica, had heard me calling faintly. I heard no-one on 14305 , nor on 21402 kHz, when I monitored each frequency after my check-in, in case someone was there to chat to - I'm getting too far away....

Sat in the cockpit with a mug of tea after my window-cleaning exercise with the intention of reading a book I'd got out ready - but got side-tracked again...
I'd been meaning to have a go at seeing to a couple of jammed zips on my jackets, ready for the bad weather ahead.... Now was a perfect time to do that - took a time, but now all done.. and working, just before sunset.

24hr DMG to this morning: 131 n.ml. In just over a day's time, I'll be passing midway between Pitcairn and Easter Island.

Thursday 9th December 2010

The photo here shows a Black Noddy which came by "Nereida" to roost three nights running in late November as we were passing well offshore of the Baja California coast (Mexico)

Well, today we had regular squalls passing by! Every time, I hear the wind building and, on looking out, there's a big grey raincloud not too far away. The wind veers by at least 20 degrees, so instead of coming from the ENE it comes from S of E. If under windsteering, our course changes by that much - or more, if the wind really gusts up, as is usual, because the wind steering gets overpowered with us now carrying too much sail for the conditions. We heel over and pick up speed... and I'm busily trying to reduce the genoa hurriedly, if not tying in the third reef, to make us heel less!!

Often, before all that, the wind wll die right down - maybe to 10 kt, so we're making 2-3 kt instead of 5-7 kt, and I'm tempted to let out more sail to speed us up ... But I check for clouds first ... and wait.. and wait... for the 'blow' to come and the wind to build quickly to 22-24kt!! Generally, over the day, the wind is around 15-16kt.

This afternoon was very pleasant, with spells of sunshine and scattered light cloud in between squalls, but the morning saw mostly big grey clouds.

I missed my usual 2.20pm check-in with the Maritime Mobile Net on 14300 kHz - I was fast asleep and woke up an hour late! I clearly needed the sleep, having been up a late last night. Someone had sent a BIG file by email and I tried over and over to get it deleted - it was clogging up my 'Inbox' and, with poor connections just now, it was causing me a major problem getting my weather info, as well as other emails.... Took me a long time to sort out - but I finally managed it...

As I was checking in late, another squall came by - a big one - I actually ran off downwind , changing course by 40 degrees, to reduce the apparent wind and that worked really well, things calming right down. It doesn't take long before the squall passes - maybe 10-20 minutes, and things can get back to normal.

Around sunset, I spotted a ship just 3-5 miles off heading N- NOT on my AIS - so maybe an illegal fishing vessel? It was large enough that it should have been carrying AIS - and using it! (Someone commented the other day that the requirement is just to carry, not necessarily to use, AIS - sounds most odd!)

24hr DMG: 129 n.ml. Pitcairn 626ml; Easter Island 770 ml.

Black Noddy:

Wednesday 8th December 2010

Wednesday 9th December 2009 - log reads: 1800 GMT (2000 local time) "Royal Cape Yacht Club - safely arrived under sail - Edmund pushed me into a berth."

I'd taken 61 days under sail alone, to make the passage down the South Atlantic from Lanzarote in the Canaries, hoping to complete a nonstop circumnavigation single-handed ... but continual rigging problems forced me in to Cape Town for repairs I could not do unaided whilst at sea... then to find I had no working engine .... (I'd had to fast-tack to make the Harbour inner entrance against the wind and sailed on to the RCYC marina entrance - through the busy Wednesday evening racing fleets, headed out!!)

It was very disappointing to have to stop - but here I am, having another go, a year later, having continued on from South Africa, past Australia to New Zealand and then on to the 'Pacific North West' and Canada via Hawaii, to prepare to start all over again from Victoria, B.C. I've not long sailed across the Equator for the third time in just over thirteen months, having crossed on 27th October last year (headed S from the Canaries), 28th June this year (headed N from New Zealand) and just over a week ago - on 29th November (headed S from Canada). In sailing from England last year to reach Canada this year, I covered well over 23,000 miles! (You can tell I'm in 'remembering' mode, having been browsing through my logbook!)

It occurred to me recently that if I can get round Cape Horn safely and successfully, then somewhere in either the S. Atlantic or the S. Indian Ocean/Southern Ocean, I should cross my earlier path - which would effectively complete a solo circumnavigation, although not a nonstop one - that will happen when I get back to Victoria in May or June.

Today has been a fairly relaxed 'domestic' day with mainly pleasant sailing - but a bit of excitement several times when the wind has suddenly increased and we've found ourselves heeling a lot and needing to do some fast sail-reducing/trimming!! Once a big dark-grey raincloud not far away downwind was the clear cause of the squall, but the previous time, the sky had been clear ... a pressure 'squeeze', I suppose. If possible, I try not to reef down, since within half an hour, the wind will have almost certainly have died right down again and we'd be well under-canvassed - but when the apparent wind suddenly builds to 30 knots, as this evening, it's difficult not to reef down!!

The 'domestic' activity today has been dealing with the fridge - not working any more, so thorough cleaning and sorting out needed - and some washing of last night's few clothes that got thoroughly seawater soaked in a squall - they blew dry in no time (photo!), hanging out this afternoon under a hot sun in good wind!

I also cooked a good meal this afternoon - I've been finding that unless I start cooking in daylight, I've not felt inclined to cook later in the evening ... so have missed several evening meals and 'snacked' instead - not good news, so I felt I should take myself sternly in hand...!!

We're continuing to head due S, to stay on the W side of the S.E. Pacific High pressure area. On reaching 30S next week, it's likely that I'll be able to start looking for a slow turn to port - around the High centre - and start heading more directly SE towards Cape Horn.

24hr DMG to this morning: 145 n.ml. (better!)
Pitcairn Island 720ml; Easter Island 865ml; Peru 2515ml; NZ (E. Cape) 3392ml; San Diego 2995ml; Cabo San Lucas 2483ml

Drying cloths:

Tuesday 7th December 2010 Day 43

A lovely day of very pleasant sailing- I spent quite a time in bright sunshine this afternoon, just relaxing and gazing around, enjoying the sea and cloudscape as we sped along comfortably at 6-7 knots . Photo shows the cloudscape around sunset tonight. A lovely crescent moon hung high above the sunset later.. but within an hour, after darkness had fallen (of course!), the wind increased from 16 to 22kt just as I was about to check-in to the Pacific Seafarers Net. I had to go on deck to reduce and trim the sails ... and was promptly totally drenched by a wave sweeping the decks - had to quickly strip off and drape a towel around me as I belatedly gave my check-in details with dripping hair!! (Who needs to swim in the sea when the sea comes to you?!!) Sea is 28C, air 25-27C.... so not too chilling an experience!

The fridge has stopped working - so I've wrappped my carton of UHT ('fresh') milk, opened this morning, in a wet cloth to keep it cool, so it lasts to tomorrow's breakfast - the old tricks still work when modern technonlogy fails...! Dinner tonight is pork chop with onions and potatoes - again... and probably repeated while I use up fresh stuff before it goes off... I might have to make a big stew and keep thoroughly heating it up each day to keep it.

Last night, Tom, K4XV, kindly pointed his beam antenna my way to try to help with my (usuccessful) Winlink connections - it helped soon after, but for some reason, didn't help so much this morning, when I struggled again with a poor connection... Sailmail (Manihi) is excellent, but time is restricted on that system.

Had a call at 1.30am from Paul at Raymarine UK to check on AP - I agreed to turn it on (was on wind steering, with Fred happily in charge) and left it for the rest of the night and on until early afternoon. We were both pleased when I was able to report, when he phoned again later, that there still no problems!!

Check in to the M.M. Net on 14300 in the early afternoon is still just about OK - although with distance increasing, it's getting more difficult. Bill, KI4MMZ, and Gary, WB6UQA, keep an ear out for me after 2.15pm and generally manage between them - but few people are coming up afterwards on 14305 these days - 'copy' is too light with distance for many now... although Tom, WA6TLL, came up again - and we tried out 21402kHz ... an alternative frequency he's suggesting will work for longer distances, as I get closer to Cape Horn.

I'm feeling slightly at a loss, with time on my hands and no urgent problems to deal with...!!! I'm thinking about other jobs on the long-term joblist that I can turn my attention to now... Maybe I might actually soon get to finishing a book I started in Pt Townsend before leaving there early in October! I definitely need to investigate that fridge, though - a thorough clean is going to be needed very soon....

24hr DMG to this morning: 128 n.ml. - still on the low side but OK. ETA for rounding Cape Horn is looking to be sometime in early January, with Christmas spent during the approach.

Monday 6th December 2010 Day 42

(Photos have been added to Saturday's news -go see!)

5pm We've left behind the clear blue sky and hot sun of yesterday .... Cloudy now, with some large grey rainclouds around... Had some rain late last night.

Seas still quite big at over 3m. Wind from E - mainly 16-18kt but several periods today of 22kt - one' blow' came from under a clear sky! (Since we're on a

close reach, the apparent wind is always more than the true wind quoted here.)

Early this morning, soon after dawn, the wind and seas increased ... we were heeling a lot ... I waited a bit..... time for the 3rd reef in the mains'l!

I'd had an overnight call from Raymarine as they started work (UK 9.15am is my/PST 1.15am - I was asleep!) to check on the AP situation. We agreed they'd

phone again near their end of day, after I'd slept some more and had a chance to do some wiring work in daylight, before trying out the AP again. Although

I'd got rid of the faulty relay in the course computer/AP power feed last night, I still needed to cut out the noise suppressor from the power feed to the

hydraulic pump and join the wires with heat shrink butt connectors, before changing over the drive to the rudder, ready to try out the system yet again...

So having reefed, I then got on with that job - had to wedge myself firmly so as not to slide about in the big seas! It all went smoothly, with just enough

slack in the wires to make it fairly easy to do a good job - I wanted to be certain of a really good connection since that was the whole point of the exercise!

Having a really good crimper and a hot gun makes such a difference.... By 7.15, I was satisfied that the wires were well connected and I was able to change

over the drives, before releasing the steering wheel (Fred had been in chargeup to then). Heart in mouth, I started up the AP in the still very strong

conditions...... It took over without a hitch and continued to work smoothly all morning .... until I put Fred back in charge, ready for my afternoon

(interference-free!) radio check-in to the M.M.Net on 14300 kHz.... Absolutely no error messages ... so it looks as though my re-wiring efforts did the trick

and the course computer and drive motor have plenty of power now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the AP problems might finally be behind me....

Thanks to Paul at Raymarine UK for all his help and advice.... and Derek also.

The problem with gusty conditions like today's is that it's so difficult always to get the sail trim right - I've had to furl in and out both headsails a little from

time to time... I'm tending to be cautious not to be over-canvassed in the beam seas we're in - we often heel over as lot as a wave picks us up beam-on ...

no problem now but if the seas got a lot bigger, and especially if they began to break, I might want to sail a slightly different course to avoid problems.

We're still headed due S - until we reach 30S maybe.

24hr DMG to this morning at 0400 PST/1200UTC : 112 n.ml. Nearest (inhabited!) islands at that time: Pitcairn 924ml, Easter 1060ml, Fatu Hiva

(Marquesas) 1070ml. Peru was 2360 ml due E and NZ (East Cape) was 3567ml to the SW

Sunday 5th December 2010

4am - dark. Still hove-to, fore-reaching SW. Position report made.... and then posted... Email received from Raymarine UK Back for more sleep while wait

for response to my reply - need to check settings now that new AP course computer is in place, along with all other changes made recently.

Up at 0700 - can't sleep any more! Email rec'd from UK with a couple of small changes needed to AP settings .... so we're all set to go now.... Just need to

attach wind vane to Fred, and release rudder so I can test wind steering as well, once I sail us out of hove-to mode .... I'm feeling VERY trepidatious, but can't

put it off any longer.!

By 9 o'clock we'd been sailing with AP in control for a time - but the error message, 'current limit', kept appearing, and we were put into standby each time...

I was very concerned, as I'd expected all would now be fine - so I phoned Paul in UK. He said to lock off windsteering rudder (which at that point I hadn't,

since I'd wanted to test that also) Did that - but still started getting 'current limit' messages... "Try old drive," was response.. OK -but that kept giving

'drive stopped' messages.... and rudder was clearly often not moving... drive motor was very hot to the touch - not a good sign...

So by 2pm, we were back with Fred in charge of wind steering, as I breathed a sigh of relief that yesterday's wiring of the damaged part was holding fine... Time to check in to the M.M. Net - and without AP noise, it was easy to hear people!

A beautiful day again - good SE Trade winds and boisterous sailing in quite a big swell ... and later on, a beautiful night sky with the Milky Way clear...

I decided to get ready to remove the damaged relay in the AP/instruments power circuit, that was now suspected of causing at least part of the present AP problem.... The other suspects were the recently-installed noise suppressors in the AP drive motor power supply wires... They are to be removed and replaced by heatshrink butt connectors - so any worry about current loss/ voltage drop across them will also be dealt with.

I searched my electrical bits & pieces, knowing I had no spare relay.... and found a fuse box taking auto-type blade fuses. I had been thinking of replacing

the faulty relay in the circuit using new heat shrink spade terminals .. but was aware of a warning about possible melting in unlikely event of current

exceeding 30A.

It suddenly dawned on me (as I stood watching the sunset with my mug of tea tonight!) that I could use the fuse box with a single 40A blade fuse in it in

place of the relay. I didn't even need to touch female terminals on existing wires since they fitted the fuse box male spade terminals exactly.... and no

worries about melting heat shrink fittings ... brilliant!! Relay WAS very hot when I went to remove it. Other benefit of my idea was that I can remove one

spade terminal when about to use radio ... to lose noise from instruments by turning off their power - so long as AP not in use, of course!! (AP and

instruments are powered up by the same switch normally) I felt pleased as Punch - and it didn't take long to organize. I've placed fuse box on top of

bunk now for ease of access for 'switch' purposes... Just need to drill a couple of holes in wood of bunk top to allow wires to pass through to fusebox on

top.

It was time for the Pacific Seafarers Net - and I was easily able to turn off the instruments in order to hear clearly, with the new fusebox arrangement....

Means I have to go into the aft cabin, but it should help resolve the AP problem.

So all I have to do now, after removing the noise suppressors, is to start the AP again - and see how each of two drive units behaves, with straightforward

wiring in circuit...... Tomorrow!!

24hr DMG to this morning, having been hove to a lot of the time: 47 n.ml.!! Tomorrow's figure should be nearer to normal, with the reasonable speeds

made since this morning.

Saturday 4th December 2010 Day 40 Hove-to for work on self-steering systems...

4am Position report made.... I'd got us sailing so I could tack around and then heave to on the opposite tack before that- so we're now fore-reaching SW instead of NW! Always nice to be going roughly in the right direction, even if at less than 2 knots!! Mounts up over a day or so...

4.45am - First light....Checked emails - nothing from UK re AP problem queries so phoned: Told to "change course computer over - use your spare".... error messages I've been getting indicate problem lies there..... grrr!!

Getting back for a short sleep before looking for spare course computer to make that changeover - and to try to fix wind steering... still tired...

1.30pm Woke up at 8.10am feeling refreshed ... Bright sun, boat still hove-to & moving gently up and down in quite big seas (3-4m), feeling peaceful and calm.... Decided to treat this as a 'holiday' (it is the weekend, right?) since not going anywhere very fast (fore-reaching at 1.6-2.4kn SW) and expected repairs to take up the whole day. What's one day in seven months?? The song "Messing about on the water" came to mind .... that was going to be me today!! Had leisurely breakfast sitting out in cockpit with some nice fresh coffee as a treat (not often having coffee these days - more often just drinking water).

Got myself organized to start on the wind steering problem. Tied on to my harness the few items needed... pliers & two different spools of wire.... and had sunglasses & reading specs dangling on cords also. I'd previously fixed the rudder midships and removed the vane, so the gear ratio part I needed to fix in place was easily held in the position I wanted to wire it into.

As I was about to get to work, it was time for the Manana Net on 14340. Without the AP noise on frequency, nor any noise from instruments (I'd turned them off since not needed), I was able to hear Jerry (KC6ILH), Tom (WA6TLL) and later Randy (KH6RC). Jerry and Randy were able to hear me so I gave my position,

updated them on the situation on board and told them what was on today's joblist. It was good to be able to make the contact and chat to people. There's

really nothing to worry about in the present warm, calm conditions - so long as I could fix things - and I felt that seemed very likely, given time.... and I've

plenty of that!

I set about the wind steering wiring. The good news, apart from the bright, sunny, calm weather (wind ESE-E 14-16kt), was that the sun was behind me, not shining in my face, and also I could sit on or stand between the two strong struts of the wind steering installation fixed to the stern of the boat - so I was very safe, quite apart from being strapped to the backstay - there was no way I could fall overboard, even when a bigger wave came along to rock the boat from time to time.

In fact, I felt very comfortable, and my feet and legs being washed by the seawater from time to time was actually very pleasant and refreshing. I've not

been for a dip since I don't know when and the sea temperatute is up at 28C!! Just to increase my enjoyment of the day further, I played my 'sing along'

music to work to - all very pleasant - definitely felt just like "messing about on the water"!!

I've finished the wiring now - lots of twisting with pliers. I've fixed all the different bits of wire to each other, while keeping the moveable parts fixed in place where I wanted them. It looks pretty solid - I don't want it to slip... so it just needs the vane to be attached and the rudder to be allowed to move for it to operate as usual - should work fine - but I'll wait to check it out until I'm ready to sail off my hove-to position after dealing with replacing the AP course computer....

Time then to check in with the M.M.Net on 14300 - with no RF noise again, it was so much easier, despite the distance involved. Then I went to 14305 at 2.30pm, had short chat with Tom (WA6TLL) - but he was struggling with noise his end - and then chatted with Steve (VA7SKM) on 'Silas Crosby' - now in Muertos on the way to La Paz .... He gave me details of a Radio Net in Chile which might be useful soon.

Had to dig out the spare course computer from where it was buried in the forepeak, a few layers down, before I could start disconnecting the old one, labelling all wires to be safe, even though I was sure I could see clearly where each went - I did NOT want to risk making any mistakes! I'd turned off power but taped over the ends of the 'live' power wires - again just to be extra safe. Cable ties had to be cut, and I took great care with the delicate plastic bits that needed to be pushed to open up the 'jaws' that held so many of the fine wires - I'd had warnings not to break them... I was interested to find that the back plate of the computer was metal - I'd thought it was plastic, as the front cover was... There was also a clear threaded hole for a grounding connection - but later I read a warning in the manual NOT to use that to ground this particular version of the course computer, although it was essential for another version - to avoid RF problems.... mmm! Here I am with a major RF noise problem, seeming to come from this computer when controlling the AP motor .....

By 6.40pm, all was done and tidied away in the aft cabin & I was at the chart table, ready to check over the many calibration settings - wondering what I should do about not being able to calibrate by the usual routine of motoring gently in 2-3 circles and then setting the boat on an 'AP auto-learn ' routine ... The headings on display were badly out, but in the end I took my hand-held compass and used it to set the boat's magnetic heading - at least it will be roughly right! And the GPS is clearly still giving us correct SOG and COG readings... so it all looks ready to 'push the button' after sailing off our hove-to position. But it's dark now, so I'll eat first and then think about trying it out - If there's the slightest hint of a problem, I'll heave to again and wait until daylight to set the wind steering going....

24hr DMG to this morning was 100 n.ml. (We lost effectively 20 miles overnight, fore-reaching 10 miles to the NW when hove-to initially)

If there are two photos showing (one of my wind steering wiring efforts and one of me 'ready for action', it will be thanks to Bill, VE7WSM, who has kindly agreed to try to 'post' photos with my 'blogs' from time to time. Thanks, Bill!

Getting ready:

All completed:

Friday 3rd December 2010 Day 39

10am Up before 4am, with AP frequently giving 'Drive stopped' messages still - but at least I got 3 or so hrs sleep lying down - I'd started out sitting at chart table beside AP control unit, trying to get naps in betweeen error messages!! Took a very long time connecting in to send position report and download emails... Had email from UK - weather causing chaos there!! So my Raymarine contact has been unable to get in to work .. and has been having email and telephone problems.. Spoke to him on satphone about ongoing AP problem - he suggested I try replacing drive unit with spare, to see how that goes, before changing course computer over, since doing that would give rise to immediate problem with calibration, not being able to motor gently in calm seas for 2-3 turns, etc...!

So spent some time on that ... and now have spare autopilot drive working in place of faulty one - and, after a few initial hiccups, it's been doing fine. So that also means course computer seems to be OK, which is a relief! Still one or two settings to check in calmer conditions, but at least I can relax over that problem... Next on the list is the wind steering 'fix'.

Sun is getting hot now, ...time for some breakfast... and some sleep...

5.30pm Sun getting low in clear sky - must watch it go down . Has been a beautiful day with good steady wind, mainly ESE. Headed due S now.

Woke up from sleep soon after 1pm. Managed (with usual time-consuming difficulty finding a suitable station!) to download emails and weather info ... Got reply I'd been expecting on fixing wind steering problem so will do that tomorrow - with wire &/or hose clamps - need to allow plenty of time to do the job and must make sure I'm clear in advance as to what to do. Looks fairly straightforward, but I may need to heave to, if doing while underway doesn't feel comfortable .. or safe!!

Checked in to M.M.Net on 14300kHz - only problem now is an awful squealing noise on that frequency, from AP motor working! So after making contact, moved to 14305 to give position etc. Gary, WB6UQA, has been taking my details for several days now and posting to Shiptrak for me. Also spoke to Tom, WA6TLL, in California - he's been watching out for me for some time now and was able to relay to Steve, VA7SKM, now in Cabo San Lucas, who I had trouble copying clearly. Bill, KI4MMZ, came up on frequency also - he's also part of the M.M.Net team of 'hams' and has also taken my position/weather details in the past... He's trying to get a Pactor modem working for Winlink connections, which would be great, but he's a 'newbie' at that, so needing some help! It's getting increasungly difficult to hear people in N. America and Mexico now - although plenty of people are hearing me fine - tell me I've a good radio signal which is nice to hear!

Time for tea and my 'sunset watch' followed by a meal and early to sleep tonight..

Much later..... Well, that was the plan - but AP began giving out error messages just before time of Pacific Seafarers Net check-in (0300GMT/7pm PST) - which I did, but rather late. Never did get to my meal... was tied to chart table instead, trying to cope with AP messages and keep us from going' hove-to'. Felt pretty devastated, having though AP problem was resolved and all was OK. Some time later, realizing I was never going to get any sleep that way (forget food!), I decided to lie down for some much-needed sleep, knowing that at some point we'd end up hove to... although with wind down a touch, AP was behaving just then and we were sailing nicely on course... Being hove to is a perfectly safe state to be in, so that thought was of no concern - I needed to sleep!

24hr DMG to Friday morning: 128 n.ml. Marquesas 1120ml; Pitcairn 1127ml; Easter 1260ml; Galapagos 1750ml; (Cabo San Lucas 1967ml.)

Thursday 2nd December 2010 Day 38

10.30am Struggling again to make radio connections for emails and weather info. We're just too far now from the nearest shore stations to make contact to transmit/receive well enough.

Grey skies - gusty conditions... seas well up... very poor course keeping - wandering around badly... windsteering not coping - seas too big? .... found us hove to.... Had to gybe around to get out of it...

Managed good contact with Manana Net on 14340 kHz but sails got backed while on frequency, so we went hove to again... grrr! (...very calm & peaceful though!!)

11.30am No wonder wind steering has not been coping this morning - the knob holding two parts together has broken (or fallen) off... so it's not able to keep the rudder in place for a given wind angle. Somehow, I need to hold those two parts together - the one is moving about freely at present... So we're now on (hydraulic) autopilot - which IS holding our course, amazingly.... None of the problems I had before have shown up yet. Only problem now is that radio reception will be hampered by the awful RF interference on 14300 kHz from the AP and /or the course computer controlling it...

Decided a late breakfast should come first - and will then have a look for bolts etc in spares, .... anything that might possibly be of use to fix that wind steering mechanism ....

1pm... Sun's out ... getting hot down below... bare-legged for first time in ages! I've rooted around in the spares locker and found several clevis pins and bolts and rubber sleeves that might come in handy. Need to look in another place to see what I've got there, by way of nuts and bolts. But I've actually paused now, since AP is coping fine still, and I'm looking at VHF radio connection to AIS unit for DSC calls. Seems like just a very simple connection needed for the black & red (power) wires I found dangling the other day. Now I know what to do (had email this morning from Navionics UK, answering my queries) I want to finish with that problem completely - at least then I'll have achieved something positive today!!

1.45pm - success! The AIS unit is now 'seeing' the VHF radio to send a ship's MMSI number to it, should a DSC VHF call be wanted - as in a possible collision situation!! So with the VHF speaker also seen to (I hope!), that should mean the present VHF radio/AIS problem is finished with.

Back to finding what big nuts and bolts I've got on board, to begin trying for a possible 'fix' of the missing windsteering (spring-loaded) bolt. Even assuming that my present vague idea of what to do will work in practice, it's not going to be easy, quite apart from the fact that I'll have to perch on the stern of the boat, leaning out aft, to reach the area concerned. It's definitely going to be an 'interesting' job in the present big seas we've got...!! At least we're in fairly steady Trade Winds.... Will probably have to heave to and definitely have to strap myself in, for safety....

Made a point of spending time on deck, just gazing at the scene around, with a mug of tea .... Pleasant sailing conditions, so a pity not to take time out to enjoy them for a few moments!

Later: I've taken a photo and sent an email to see if any bright ideas other than my proposed 'fix' are forthcoming... and maybe confirm that my idea would work in practice.... "All" it needs is somehow to clamp two parts together rigidly enough, so that it can work as usual... that's all...!

Checked in as usual to Pacific Seafarers Net at 7.20pm PST - they're all very familiar people now - friendly & supportive - so it was nice to chat to some of them - even if they are 2-3 thousand or more miles away (-in Aus, NZ, USA mainland and Hawaii)!! Only problem was that awful squealing I could hear on 14300 from the AP - so we moved to 14305 to chat, free of that noise.

Meal & then early to sleep - hoping not to be woken too many times by AP failing (it's gone off 5 times in the last 20 minutes - might have to nap at the chart table...) Must try to sort out the wind steering tomorrow, if I can.... Weather won't improve when I get much further S but, for the time being, I'm in reasonably steady SE Trades.

24hr DMG to this morning: 142 n.ml. Distance to nearest islands: Marquesas - 1160ml WSW; Pitcairn - 1275ml SSW; Easter - 1365ml SSE ; (Cabo San Lucas - 1482ml NNE, Peru - 2286 ml E)

Wednesday 1st December 2010 Day 37

Last night's meal was fresh pork chop, fried onions, potatoes, sweetcorn ... & some plain, dark choc after... lovely! Had it straight after PacSeaNet rollcall and chat session(!) - then to bunk for early sleep!

Found two good-sized flying fish on deck this morning. I'm frequently seeing a solitary white-rumped storm petrel... but no other life seen for some time... I'm looking forward to seeing my first albatross S of the equator ..... But probably not for a time yet.

10:30am VERY difficult getting a Winlink radio connection to post 4am position report. Managed eventually, but only at 5.30am, after a long time trying... Sailmail was better, using Manihi station. Later, tried again - no joy, so tried Iridium connection - and that failed also, although looked OK initially - "no answer" it said.... So totally unsuccessful in attempts to send&receive emails later this morning. Theere's an enormous incoming email file - over 11kb - have tried to get it deleted. It's way too big to download over a poor connection. (Later: Winlink sysop Jerry, KL7EDK, deleted it for me - thanks!)

4.30pm Grey rainclouds, after lovely sunny morning ... showers nearby. Wind got up, so tied in 2nd reef ... boat speed better! Just finished re-wiring external speaker connection to VHF radio (I hope it's OK! Until a ship comes by, I've no way of testing it.) That done, I could then fix back in place my gimballed mug-holder at chart table - so useful for preventing disastrous spillages there!

Just about managed a check-in with the M.M.Net on 14300 kHz at 3.25pm - getting more difficult with distance now. Then had very few contacts on 14305 afterward - Bill, KI4MMZ kindly came over from 14300 to chat and act as a relay, if needed. Just managed to speak to 'Silas Crosby', 20 miles off making landfall in Cabo San Lucas, but wasn't able to be heard in Port Alberni, B.C., by Bill, VE7WSM, although I could hear him fairly well and there was another station in there but I couldn't copy them at all.

Seas are up - getting more bumpy - glad I finished that wiring job when I did! Just had to switch off the (unregulated) wind generator - putting in too many electrons to batteries!! Never thought I'd have that problem - but with solar power as well, it's charging too much...! Solar power is regulated, so always safe to leave that on.

Wed morning's 24hr DMG: 138 n.ml. - not bad! Sailing in more of a straight line now under wind steering, trying to head roughly S or just W of S - nice sailing in SE Trades with wind from mainly SE but varies from SSE-ESE - a bit 'boisterous at times!!