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!!

Tuesday 30th November 2010 - Beautiful, sunny Day 36 - good sailing in SE Trades!

Up at 4am PST, as usual - well before dawn. A beautiful, starry, clear night sky, with bright crescent moon, lying 'on its back' and lighting up the scene!

It always takes a time to sort out the information for my noon UTC position/weather report, for posting on my website via the links there. I have to connect with a shore radio station (they have the necessary Internet connection), so that I can post my report over the radio by email via that station - that often takes a lot of time and effort - and is now becoming increasingly difficult as my distance from most of the shore radio stations slowly increases. That's why, when anyone emails me they should remember NOT to send my email back to me (delete it!) , or any other 'bumpf' for that matter.... It all takes radio time (and battery power that might be struggling to cope) to download over an often very slow, difficult connection. That said, I enjoy receiving emails!

This morning's report to Winlink looked like this (Yotreps is a NZ website that a lot of cruising boats report in to, for families/friends to keep track of them, and they make good use of the weather info given in reports like this):

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2010/11/30 12:00 UTC
LATITUDE: 01-47.20S LONGITUDE: 118-39.46W
COURSE: 195T SPEED: 5.6
WIND_SPEED: 13 WIND_DIR: SE
SWELL_DIR: SE SWELL_HT: 1.5M
CLOUDS: 1%
BARO: 1015 TREND: 0
AIR_TEMP: 25.0C SEA_TEMP: 25.0C
COMMENT: 24hr DMG:125n.ml. Beautiful clear night. Crossed Equator y'day 0825PST

While I'm connected, I download incoming emails and if I'm behind with writing up my daily log for the website, I'll usually get that done and send it off as well. Invariably, there's also weather info to look at and think about, as well as keeping on top of email queries regarding current problems I'm having to deal with onboard (such as AP & VHF problems!) to get the help I need from technical people with the expertise/knowledge I'm lacking.

While I'm doing all that, the sun will have risen and the morning radio Nets are starting up - they provide a good way of making voice contact with people. Either I'll get back to sleep or, if propagation is good, I'll check in to one or two of them and maybe help out by relaying for them. I'm getting to know several regulars on the Nets now!

I'm amazed at how well my batteries are being charged at present... With so much solar and wind power going in, they're regularly over 13V, and it's not unusual for them to reach 14V - I'm having to take care, these days, not to OVERcharge them!! Seeing 14A going into them this afternoon from solar power alone, I ran my 12V watermaker today - normally, I only run that when topping up my batteries using the little diesel generator - but that's not been run now for nearly a week!

From the clear blue sky of earlier, the cloud very slowly built up over the day - large white cumulus, this afternoon - but not much overhead now, although a line of cloud ahead, on the S horizon.... I'm wondering if I'll get any squalls at some point - always something to keep an eye out for, but so far, no sign of any.... Just lovely gentle Trade Winds sailing, under mainly wind steering, in sunshine and good wind - around 14 kt from ESE-SE, so we're close reaching at 5.5-6.0 kt on a course of 185-195T. We're heeling in swell from the SE - I took a reef in this morning to stop excessive heeling - if the boat's not well-balanced, it's difficult for the wind steering to cope and if the electronic autopilot (AP) is on, it has to work a lot harder - using more battery power... The good news of this afternoon is that the foul current we've seen fora few days now has finally given way to a slight fair current - it's always nice to see our speed over the ground (SOG - given by the GPS) showing as more than the actual boatspeed (through the water)!!

After my problems with using the autopilot later yesterday morning, I was advised to try a couple of changes to the settings - I've done that and things are a little better but still not good enough to cope with stronger conditions and more demanding course-keeping - so that is still being worked on... It's a problem talking to someone in the UK who's 8 hours ahead - my morning (9am PST) is his late afternoon (5pm GMT) & end of the work day!

This morning's 24hr DMG was 125 n.ml. with half to one knot being lost to current over the period - we would probably have made 18 n.ml. more (DMG 143 n.ml.!) otherwise. We were 1300 ml ENE of the Marquesas, 1620 ml nearly due W of the Galapagos, 1500 ml from Mexico (nearest point: Tenacatita), 2483 ml from Hawaii .... and San Diego lay due N, 2100 ml away!

As I head S, I'll probably be passing betwen Pitcairn Island and Easter Island - they lie 1108 miles apart in the S. Pacific - to the NE of New Zealand and W of Chile in S. America.

Time for tea and thoughts of tonight's meal.... sunset not far away ... Still no 'green flash' seen, although yesterday I did see the 'emerald on the sun's finger' - the rim of the sun turned green just as it disappeared over the horizon - pretty, but NOT a 'green flash', which happens a few moments AFTER the sun has disappeared!! (I've only ever seen 2, maybe 3, green flashes - the very first one was spectacular!)

Monday 29th November 2010 - Day 35

We crossed the Equator at 0825 PST - headed S towards Cape Horn (ETA around New Year 2011). Last time we crossed, I was headed N from New Zealand to Hawaii on 28th June - almost exactly 5 months ago!

About 40 ml N of Equator last night, I noticed that we were losing speed to current - around half a knot. The W-going equatorial current was no longer helping us - pity! It hadn't lasted as long as expected. We continued to lose speed - by the time we were 15 ml S of the Equator, and for the rest of the day, we were losing a knot to current .... that will cut down Tuesday morning's daily run by about 20 ml.

As I was about to cross the Equator, I was talking to Raymarine UK, checking over my AP settings, prior to testing the system with the new rudder sensor unit. Reefs had been shaken out overnight and we were under full sail. I suddenly realized the latitude had gone from N to S - looked at the sea - no line to be seen (!) - but we were greeted across by the strengthening wind heeling us under cloudy skies .. I needed to tie in the first reef to be better balanced! The AP seemed to be behaving but I needed to reef the mains'l.... we agreed to wait for an hour or so ... Of course, once I'd reefed, the wind died back down....typical! In the calmer conditions, under a clear sky, all seemed fine - the wheel wasn't moving much, but it didn't need to...

On being called again, I confirmed all seemed to be OK .... but 3 hrs later, having shaken out the reef, .... more cloud, strengthening wind .... and AP stopped coping - 'Off course' and then 'Drive stopped' messages kept popping up... things were no longer looking good! Soon after midday, I reefed back down again, hoping that would help matters - tried AP on 'Track' .. but things were no better....couldn't hold the course and kept going down .... grrr!! Back onto wind steering - I put Fred in charge... and went down below to get a late brunch...

I'd hoped to deal with VHF external speaker connections today, but now decided to leave that to another day - we were heeling and moving quite a bit in a fair swell and that makes life difficult getting to fiddly wiring connections...

I celebrated my Equator crossing later - lovely clear blue sky, sailing well, although still losing a knot to current - played music all afternoon and sang along to it, in between treating myself to some favourite foods - enjoyable! Gave Neptune a tipple - of mango juice - in thanks for a safe journey!!! (Probably the first time ever that he's tasted that!!)

Had an enjoyable session on 14305 at 2.30 pm PST after my usual check-in to M.M.Net on 14300 beforehand. Randy, KH6RC, came up to congratulate me on crossing 'the line' (He'd also heard me saying that the AP was still playing up & wanted to find out more) and then Steve, VA7SKM, and Tom, K4XV, both 'stopped by' for a chat.... It's always nice when people come on frequency to meet up.

Later, on the Pacific Seafarers Net, there was some discussion on how much they hoped to be able to keep in contact as I head further S. Randy had already said he should be able to stay in touch all the way to the Horn, and Paul, VK2HMV, and others in Australia and N.Z., said the same, with several saying they should be able to pick me up between S. Africa and Aus, on my way back to the Pacific next year. A good bunch of nice, friendly people, very concerned for my safety & well-being... Thanks for being there!

24hr DMG was 134 n.ml. up to Monday morning (noon UTC!) - not too bad, with only a few hours of foul current over that time, cancelled out by some fair current earlier.

...........................................................................................
Sunday 28th November 2010 (Day 34)

11am Finishing leisurely b'fast! Checked into Amigo, Chubasco and Baja Nets earlier - all very

friendly & caught up with a boatfriend for a chat as a result. Looking over, & downloading,

weatherfaxes and ordering more grib files for new sailing area ahead. Looking at Chile and NZ

weatherfax schedules to become familiar with what's on offer and when. Presently using KVM70 in

Honolulu for weatherfaxes, having used NMC at Pt Reyes when further north.

Sun getting out - light grey overcast giving way to well-broken white clouds - pleasant day. Cool

enough (26C) to add another short-sleeved cotton top to my cotton vest. Batteries are right up with

good wind and sun - just over 14 volts when fridge not running and 13.5V when it is - fantastic!

Solar panels putting in 10-16A at present. (Later: Had to turn off the wind generator for a time -

we were taking batteries up too high - amazing!)

Swell knocking us from time to time, heeling a bit , but nothing too bad! Speed (SOG) 5.5-6.3kt, wind has swung to ESE from SSE of earlier, so course is now 190T - we're under wind steering and

closehauled, so as wind changes, so does our course but since that's becoming more S, that's fine.

Still have two reefs in mains'l but full genoa and stays'l. Thinking about shaking out 2nd reef -

maybe after coffee!

Up since 4am (for position/weather report), so will have a nap soon.

3.10pm Had a very good sleep! Missed my usual 2230Z 'sked' on 14305 kHz! Checked in to

M.M.Net on 14300 and moved to 14305 because of problems with noise... Randy, KH6RC, in Hawaii,

helped Roy, KR6RG, take my info. Had three other stations contact me - from N. Carolina, USA,

central Canada & Baja, Mexico - a good thing, radio! Ended with a lovely long chat with 'Silas

Crosby' - Canadian boat in Magdalena Bay, Mexico.

Decided to have an early meal so made a mug of tea and then cooked ham and eggs, potatoes,

onions & tomato (fresh still - last big one!) - the food tasted good! While I was doing that, the

wind got up a bit and stayed up - I was glad I'd left the 2nd reef in...

Watched my last sunset in the northern hemisphere for several months as I began eating - next one

will be next year as I head north from New Zealand - April next year, perhaps.

As I write this, our position is 01d 05'N, 118d 24'W - so we're just 65 miles north of the Equator.

We picked up the Equatorial current around midday today. It's W-going here, so will take our

course further W of S while it lasts and may help boost our SOG. Wind is from SE at around 14 kt,

gusting to 16-18 kt or so, occasionally - the SE Trades! We're heeling somewhat and occasionally a

wave sweeps the decks, but we're making good speed - 6.4 knots and more, unless we've been

slowed by a wave hitting.

I'd hoped to have our usual Equator-crossing party in daylight - but with the good speed we're

making now, it looks as though we'll cross over 'the line' to the South in darkness or around first

light, just before dawn tomorrow... Could be good if not much cloud around - moon should still up

as sun rises. We'll postpone celebrations to later in the day. Must decide what to offer

Poseidon/Neptune....

24hr DMG to this morning was 135 n.ml - much more respectable! Reflects the better conditions

with good wind, no tacking and not too much swell to crash into too often to slow us down. We're

going to be close-hauled a lot of the way south, it seems, so any good-sized oncoming swell can

easily affect our daily runs....

Sunday 28th November 2010 (Day 34)

11am Finishing leisurely b'fast! Checked into Amigo, Chubasco and Baja Nets earlier - all very friendly & caught up with a boatfriend for a chat as a result.

Looking over, & downloading, weatherfaxes and ordering more grib files for new sailing area ahead. Looking at Chile and NZ weatherfax schedules to become familiar with what's on offer and when. Presently using KVM70 in Honolulu for weatherfaxes, having used NMC at Pt Reyes when further north.

Sun getting out - light grey overcast giving way to well-broken white clouds - pleasant day. Cool enough (26C) to add another short-sleeved cotton top to my cotton vest. Batteries are right up with good wind and sun - just over 14 volts when fridge not running and 13.5V when it is - fantastic! Solar panels putting in 10-16A at present. (Later: Had to turn off the wind generator for a time - we were taking batteries up too high - amazing!)

Swell knocking us from time to time, heeling a bit , but nothing too bad! Speed (SOG) 5.5-6.3kt, wind has swung to ESE from SSE of earlier, so course is now 190T - we're under wind steering and closehauled, so as wind changes, so does our course but since that's becoming more S, that's fine. Still have two reefs in mains'l but full genoa and stays'l. Thinking about shaking out 2nd reef - maybe after coffee!

Up since 4am (for position/weather report), so will have a nap soon.

3.10pm Had a very good sleep - clearly needed it! Missed my usual 2230Z 'sked' on 14305 kHz! Checked in to M.M.Net on 14300 and moved to 14305 because of problems with noise... Randy, KH6RC, in Hawaii, helped Roy, KR6RG, take my info. Had three other stations contact me - from N. Carolina, USA, central Canada &

Baja, Mexico - a good thing, radio! Ended with a lovely long chat with 'Silas Crosby' - Canadian boat in Magdalena Bay, Mexico.

Decided to have an early meal so made a mug of tea and then cooked ham and eggs, potatoes, onions & tomato (fresh still - last big one!) - the food tasted good! While I was doing that, the wind got up a bit and stayed up - I was glad I'd left the 2nd reef in the mains'l....

Watched my last sunset in the northern hemisphere for several months as I began eating - next one will be next year as I head north from New Zealand - April next year, perhaps.

As I write this, our position is 01d 05'N, 118d 24'W - so we're just 65 miles north of the Equator. We picked up the Equatorial current around midday today. It's W-going here, so will take our course further W of S while it lasts and may help boost our SOG. Wind is from SE at around 14 kt, gusting to 16-18 kt or so, occasionally - the SE Trades! We're heeling somewhat and occasionally a wave sweeps the decks, but we're making good speed - 6.4 knots and more, unless we've been slowed by a wave hitting.

I'd hoped to have our usual Equator-crossing party in daylight - but with the good speed we're making now, it looks as though we'll cross over 'the line' to the South in darkness or around first light, just before dawn tomorrow... Could be good if not much cloud around - moon should still up as sun rises. We'll postpone celebrations to later in the day. Must decide what to offer Poseidon/Neptune....

24hr DMG to this morning was 135 n.ml - much more respectable! Reflects the better conditions with good wind, no tacking and not too much swell to crash into too often to slow us down. We're going to be close-hauled a lot of the way south, it seems, so any good-sized oncoming swell can easily affect our daily runs....

Interesting comment from Bob McD: "BTW you've now left behind the meteorological equator where the warmest ocean is located. La Nina is making the sea about and just south of the equator cooler that normal ."... So I looked back in my logbook, to coming N earlier this year: Sea was 30.2C on 28th June at 00 54'N, 155 00W. On 27Oct last year, as crossed Equator (at 028W) headed south in S.Atlantic, sea was 31C.... Here & now: at 00 52N 118 28W, sea is only 25.3C - that's way down!!

Saturday 27th November 2010 (Day 33) We're jumping for joy! Perseverance wins the day!!

10am - darker grey clouds overcast were left behind... sunshine & scattered light cloud now. Getting a definite half knot 'push' to the S from current heading SE at present (& for some time overnight). Wind from 175T, COG 200T. Making quite good speed (~5.5kt) closehauled, in 14 knots of breeze.

Trying to figure out how to overcome 'instruments / A.P. ' always on .. Switch at chart table operates a relay which in turn switches on Raymarine instruments & also the autopilot circuit. At present, whether chart table switch is 'on' or 'off' is irrelevant - they're always on... because relay has been welded into 'closed circuit' mode. my Raymarine contact told me... So AP and instruments are being powered up no matter what I do at chart table ... So question I'm pondering is whether I can put a simple switch somewhere in the circuit to switch off power to instruments/A.P. when on radio, to stop interference as I used to be able to do from the chart table... Need to test things out by disconnecting wires in one or two places to see what's possible! Have to remove power to AP anyway while I connect up the new rudder reference unit... (but I can do that easily at the course computer).l

Midday - YIPPEEEEEE!! Problem has resolved itself! I disconnected and re-connected power lead to the relay several times - to see effect on radio noise - and switched chart table instrument switch from time to time also ..... and suddenly - instruments responded to switch.... The relay must have got re-set (or something has definitely happened!) with my powering on & off so many times ... so we're back in business again now... Perseverance (and lateral thinking!) wins the day!!!

I'm dancing for joy here! Will now get to rudder reference unit and connect it up.... Can't do any harm ... Can check AP settings with Raymarine UK as and when (Monday, probably), but will see how it behaves in relatively calm weather in the meantime.

Sailing well here, although occasionally lurching from time to time as wave hits. Wind is mainly 12-15 knots, S-SSE now - so we're gradually making a better course as we get into SE Trades.

The other good news is I've oodles of battery power! Showing 13-14V over a lot of the day, despite fridge on most of the time, radio use (for emails as well as voice) and frequent inverter use for computer. With plenty of both sun and wind power, and without AP use to take battery power, the batteries have never been so well charged when underway before! I've not needed to run the small diesel generator since Wednesday!

5pm - Grey skies clearing dead ahead, rainclouds mainly astern and abeam now. (But skies overcast again soon after)

Have connected up new rudder reference unit to course computer and tidied up wires. Rudder alignment value adjusted with wheel centred (placed mark on wheel recently when on the hard in Port Townsend. Looking through the many calibration settings, several look to be out, so will wait to Monday for discussion with Raymarine UK before starting up AP - it's all 'ready to go' now, but windsteering (Fred) is doing a good job in the steady conditions and no storms expected now, as we approach the Equator, so no immediate urgency.

I tried to send photo of the message received from the 'Darya Lakshmi' after our close encounter on Thursday night - but no joy. Will have to work on that - occasional posting of photos, however degraded they must be in order to email them, would be fun.

Message on my AIS screen came up as follows:

"Message Received from Vessel:

DARYA LAKSHMI

FRM EVERY 1 WISH U AL THE BEST.U
REACH HOME SAFE N SOUND."

Nice, friendly people!

24hr DMG was reasonable, at 102 n.ml., but we'd only been ambling along at around 5 knots while I worked on boat jobs, so not a record-breaker! at noon UTC, Galapagos islands were 1560 ml. away, on bearing of 098T snd Tehuantepec 1500 ml to ENE. Equator 275 n.ml to our south...

This is a test of sending photos with my log report. This photo shows the AIS DSC message received two nights ago from the friendly crew of the 'Darya Lakshmi'!

Friday 26th November 2010 (Day 32)

Had a great radio session Thursday afternoon, at 2.30pm PST on 14305 kHz, with lots of 'Happy Thanksgiving' and other exchanges with people as far apart as Ontario in Canada and the Baja in Mexico - all very enjoyable! Followed it up later with fresh smoked salmon steak for dinner, followed by some of Barbara's (VE7KLU) 'wine jelly' with cream cheese on crackers.

We've had to put in several tacks to keep heading S. Lost the fair current that's been so helpful for making Easting over last few days.. Got very wet in rain overnight earlier - had to change clothes - I'm running two sets - but minimal items involved, these days! Fortunately, the last time I'd put my salopettes on - so when a wave 'dumped' on me, my lower parts stayed dry... but not, of course, my hair, unfortunately...

Crossed paths overnight with the 'Darya Lakshmi' , headed to Qingdao in China, (20 days' passage!) - no response on VHF until within 4 mls - just 15 mins away from passing within a mile of us - too close for comfort, with our course varying with the wind, as it was.... They had 'Nereida' on their AIS and said they'd keep well clear... We were very close-hauled in the black darkness and banging into quite big seas and 18t of S wind. Eventually spoke to very friendly First Officer who later sent me DSC messages of good wishes for my journey from all the crew and the Capt offered fresh provisions!! (I explained why I couldn't accept - but thanked him for his kind offer!) It all ended up as a very enjoyable encounter, but had me very worried initially, getting no response to my many VHF calls and feeling obliged to light up my sails with the deck light and add the lower navigation lights to my masthead tricolour. Too often in that situation, I have visions of someone fast asleep at the ship's bridge, or simply not keeping a good lookout! I was due to check in to the Pacific Seafarers Net at that time & they stood by to make sure all ended well.

With slightly calmer seas during the day, I was able to tidy up - a few things always manage to land on the cabin sole in bumpy conditions, such as we've had the last two days or so, and it's nice to get back to being 'shipshape'. It also meant I was able to get back to the autopilot repair. I've now finished running the new wire from the replacement rudder reference unit to the course computer and replaced the unit itself but I've not yet powered the unit up by connecting at the course computer - it was getting late and time for a meal. I'm in no rush since the wind steering is working fine and I should have storm-free conditions for quite a time yet... I also want to confirm with Raymarine UK that everything is fine before I power up - I don't want to damage my only spare unit so I'm being ultra-cautious!

DMG to Friday morning was just 64n.ml., rather than the well over 110 ml actually travelled - reflecting the tacks we've had to put in, due to the generally southerly wind.

We're almost equidistant from San Diego, the Galapagos Islands and the Gulf of Tehuantepec in Mexico!

Remember to check my 'Travels' page to see my track on a map... each red 'blob' shows my daily position at noon UTC ( 4am PST - my 'local' time!).

Wednesday/Thursday 24/25th November .... Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends!!

Thought we'd finished with the ITCZ and was looking ahead to calms ... but it dropped right on top of us again, soon after sunset on Tuesday night - and stayed overnight and all through yesterday and last night - total grey overcast, frequent heavy rain, with ESE-SE wind gusting up from 10-12 kt or less to around 20kt. But no obvious lightning, except faint static crashes heard over the radio. Finally took in 2nd reef with a stronger gust - no point in being overpowered if squally conditions were to continue and we made good speed until 9pm, well after a thoroughly grey, overcast sunset when, suddenly, the sky cleared, Jupiter & stars were clear to see - and the wind, at S 6-7kt, seemed to be dying. ........end of ITCZ?

Not really! Soon after 1am, I was awake for a useful satphone call from UK to discuss details of rudder reference unit's replacement in the autopilot system - conditions were fairly calm. Went back to sleep and was awoken around 3am by nearly being tipped out of my (windward) bunk as boat heeled with coming of heavy rain again and a strong S-SSW wind - to 20 kt or so..... I was pleased I'd left the 2nd reef in, but had to furl in some of the full genoa hurriedly! The strong wind continued and the swell got up so, being on a close reach, we began crashing into the waves quite often - and are continuing to do so. Our course is good, at ESE-SE, but we've lost the helpful E-going current of the last few days.

Unfortunately, with heeling as much as we have been in the present big S swell, I found I'd left the galley seacock open from last night when it was calm and I'd cleared up... Lots of water to dispose of and cleaning up to be done.... That's one way to make sure the galley area gets a clean, I suppose - but definitely not one I'd recommend!

It's too rough to continue with running of the wire from the new rudder sensor in the aft cabin and also too rough to play around behind the chart table instrument panel, trying to fix the external VHF speaker problem. Since it's Thanksgiving today, I'm joining my US friends in spirit - and taking a holiday from work... catching up on emails and writing up this log...! Will sort out a meal with chicken, in place of turkey... close! And I've some nice chocolate for dessert. The grey rainclouds have given way to white fluffy clouds and bright sunshine... so maybe that ITCZ really is behind us now!

A bird came and roosted overnight twice, but not last night. Sat preening itself yesterday morning for quite a time before taking off well after sunrise - I got some good photos - but can't see it in my birdbook. It's all dark with quite a fine pointed beak but has a very thin white rim to its eyes and a fine white line above its beak between & below its eyes.

Have been having very useful discussions with Raymarine UK on my AP problem - seems the drive is OK but the problem lies probably wih the rudder reference unit. Took me a lot of time searching and delving under bunks to locate the spare rudder reference unit yesterday. We're awaiting the outcome once I've replaced it.

I'm thinking about whether it's possible to put a simple on-off switch between the permanently closed relay, damaged when I fused the circuit, and chart table switch for the instruments & AP (now controlling nothing), or maybe get rid of the relay completely, to be able to turn off the instruments if I want to, since they give RF noise which often interferes with radio reception - another possible job added to the list - but not very high up! I'm also not clear as to whether that idea is practical or not - more thinking/discussion needed before I touch anything there! I'm also being very careful to switch off the multimeter every time it's not in use....!

With our frequent course changes/tacking of the last few days due to wind shifts, and the often low wind strength in between squalls, it's not too surprising that we only managed a 24-hr DMG of 82 n.ml to Thursday noon GMT (4am PST - early this morning) - but that's far better than the 44 n.ml.of the mainly calm day before!

Tuesday 23rd November 2010 - busy on AP all day long.... not much sailing in calm conditions - drifted with good E-going current!

(Last night, a bird - petrel? - finally managed to roost on solar panel overnight - after many attempts to land there, with swell making it difficult!)

1am conversation with Raymarine UK - plan of action on AP repair... back to sleep...

Up early to start work - tested drive unit from course computer - seems OK - confirmed actions correct with UK - more testing.. drive still looking good - but rudder reference unit now looking suspect. Managed to short across circuit while testing AP drive motor ...40A fuse blown - no spare...!

Went to use multimeter to check fuse - 'dead as a Dodo'...! Battery gone - no spare - I can't believe that with so many spare batteries on board, I omitted getting some flat 9V ones of type used in multimeter.... Fortunately, have spare multimeter, so eventually found it & used battery from that to replace in the other one which has continuity-testing 'beeper') - to have no multimeter available would be a disaster! (Had been trying to figure out how, in absence of flat 9V battery, I could use SIX ordinary 1.5V batteries, soldered together in a container somehow, to supply multi!!)

Used heatshrink butt joint to bypass fuse and join wires together - there's another 40A fuse in same circuit so protected still... Discovered instruments now permanently on - despite switch at chart table - seems I damaged relay in blowing circuit - but no big deal - not too important, except occasionally because of RF noise when using HF radio...

Wrapped course computer in Al foil before finally replacing it (for umpteenth time...!) and grounded wrapping to conveniently close by battery negative terminal - hoping to cut out RF noise from course computer to SSB/HF radio when AP drive motor working - we shall see how well that works out when drive system is fully repaired - tomorrow, hopefully, if I can find that rudder reference unit - it's on board somewhere...!

Tidied up in aft cabin, .... main cabin .... and forepeak...., after having emptied several areas for work, or to find items...!

Rainsquall mid-morning gave passing excitement for a time.... but otherwise it was fortunate in that we were basically either becalmed or sailing gently along in small swell, so work on AP wan't made too difficult. Had to stop late afternoon with big grey rainclouds close by - we managed to skirt along the edge of them for quite a time around sunset, with me handsteering to make sure we didn't head into some nasty-looking grey-black squalls. Some lightning around - but none too close to worry about!

Paul at Raymarine UK has been excellent - very helpful, as always. He knows the system inside out, so no problem sorting out actions I needed to take to resolve my problem. I'm hoping that by tomorrow evening, all will be working fine... Just need to replace rudder reference unit & check through system settings with him .... and that should be that... Will be nice to have a reliable AP working again! Fred, my Hydrovane windsteering helper, uses no battery power, of course, and is excellent a lot of the time, especially in light conditions, even dead downwind if no big swell, but gets easily overpowered in strong gusts and if we're over-canvassed (as all windsteering systems do) - so life has become a mite difficult at times, of late...fortunately, we've not had too many strong ITCZ squalls - most unusual, that!!

We're still trying to make Easting, with a helpful E-going current quite strong at times. Should get to SE Trades fairly soon, but likely to need to get through a band of southerlies first.

No big mileages being racked up just now (marginally under 100 n.ml. to this morning and very small distance today in calms a lot of the time) - and forecast is for continuing light winds for several days - rainsqualls apart! At least the calm conditions mean it's that much easier to do jobs on board - I still want to sort out the external VHF speaker - hoping for a good outcome there, too, after receiving emailed Navico UK help the other day.

Managed to dry my washing in sunshine while working this morning. Didn't get breakfast or lunch - too busy - so enjoyed a prawn pasta tonight all the more!

More tomorrow.....

Monday 22nd November 2010

Writing this as we sail S under clear sky with bright, just-gone-full moon, long line of clouds astern, clear sky ahead.... Maybe, .... maybe, that's the ITCZ finished with??!

We've been heading E-SE over the last day or so, insofaras the wind has allowed, since finding the 'gap' in the ITCZ (around 10N, 120W) to slip through without too much drama... Think we've been quite lucky in that it's a 'La Nina' year, so the convection has been far less than in other years.... and my timing was fortunate - lightning clouds have appeared where I just passed by, I hear!

I'm still trying to get as much Easting as possible, to be set up better for the SE Trades. Making good use of an E-going current which should be with us down to near 7N or beyond.

We've had a few excitements with rainsqualls overnight and this morning, but nothing too major.....

Midday: " Sun getting out, after I was drenched (2nd shower in two days!) by latest big raincloud, with accompanying frantic winching in of genoa in the increased wind. Fairly clear sky..... but high, light grey, clouds ahead - so not finished with rain and gusts just yet...!"

2.30pm: " It's just possible we may be out of harm's way - just downloaded satpic of region - and all active convection seems to be well away from our path - big lumps to the Nand E and a few smaller ones to our W. Still some big clouds around, towering high up - but they're white or light grey, not dk grey/black!! Ahead it's looking reasonably clear now.... 24 hr forecast shows ITCZ axis along 8-9N which puts it still well S of here - but sky looking clear that way, just now... so shook out 2nd reef."

Of course, it was well after that last log entry that we encountered an area of heavy cloud and rain... I'd come up on deck in the middle of dealing with my laundry which had been sitting overnight in detergent in a big bucket in the cockpit - well and truly clean by now, I hoped... I'd prodded and pushed it every time I was close by and it was now finally dealt with and hung up to dry (i.e. drip!). It will dry for sure tomorrow, if sunny - but the wind will dry it quickly anyway - air temp is 29C! (And sea temp is 31C) I noticed a line of dark grey raincloud on the horizon ahead, with heavy rain falling in one area well off to starb'd, but thought that, with any luck, we'd just skim the end of the line of cloud and certainly not get anywhere near the rain I could see falling.... I adjusted windvane (Fred) to get as close-hauled as we could without losing too much speed...

The cloud was some distance away, so I got on with cooking my evening meal (I've been rather remiss of late - no proper meal yesterday...). As it was almost ready, I thought I'd better check on deck - line of cloud was close ahead, darker grey - and we were definitely NOT going to skirt the edge of it - but head directly into it .... Not the time to be starting a meal!! I stood in the companionway, watching our progress, ready for quick action....

The narrow line of very low, dark cloud (by now the sun had set) seemed somehow menacing and stretched right across our path, as far as I could see in either direction. The wind didn't increase unduly, so no action was required of me.... but it felt really weird as we slowly passed beneath this 'bridge' of black cloud... a few short but heavy showers.... we seemed to take forever... a low band of blackness, blotting out the sky.... Eventually, we cleared it and headed for the cloudless skies beyond.... Stars, ... a path of bright moonlight leading across the sea to the boat, .... bright Saturn high above... gentle sailing.., but headed now almost due S, with the wind having veered as we passed through ... Was this the axis of the ITCZ? It was certainly in the exact right place!!

Had 2 satphone calls this morning - but no connection - so still no Raymarine UK direct voice contact yet, although further emailed suggestion on testing drive with alternative 12V power input at course computer cable ends... when calm enough!

Quite tired, so ready for sleep, now we're sailing in calm conditions... Have been up since 4am (for noonUTC position report), waiting for call, dealing with squalls ..... and trying to catch up with overdue emails & downloading, and studying, weather info in between. Had an email from Tim at Navico UK making helpful suggestions on problem with external speaker to VHF....On tomorrow's joblist, if it's calm enough.

A little bird came flying towards us just before a heavy rainsquall hit ... looked as though it was trying to land, to take a rest - but gave up with movement of the boat in the swell. Looked just like a sparrow! So far from land... poor thing!

We're 4 weeks into our passage - but, between calms and storms and beating into the wind (and swell), have only made about 2730 n.ml (calculated from daily DMG) - that's pretty poor!! Hopefully, once we're away from the calms expected in the next week or so, things will improve. (Today's 24hr DMG was 117 n.ml.)

Nearest land is the atoll of Clipperton Island - 575 n.ml. away on a bearing of 079T. Cabo Corrientes is 1040 n.ml. to the NE and Cabo San Lucas is 1005 n.ml. on a bearing of 030T. Hawaii is 2210 n.ml. to the WNW. The Galapagos are 1705 n.ml. to the ESE. Nearest point in S. Ameria is Ecuador - 2335 n.ml., on bearing 103T.

Sunday 21st Nov 2010 - wind shifts to E-ENE and we head SE-ESE

A bird roosted on the solar panel overnight.. but had left by first light. Still seeing an occasional storm petrel darting over the waves and a soaring, graceful, blue-grey and white prion nearby.

Thought we were into SE Trades - but not yet!! Our track is a zig-zag from effect of tropical Low remnant and trough we passed through yesterday and overnight. We actually were struggling to head East late in the night with a SSE wind, so before getting to sleep, after posting position report at 5am, we tacked around - and made a far better speed and course, heading SSW. When I woke up 4 hrs later, we were heading nicely SSE with the wind having shifted to E - being under wind steering has definite advantages in that situation - I hadn't needed to do anything...! We've continued to head SE-ESE over the day - making good Easting, ready for the SE Trades when we reach them. But South winds are expected ahead before that.

A relaxing day ... very warm & humid this afternoon: sea 30C, air 29C, humidity 73%. I'd treated myself to a fresh grapefruit with breakfast in the cockpit and later enjoyed a fresh tomato with some of Port Townsend Creamery's cheese for lunch.

It was so warm & sunny, I decided to do laundry in the cockpit using an enormous "Spanish fishermen's bucket", the idea being that if the water spills, it will simply go down the cockpit drain...safer than doing it down below! I stripped off, added my clothes Into the washing in the bucket to soak in detergent and had a lovely shower - I feel great!

Forecast just received ... typical of ones of late: " INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE...09N84W TO 07N106W TO 10N122W..... NO SIGNIFICANT CONVECTION.'
Since we're presently at roughly 10N 120W, we're clearly very close to the ITCZ axis .... but all I'm seeing so far are fairly average rainclouds - nothing too dramatic.. According to the satellite picture of the clouds in the Pacific that I just downloaded, it looks as though the strong convection is now to the N and W of us.

LATER:...... Oh well, I was clearly tempting Fate with that statement! At 7.15pm, I was just noting down our position and other details ready for the Pacific Seafarers Net when I realized we were heeling rather a lot - the wind had got up.... I could hear rain... We were upwind of a large raincloud close by - and getting its strong wind effect. We'd accelerated & were making excellent speed -but heeling rather too much... time to start furling in the full genoa. Well, it's great to see your speed up at 7.6 kts or so ... but not so good when the furling line gets jammed in the winch self-tailer, so you can't furl in when you need to...!!

I'd been a bit careless and hadn't donned my headlamp as I normally do at night when going up on deck to trim the sails... the moon was so bright... Fortunately, we survived unscathed, bar the heeling and a flapping genoa for a time... and came away from the cloud & into clearer sky .... calmer but still with good wind. I was able to sort out the jam with the aid of the other winches close by.... no rolling hitch needed this time .. In the dark, I'd thought the line had left the 'jaw' of the self-tailer - and had wrapped it around a second time.... wondered why it was so difficult to winch in.... I should have stopped sooner to investigate... when winches get unexpectedly difficult to turn, there's usually a good reason...!

Our 24 hr DMG to this morning was just 81 miles - if you could see our convoluted, zig-zagging track, you'd understand why!

We're 640 n.ml W of the small atoll of Clipperton Island - a French possession, 2100 n.ml. ESE of Hawaii, 1840 n.ml.WNW of the Galapagos Islands and 1030 n.ml SW of Cabo Corrientes in Mexico.

Saturday 20th November 2010 (Day 26)

(I'm way behind on answering emails - apologies if I'm keeping you waiting for a reply - Sunday hopefully!)

Wind stayed mainly NE 14-16 kt overnight and a lot of the day, occasionally backing to NNE 20kt under a large cloud. Foul current from mid-afternoon to early morning, making us lose speed of half to one knot.

By 8.30am, the mainly clear sky was dominated by big mass of dark, threatening cloud in th E - wind suddenly gusted up to 20kt or more.... windsteering ('Fred'!) had a problem .... we kept rounding up, picking up speed and heading directly to the cloud mass... Tried to use AP to head us off wind ... couldn't cope in strong wind ... 'Drive stopped' msg kept coming up... switched off, then on, & AP ended up coping OK.... or was it Fred steering us? Anyway, all calmed down for a bit.... wind down to 15 kt. Unfurled genoa I'd just furled in a touch.... sky looked fairly clear ahead. Down for b'fast and to check in to friendly 'Chubasco' Net.

A shoal of small flying fish leapt out of sea & all flew together a short distance... several times.... clearly being chased! A graceful, handsome prion, with black cap down to around eyes, later joined by two more, was soaring near the boat & kept us company on & off a lot of the day, as did 3-4 white-rumped, small, dark, storm petrels.

10am ...Another backing of increased wind to NNE, ... the unfurled genoa was taken in again.... Decided best to leave it! Swell has increased so we're rolling around a lot in beam seas.

10.30am.... Another stronger backing of wind to NNE 20kt... we headed up... neither Fred nor AP coping... In fact, AP seemed hardly to move wheel at all... Had to handsteer for quite a time, 2nd mains'l reef taken in.... Finally, left Fred coping fine & went down to finish clearing up in galley - & to try to get that breakfast finally! A lot of grey cloud around now.... but still birds keeping us company.

Downloaded several weatherfaxes and a satellite picture of the area - showed we were clearly catching the edge of a mass of cloud (remnant of a tropical Low stationary at around 10N, 110W) and crossing a trough - pressure had dropped to 1010 hPa. By 3.15pm, there was a long line of grey rolling cloud stretched across ahead of us from E to W - no avoiding it! Fine, misty rain... Then... dolphins!! First I'd seen so far on this passage - always lovely to see but they didn't stay long. Sailing gently now, but in increased 3m seas, so rolling around quite a bit.

Tried to check in with US MM Net on 14300 at 3.20pm- impossible! Some kind of 'ham' radio contest - lots of people trying to contact each other...! Also on 14305 - so no sociable chat session possible today.

When I turned instruments back on after radio use .... we were headed W! We'd clearly passed through the trough shown on the weather maps earlier - and the wind was now from the S!! I tacked around to head E - there might be a helpful current, at least, in that direction.... but not so... We were close-hauled, banging into a confused 2-3m swell at 4knots, headed due E initially with the rain having cleared, still a grey sky but with patchs of blue..

We kept on that heading for quite a time (while I cooked some steak and onions, in fact!), to see how the wind settled down - but after finding us headed consistently NNE at 3.5kt, I decided enough was enough - we tacked around soon after nightfall and made a far better course and speed - 5knots on 200T in a SSE 12 kt wind.... We were still north of 11N, and yet were clearly out of the NE Trades and seemed to have found the beginning of the SE Trades already.

The sky had cleared to just a few wispy clouds and a bright, near-full moon.... We were gently sailing in a 2m SE swell...

DMG to this morning was 111 ml - reflecting the variable conditions met with frequent backing of wind under clouds and a lot of downwind sailing.

We're 2000 mls W of Honduras/Nicaragua in Central America now and soon to pass about 700 miles W of Clipperton Island (a French possession!)

Friday 19th November 2010

Sky cleared completely early in morning ... not a cloud to be seen... Ambling along in 9-10 knots of wind from NE with very little swell ... All very relaxing, once I'd shaken out the mains'l reefs.

Red-footed booby came by, circling the boat, ... and a white-rumped storm petrel, skitting low over the small waves.... and I found our first small flying fish on deck this morning - the first of this passage, along with a few squid that landed on deck last week.

Checked steering quadrant movement to see if cables too stiff - seems fine... Checked power connections to motor - look good and secure. Spent some time wrapping course computer in sluminium foil...

Checked in to Chubasco Net earlier - and later to Manana Net for a chat, while awaiting for call from Raymarine UK on satphone to try to sort out AP problem.. All very sociable - especially my own session later in the afternoon, on 14305kHz....

By midday, all reefs were shaken out .... wind was mainly just abaft the beam at NE 10kt, occasionally higher ... later backed frequently to NNE which meant we were broad reaching. Some scattered cloud ... bright sunshine .... making 4.5-5 kt.

Sunset - and all cloud disappeared soon after (to reappear later) - so there was lovely moonshine and a warm, starry evening. I made sure my mug of tea didn't spill tonight! Increased wind for a time but didn't last long - meant we made around 6.5 kt boat speed for a while but a definite foul current an hour later meant only 5.5 kt SOG.

24hr distance to this morning: 136 n.ml - result of speeds over 6 knots over a long period yesterday. We're nearly 2000 miles due W of El Salvador, S of Guatemala.

Lovely and warm - bare arms and legs....! Finally put fleeces and long underwear away for the duration... Thinking of doing some laundry while I'm in a sunny, warm climate!

ITCZ still looking almost non-existent dead ahead - there's the remnant of a tropical Low nearby at 110W. It seems to be stationary and dissipating - but has given slightly more northerly winds, and possibly stronger ones, than we might have had otherwise.