Saturday 7.30pm Some rain and grey skies. Wind, still from N, has got up some more but not too much - maybe 20-25kt - and seas much the same as earlier - about 3m or more, quite close together so keeping us rolling around a lot.

Just chatted on radio on 20m - propagation to Florida not too good now - a bit earlier would have been better but I forgot that we'd changed the timing! Will be on again soon, at 0000Z, to try to speak to the W coast and B.C. - had good propagation to there yesterday.

10:45pm Wave came crashing over Nereida's deck - always a lot of noise, but all OK. Wind up to maybe 20-25kt now, gusting more, maybe. Dark, now.... Sunset was just before 8pm - made for a good chat on 20m to Rick, VE7TK, in Victoria - we both had sunset occurring around the same time - so-called 'grey line' conditions for both of us - good for radio propagation between us. Also had Juan, LU4VL, come on from Argentina - always a very strong signal.

Sunday 4am Hoped to make contact with Uku - but was not on any frequency at usual time. Think he's probably got some pretty nasty conditions where he is now - high thirty knots with gusts in fifties quite likely and seas to match - not nice.... If he'd had access to proper weather info, he might well have avoided the system - but that was not allowed under GGR rules - I disagree thoroughly with that policy - leads unnecessarily to dangerous situations for the racers. How many are left...?? And how many completed the original race...?? Uku also does not have a Jordan Series Drogue which, properly deployed, keeps boats safe in strong conditions.

8:15am Wind display suddenly came alive - ESE 10kt was its reading.
Thick fog but then came rain with flickering lightning - I disconnected radio antenna and switched radio and several instruments off. Also put computer etc in steel-lined oven - a good Faraday cage!

11:30am Finally underway, heading NE - but not much wind. Nice that seas have died down. Total overcast sky, although getting brighter as sun tries to shine through.

2pm Sunshine and blue sky - always lifts the spirits! Been on deck for quite a time. Albatrosses, petrels and (Great) shearwaters around the boat as I was busy - shaking out reefs and dealing with other things. Making better speed now but almost dead downwind so must keep an eye on wind direction - presently SW at 10-12kt but if it veers any more to the W, we'll have to gybe the main.

Tried to contact Uku on 'One and All' again - but no reply on our usual frequency at this time. Wonder if he might still be heading S, running before strong N winds with just a storm jib hoisted....? Hope he's OK.

3pm Wind increased to SW 15kt and, with it, our boat speed - up to 6kt at times. Beautiful sunny day - temperature has reached 14C - unheard of!

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 88. We mostly drifted another 11 n.ml. DMG over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. Would take forever to get around at that rate!

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 88 (by daily DMGs): 8,647 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 720 n.ml. to SW; Falklands: 290 n.ml. to SW; Buenos Aires: 835 n.ml to NNW

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/30 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 48-02.22S LONGITUDE: 052-33.56W COURSE: 051T SPEED: 5.8kt
WIND_SPEED: 15kt WIND_DIR: SW SWELL_DIR: W SWELL_HT: 2.5m CLOUDS: 5%
BARO: 993.8hPa TREND: 3 AIR_TEMP: 17.0C SEA_TEMP: 11.0C
COMMENT: Bright sunny day - underway.since 1530Z

Friday 3.45pm Making just 2kt - drifting in almost no wind, trying to head NE... frustrating!

Later - changed course to head NNW - Low pressure system coming is set to deepen rapidly and give strong winds ahead - so trying to avoid worst of it by not heading E.

Sunset - Heaved to with 3rd reef tied in. Drifting WSW at about 1.3kt. Nice to be able to sort out the boat in light winds and swell, preparing for the strong conditions coming up... Feeling very relaxed! Might be able to catch up now on the many emails waiting for me to reply to...!

Making a lot of Argentinian radio contacts now, many from Buenos Aires - nice to try out my (bad) Spanish which they don't seem to mind!

10:30pm So quiet and peaceful, hove to like this.. Definitely feeling like "the lull before the storm" - although this should not be too bad - heavy weather, rather than a real storm.

Enjoyed some delicious smoked wild salmon tonight - canned in Nanaimo - absolutely wonderfully tasty! Followed that with some nice chocolate - Rogers, of course! Christmas gifts from friends.

Swell is slightly more noticeable now - sign of winds on their way.

Saturday - soon after dawn. Woke up from a good sleep with sun shining in to the cabin - I actually felt too warm and had to remove my warm hat...! We'd drifted in a circle overnight - but only at under 1 kt. Cloud cover 50%, seas well down, at maybe just over 2m/6ft. Wind increased to about 15kt maybe (guesstimate since have no way to measure just now).

9.30am Bright sun, 20% cloud with big bank of white cloud to NW. Noticeable swell running from NNW, but not close together, so we're just rocking gently. Drifting just N of due W, at 1.4kt. Position is still just S of where we heaved to yesterday, so that's fine for now.

Time for late breakfast with some fresh coffee.... and then those emails, maybe.

Midday Delighted to have totally caught up with replies to emails! Feels good to be up to date just now, although not all have been sent. There were a lot of them and the radio connection this time of day is not the best - so quite a few will have to wait until tonight, when propagation is better. Made good use of time waiting around while hove to.

Seems we might be able to get underway again tomorrow afternoon - when the wind backs to the WSW-SW, the Low will have passed by and we'll be able to make a course to the NE - but keeping an eye out for the next lot of strong wind....

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 87. We drifted 14 n.ml. DMG over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 87 (by daily DMGs): 8,636 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 710 n.ml. to SW; Falklands: 280 n.ml. to SW; Buenos Aires: 855 n.ml to NNW

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/29 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 48-12.82S LONGITUDE: 052-35.51W COURSE: 214T SPEED: 0.7kt

WIND_SPEED: 25kt WIND_DIR: N SWELL_DIR: N SWELL_HT: 3.5m CLOUDS: 100%

BARO: 1000.9hPa TREND: -2 AIR_TEMP: 15.0C SEA_TEMP: 11.0C

COMMENT: Hove to

Thursday 6pm Cooking some bean and barley soup - haricot beans + chopped onion + barley - might add some diced ham once the beans and barley are cooked..! Soaked the beans overnight in a bait jar with slotted lid that I bought with this in mind (and also for sprouting beans) - makes it easy to rinse them off before cooking.

Keep having to ease sheets and adjust Fred for wind just 'abaft the beam' - making good speed in N-NNW direction. Wind ESE now but continuing to veer.

Lots of birds around - tried to video them swooping around us - lovely to see so many close by - some Great Shearwaters among them now - specific to Atlantic... Joining Wandering and Black-browed albatross, white-chinned and storm petrels and occasional prions. Also another I caught sight of that I must ID. Similar to Shearwater and maybe a different kind. Several have adopted Nereida, I think!

7:15pm Still occasional light rain but clouds beginning to show some breaks - sun not far from setting. Enjoying a warming CupaSoup. It's nice, but cold, watching the birds from the cockpit - they've almost all disappeared now the sun is setting. Wind veering quite quickly so frequent trips needed to adjust Fred.

Friday 4am - Dawn a short while ago - Clear sky except for a grey bank of what looks like a seafog layer dead ahead, on the horizon. No birds seen, as yet. Adjusted Fred.

Went on deck to adjust Fred for broad reach again, after changing course last night - onto NE, finally!
Hoping to avoid system ahead soon and also one soon after the New Year - may have to heave to, in order to let one or maybe both pass by a distance away - we'll see. In the meantime, nice to see the bright sunshine!

5am Low grey cloud layer ahead has disappeared - must have been overnight sea fog. Back to my bunk for more sleep - keeping an alarm set to keep eye on our course relative to wind - still veering so will need to gybe at some point soon, in order to maintain course.

10am Gybed around earlier - wind now from WSW, fairly light. Poled out the staysail - nice to have it working downwind. Cloud layer has come over - saw it coming (photo), with a very straight edge - wondered if it were fog coming but it's definitely above us! Can still see the edge of it ahead. Temperature not so bad - 12C/54F

Later: Great Shearwater circling us with rapid wingbeats. Very few other birds - but a Black-bellied storm petrel (photo) is also circling the boat quite often - sometimes two or three of them close by - they like the disturbed water we produce.
Breakfast now and then back to my bunk - haven't had all my sleep hours yet.

2pm Wind has died ... Struggling to make 3.5kt

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 86. We made 99 n.ml. DMG over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 86 (by daily DMGs): 8,622 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 715 n.ml. to SW; Falklands: 280 n.ml. to SW

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/28 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 48-18.31S LONGITUDE: 052-16.84W COURSE: 052T SPEED: 3.4kt
WIND_SPEED: 8kt WIND_DIR: W SWELL_DIR: ESE SWELL_HT: 2.0m CLOUDS: 100%
BARO: 1004.8hPa TREND: 2 AIR_TEMP: 14.0C SEA_TEMP: 12.0C
COMMENT: Heading NE, finally.. but wind has just died...

Wednesday 9:15pm Reported in to Pacific Seafarers' Net as usual, at 0310GMT on 14300kHz - Jane, NH7TZ, Net Control from Kauai, was clearer than she has been of late - she's happy to keep contact for as long as possible, even though we're now in the Atlantic.
Winds around 15kt from WNW - being on a close reach, headed just W of N, meant pounding into the seas ahead - never a comfortable point of sail.

Thursday 2:30am Close to dawn. Just changed on to starboard tack, in advance of wind veering to N from nearly NNW - the Low that will pass right over Uku, on 'One and All', will be passing E to our N sometime today but should only give us fairly light winds by comparison with the 30+ kt Uku will experience. I trust he'll stay safe - he's very experienced and ready for the event to happen - he said he'll keep going under just a storm jib probably (no mainsail - he'll drop that).

A beautiful sight when I went on deck to tack around .... Bright moon high up, ahead of us, a silver-bright Venus above the W end of the orange/yellow strip of light on the S horizon and a clear sky overhead. The wind and seas were well down and suddenly it felt so much more peaceful - I felt myself relaxing...

9:30am A solitary Black-browed albatross circles around. Clear sky has been replaced now by total grey overcast as the Low passing by to our N brings its cloud. Wind light just now and from N-NNE, with seas still well down - maybe 1-2m/3-6ft. We're just bouncing and rocking gently in the slight swell as we sail NW, close-hauled still, making just 3kt.

Wind could increase as the Low, heading E, passes closer - N wind now indicates it's still to our NW-NNW. When our wind is from the E, I'll know the Low is N of us.

Midday Wind NNE-NE so our course is now NNW. Total cloud cover still, slight rain.
Just got back down below - feels as though I must have been two hours on deck... Had to free the main halyard which I spotted a couple of days ago had got behind mast steps near mast top. Normally have strong twine in place between steps to stop that happening- but clearly not there now. Involved lowering mainsail completely, freeing halyard and finally raising mainsail again - without anything else getting caught anywhere. Suddenly realised that present very light wind gave an ideal time to sort it out. Sounds simple and quick - but was definitely not so!! All done now, ready for needing to hoist more sail later - as it was, I could not hoist full sail or even with a first reef - bad news in light winds!

2:45pm Just had a call from Megan Thomas, CBC Victoria - interview for an item updating on progress, to be broadcast later today or tomorrow. (Thanks to Luis Soltero and Redport/GMN for making that possible)
Wind has veered enough that we're nearly making our preferred course - will have to ease sheets from now until on a broad reach, as wind veers more over today and tonight.

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 85. We made 58 n.ml. DMG over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. Daily DMGs getting smaller and smaller...!

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 85 (by daily DMGs): 8,523 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 620 n.ml. to SW; Falklands: 193 n.ml. to SW

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/27 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 49-42.17S LONGITUDE: 053-34.59W COURSE: 348T SPEED: 2.5kt
WIND_SPEED: 8kt WIND_DIR: NE SWELL_DIR: NW SWELL_HT: 1.5m CLOUDS: 100%
BARO: 996.4hPa TREND: -2 AIR_TEMP: 11.0C SEA_TEMP: 10.0C
COMMENT: NE of Falklands: 200ml. Total cloud, drizzle, as Low passes over to N

Tuesday - Christmas Day 4pm Wind has now settled down from the sudden gusting up to 25-30kt of two hours ago . Had to abandon my chat with Uku and get up on deck in a hurry to reef down and gybe so we could make our course in the strong SW wind that piped up so very quickly.

Just as I was tensioning the starboard running backstay, I realised we had company - a small group of dolphins were leaping and twisting in the air off the rough waves - often landing in the sea on their backs! Several times, one would smack its tail loudly on the surface - they were clearly having a great time and were circling Nereida ... around and around... I managed a few photos - maybe someone can ID them for me? I stayed on deck to watch them for quite a time - what a lovely Christmas present!!

6pm Seas are well up - easily 4-5m/13-17ft - so we're moving about a lot. Sun tried to get out a short while ago and I can see some blue sky off to the NW - but not where we are... After the rain, it's feeling cold and damp. We're on a broad reach making our course of 061T to a waypoint at 45S 40W - trying to get well above most of the Lows that keep coming by with strong winds!

Later - a lot of contacts made on radio - plenty of "Merry Christmas!" and "Feliz Navidad!" exchanged!
Discussion on weather had with Peter, ZL1PWM. Not looking good ahead if we keep heading NE or even N - suggestion to head NW for a bit to avoid next problem Low coming and then head NE once that Low has passed over - then there's another really nasty Low expected by New Year or just after - a real 'beast', reaching up to around 40-43S...

Wednesday - Boxing Day 10am Tacked around early this morning - at about 5am - trying to head NW - but with wind from WNW, could only make NNW, in fact, we're only making just W of due N - time to tack around and head W.

Midday Feeling a tad frustrated - not possible to head NW (to avoid bad weather was the idea) against NW wind! And the courses we're having to make to tack upwind are horrible... We were heading almost SW before but have just tacked around again so we're now heading N again. Going upwind immediately means banging into the seas - so not having a very pleasant or comfortable time just now...

Slept a lot this morning, but also chatted to Uku. He's resigned to being clobbered tomorrow by the Low I'm hoping to avoid by this change of course. He'll be right in the path of the intenifying system and there's nothing he can do about it... With winds forecast to 30+ kt, gusts will be higher, with seas to match. I should be below the Low, in lighter winds, hopefully.

Nice to see the sun shining now - clear blue sky and good wind - pity we're banging into the seas all the time!

Magnetic variation has now switched over to 2 degrees W - so I have to remember to subtract it from compass/magnetic readings now, in order to get True values.

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 84. We made 74 n.ml. DMG over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. We lost 16 miles just in one tack to the NNW! Total would have been over 100ml, if path actually taken were used instead.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 84 (by daily DMGs): 8,465 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 608 n.ml. to SW; Falklands: 195 n.ml. to WSW

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/26 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 50-33.39S LONGITUDE: 052-52.52W COURSE: 246T SPEED: 4.9kt
WIND_SPEED: 15kt WIND_DIR: NW SWELL_DIR: NW SWELL_HT: 3.0m CLOUDS: 0%
BARO: 1008.4hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 12.0C SEA_TEMP: 10.0C
COMMENT: ENE of Falklands: 195ml

Monday - Christmas Eve 5:40pm Still a lovely sunny afternoon - water's on for tea with some Christmas cake (actually Dundee, but that's close enough, except for the missing marzipan and icing). Missing also are Brussels sprouts and roast potatoes with the roast turkey and chestnut stuffing, mince pies and Christmas pudding ... next year!
Let out second reef to speed us up a bit in light NW wind. Fixed the Hydrovane problem (I hope!) - took a time, perched at stern of boat but seas well down so not feeling at risk at all. Also untangled the lazy running backstay - the line had got totally twisted around itself and had become very difficult to tension or release. Need to do the same on the other side when it's not in use.
Have dried one carpet, two jackets, my boots and my warm, woolly hat - all in the bright sunshine this afternoon. It actually felt warmer (air temperature not so high, in fact: 10C/50F!)

7pm The tea was so good I had another (Calm enough now to have it in your lovely mug, Louise!) Been getting out food 'goodies' to spoil myself - olives, pate, hummus, a tin of lovely wild salmon I'll have with asparagus tonight - and chocolate...
Wind has died more - but seas are a good 4m/13ft - I thought they might have died right down by now, but clearly not doing so. Having a good look around to check on things on deck while it's easy.
Sun is getting close to setting. This really feels like (mid)summer!
A pair of albatross rested in the water very close by - and were rubbing their beaks together in affection - 'spooning'!

Tuesday - Christmas Day Merry Christmas! 5am - some of us were up early! Downloading weather files and emails - lots of Christmas greetings - thank you! We've been ambling along rather slowly all night, raining now. At 2.30am, took a photo of the Southern horizon - thin line of bright gold - sun not far below, clearly! Back to my bunk for more sleep...

11.15am Magnetic variation ZERO - 'True' and Magnetic' (compass) readings the same!
Grey sky and fine drizzle. Suddenly found us heading S! The wind had died and gone into the ESE... Gybed around but with almost no wind, we're drifting 300T (W of NW) at 1.6kt, despite the bow pointing NNW and sails (and Fred) trimmed for a close reach... At least we're no longer heading S, but it would also be nice to head E, not W! Will just have to wait for the wind to strengthen some more so we have steerage.
The Low developing not far to our N is clearly doing just that and we're on its S side, with pressure having dropped now to 993.5hPa from its earlier 1000hPa. Eventually, it will veer to SW and strengthen - according to forecast, in just a few hours' time .... Coffee...! Merry Christmas from the S. Atlantic!

1.45pm Finally back on course - saw we were headed SW after a wind shift so, after gybing around again, we are now headed NE... Still grey and drizzly, with light wind still, but wind should now strengthen slowly.

Short while later...Wind came right up, for sure... but quickly ... more tomorrow...!

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 83. We made just 58 n.ml. over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. No surprise that it's a low DMG...

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 83 (by daily DMGs): 8,391 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 535 n.ml. to SW; Volunteer Pt penguin colony, on NE corner of E.Falkland: 130 n.ml. due W

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/25 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 51-27.09S LONGITUDE: 054-14.50W COURSE: 062T SPEED: 6.3kt
WIND_SPEED: 25kt WIND_DIR: SW SWELL_DIR: NW SWELL_HT: 3.5m CLOUDS: 100%
BARO: 994hPa TREND: 1 AIR_TEMP: 10.0C SEA_TEMP: 10.0C
COMMENT: E of Falklands - Volunteer Pt 130 ml due W

Sunday 7:30pm What a difference a few hours makes! Such a wonderful day earlier ...and not long after, the once-blue sky was covered in grey rain clouds, the wind had veered to the N-NNE and we struggled to make 080T.

I'm not sure which way to head for the best- there seem to be problem Lows ahead - certainly on Tuesday (Christmas Day) night, not far from the Falklands, heading SE across our path unless I keep to the W of it - which I'll try to do. Presently, I'm tacking to get N against the headwind, so progress is slow.

Midnight Wind gusting to 30kt or so, rough seas - about 4m or so and close together .. Very noisy and uncomfortable! Tacked around earlier and took in 3rd reef as wind began to rise, well in advance - glad I did that - need that well-reefed sail now! Close-hauled at present, but will need to ease the sheets more as the wind backs overnight to NW and then to W in the morning.
Excused myself from 7160 'sched' but came back later from being on deck and made several contacts: Argentinian and Chilean - Feliz Navidad!
To my bunk now - I need more sleep than I'm getting...

5:20am Falklands now 80 miles to WNW. Uku now 55miles to our N. Foggy with NNW wind around 20kt and rough seas around 4m/12ft - close-hauled still, so banging into them and not very comfortable.
Spoke to Bob, VP8LP, in Stanley, on 80m and Ian, VK3MO, in Melbourne, on 20m - good propagation to both on their frequencies. Trying to make NNE for time being to avoid stronger winds in Low on 25/26th to NE.
Magnetic variation has now reduced right down to 2E - just two degrees now! Means compass is virtually showing a true reading.

6:45 am Just shook out 3rd reef - wind down a lot.. Sun tried to get out - fog gone, clouds showing a few breaks... Seas still big and pounding into them and speed down as a result...

8:20am Scattered white clouds, wind less, seas still well up - expect very light wind to persist for most of the day now, backing to WSW soon, so hoping the seas will lie down soon also. If they lie down enough, and wind down also, might get the genoa in place - we'll see!
Went back up on deck, hoping to photograph small storm petrel close to Nereida while I was adjusting Fred, but it had gone - a white-chinned petrel was flying around instead.Back to my bunk now - need more sleep!

Midday Thin white, very broken cloud layer over NW part of the sky. Bright sun - put clothes and boots out to dry.
Chatted to Uku - he's about 75 miles due N of Nereida, has a good 15kt W wind and is making 6kt due north in clean air, also enjoying the sun and (relative! warmmth. He's well N of the Falklands now whereas I'm still in its lee - but seas well down so about to try to fix remaining small Hydrovane problem and then, if seas and wind down enough, will see about genoa - feeling rather trepidatious - it's big sail and not easy to hoist, even at the dock, single-handed in any wind at all...! We'll see if that happens or not - will take an age just to undo the lashing! Deliberately not hoisting more sail so jobs can be done in relative calm, even though it means we're not making the speed we could be.
Magnetic variation now just 1 degree East...
Feeling as though I'm having a holiday, weather and conditions are so nice just now - very relaxed! A nice Christmas present, even if only temporary...

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 82. We made 77 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 82 (by daily DMGs): 8,333 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 478 n.ml. to SW; Stanley, E.Falkland: 88 n.ml. to W

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/24 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 51-58.15S LONGITUDE: 055-31.76W COURSE: 040T SPEED: 5.0kt
WIND_SPEED: 10kt WIND_DIR: NW SWELL_DIR: NW SWELL_HT: 2.0m CLOUDS: 25%
BARO: 998.2hPa TREND: 2 AIR_TEMP: 12.0C SEA_TEMP: 10.0C
COMMENT: E of Falklands - 83 ml off Lovely sunny afternoon - ambling in light breeze and getting jobs done

Apologies to many of you for belated email replies - have been busy onboard but will get to replying - even if briefly. Thanks for your supportive emails - much appreciated!

Saturday 5pm Seems I'm looking in the wrong hole in the Hydrovane for a grub screw that needs tightening...!! Will look again - with Loctite and Allen key in hand...

Has been a very pleasant day so far - winds just strong enough to make up to 6kt in the right direction in seas that have lain right down. Looking at weather files, it seems we're about to be becalmed again - possibly over the daytime tomorrow, rather than tonight - we'll see soon enough! And then again, early next week - caught between a high and a Low. Could be on Christmas Day...

7:40pm A low sun shining brightly from below edge of cloud layer in W - close to sunset. At present, we're sailing well at 6kt - just had to adjust Fred to bring us closer to the veered wind - coming now from WNW, not W, as is the slightly increased swell - 2-3m now, instead of the 1-2m it has been for most of the day.

Having some of the thick split green pea and ham soup I made this afternoon - decided I needed to take myself in hand and get back to 'proper' food (as well as plenty of sleep) - so made soup. It will last another day or so and is very filling. Dessert is drried apricots and prunes - maybe with some chocolate...

Waiting to see if the wind will die again soon, as it has done the last two nights around sunset. Maybe the weather forecast is correct - and it will not happen until around dawn tomorrow.

Will be monitoring the radio frequency 14160 at 0000Z (8pm LT), and then get a nap before the evening's 'scheds'. This afternoon's contact on 18115 did not work out well - too much static on frequency and too light to copy anyone - as I move further E, propagation changes. A contact in Montevideo, Uruguay, Diego, CX4DI, came booming in early this morning on 40m, though!

11:45pm A wonderful night now! A clear sky, with Southern Cross high up and the bright near-full moon throwing a path of light to us across the sea with its slight swell.
The wind had suddenly started backing around 9:30pm. First to WNW - so adjusted Fred for a broad reach .. but then backed quickly a lot more - had to gybe onto starboard tack and we were eventually on a beam reach in a S wind... A bit of further fine tuning as the wind slowly died down.... about to be becalmed again?? So far, we're making our course at 2.8-3kt... Seems like an all-too-familiar scenario....

E. Falkland is now 60 miles to our NW, with tiny Beauchene Island 40 miles to WW.

Sunday 1:45am Just noticed we were heading S at 2kt - the wind had done a U-turn - now from WNW... Had to gybe around to make our course again. But at least we're moving - at 3kt in the right direction.

6am A beautiful sunny day - still no cloud and a light wind from WNW - have managed to keep going up to now more or less on course! Wind expected to stay light over the day, strengthening later. Adjusted Fred a bit. Black-browed albatross came by and looked at me.. Back to my bunk...

8:30am Making 4kt on course in NW wind - expected to veer further to N by evening, and strengthen.
Thought to climb the mast to retrieve the end of the starboard lazyjack line from its small block on the mast - but realised there was more swell than i'd anticipated and the wind was possibly getting up, so decided it would have to wait a bit longer - it was also further up than I'd thought - well beyond the first spreader.
Still a beautiful calm day - not a cloud in the sky! Black-browed parents with their youngster and white-chinned petrels circling close by.
Enjoying guava juice, to be followed by fresh coffee, with my breakfast - will need to replenish galley with fruit juices and cereal. Boiling some eggs.

Midday Boat sailing gently at 4.4 kt in NW wind. Busy working on Genoa furler in bow, while sunny and light wind with small swell. All in bits, at present, about to try to fix end of line in place and then wrap the line around the drum, ready for sail to be hoisted at some point.

1:45pm All done! Step 1 completed! Had a few hiccups but everything worked out better than I expected. Wrapped the line on the drum the wrong way around initially - had to unwrap and rotate the drum the other way to store the line on the drum so that, on exiting, it lead correctly towards the cockpit - if I got that wrong (and it didn't seem to want to lead any other way), the worse that can happen is the UV strip on the sail edge is on the inside, not outside, of the sail when furled - no big deal at present... I'll soon find out when, eventually, I'm able to hoist the genoa again... Need VERY calm conditions for that to happen!

2pm Chatted to Uku - said gale expected just to N of Falklands Christmas Day- headed E so would cross our path if we keep NE. Also another deep Low expected on 26th - also to N of Falklands, headed E. Would be good if both could be avoided...

(PS 3pm - Wind from N - tacked around but will need to tack again soon - not a good course at present. Don't want to get too close to Falklands.)

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 81. We made 102 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. Kept going overnight...

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 81 (by daily DMGs): 8,256 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 406 n.ml. to SW; Stanley, E.Falkland: 88 n.ml. to NW

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/23 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 52-59.94S LONGITUDE: 056-98.22W COURSE: 296T SPEED: 3.2kt
WIND_SPEED: 15kt WIND_DIR: N SWELL_DIR: NW SWELL_HT: 2.0M CLOUDS: 50%
BARO: 1001.7hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 13.0C SEA_TEMP: 10.0C
COMMENT: SE of Falklands - 60 ml off. Tacked around in N wind

Friday 4.30pm Soon after hoping not to have to gybe around, the wind backed more - so gybing was needed to keep our ENE course, passing S of the Falklands and N of Burdwood Bank.
Wind has died right down but the swell is really big - a good 4.5m/15ft, sometimes more. A preventer on the boom is essential in these conditions - but it adds to the time taken to gybe around.
A grey, totally cloudy sky - looks quite rainy but none as yet. Lots of birds - one Wandering albatross glided by and a lot of smaller birds are flitting about near the surface.

7pm The wind died completely and we are drifting around - just like last night -around sunset also.
Eventually, I noticed we were sailing in a straight line at 1.5-2kt - but due W! The wind had gone into the N. Had to gybe around and we're presently making almost no speed close-hauled - but at least we're making way in the right direction now. I hope the wind will come up soon, preferably not too strong... The forecast was for around 20kt from W this evening and around midnight.
Have a problem with Fred - a vital piece seems too loose - something is definitely wrong.

9pm We're still drifting - but no longer ENE - heading SSE instead - very frustrating!

10pm Gybed around to see what course we can make - SW! Boat is pointing NNW - N and drifting SW at 0.5kt - no matter what the boat's heading...

Saturday 1:40am Tried gybing around again - not sure that this is any better - drifting SE at 1-1.5kt with boat pointing NE - must be a SE-going current this way. Making Easting but also going S at a rate of knots... So very frustrating still....

4am Daylight. Wind has finally come up a bit from NNW - nice to be making our course, even if slowly - 4-4.5kt.
Tried to fix Hydrovane ('Fred') but seems a grub/set screw has gone missing from the vane adjuster - working just now but not sure for how long or how to deal with the problem - in contact with John Curry - always very helpful.

Back to my bunk for more sleep - must make sure I get plenty each day - have not been getting enough recently but must prioritize it.

10am Wind up nicely now from NNW at 15kt, maybe. Still have no wind display but we're making 5.6-6kt with wind just for'd of the beam - almost beam reaching. Seas are still very slight - only 1.5m/4-5ft. Sky is full of grey cloud but brighter than earlier.
Bob, VP8LP, has commented that the Falklands are expecting rain on Christmas Day - a present they badly need, in fact! The 'camps' (enormous fields of sparse grass where sheep graze) are very dry and brown now, in midsummer. I met Bob and explored E.Falkland a bit when I stopped in Stanley, in the Falklands, on my way from Ushuaia, in March 2011 - fascinating, very British(!), place with plenty of penguins to see - I saw Kings, Magellanic and Gentoo, with their moulting young, at the Volunteer Pt reserve.

11:30am Group of three storm petrels - all dark with white band on rump/top of tail close to water just astern - using our disturbed water to look for food?

Midday Wonderful! Got very excited to make contact with the Falklands! Just had a long chat with the crew on the RAF plane that flew low overhead, checking out the boat as part of a regular patrol of boats in and near Falklands waters.
They took photos and said they'd try to get them to me - I pointed them to my website and suggested sending to my website manager, Mike... That would be just great!

12:45pm It's so nice being in the cockpit watching the birds around - Wandering and Black-browed albatross soaring, Antarctic prions circling around, storm petrels dancing on the sea surface, white-chinned petrels zooming by - the usual crowd!! But it's so cold, especially in the wind. I've taken, and deleted, so many photos ... the birds always come really close when I'm not ready for the shot!
wind slowly backing - having to adjust Fred at regular intervals - but still very pleasant sailing with seas well down - 1.5-2m - we're just bouncing along on a broad reach now at around 6kt with 2 reefs in main and full staysail.

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 80. We made just 70 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. More drifting in no wind overnight again - takes our daily distance run way down.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 80 (by daily DMGs): 8,154 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 308 n.ml. to SW; Stanley, E.Falklands: 120 n.ml. to NE

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/22 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 53-24.26S LONGITUDE: 059-33.93W COURSE: 075T SPEED: 5.7kt
WIND_SPEED: 15kt WIND_DIR: WNW SWELL_DIR: WNW SWELL_HT: 1.5m CLOUDS: 100%
BARO: 990.8hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 11.0C SEA_TEMP: 10.0C
COMMENT: Still passing N of Burdwood Bank, S of Falklands - 60ml off

Friend Steve Pointon was 'Walking for the Wounded' today (Friday) - 26 miles from work to home. Hope you managed the walk OK with no big blisters this time, Steve, but plenty collected for wounded veterans! Well done!

Thursday 4:30pm A lovely sunny day following on from the big 'blow' just before 2pm - a lot of blue sky around with broken cirrus up above. Feels very quiet and serene, bouncing along gently for a change, in calm seas now.

Later: Wind died away totally - we just drifted around under a blue sky with birds for company, unable to steer in any given direction and with sails doing nothing except slat...
Gybed several times in an attempt to get us moving as the almost non-existent wind shifted around - to no avail... Very frustrating! Was later told it looked as though Fred was having a party!

Lovely sunset .... and a slight wind came up - but from the NE - exactly our planned heading.
I tried heading each possible way - either we could head W or SSE - neither were good. "... that was a nice looking triangle you drew on the Aurora tracker today. What was happening ?", a friend asked later.

By midnight, we were heading roughly on course, tight to the wind making aroud 2-3kt.

Friday 4am Up for radio with Ian, VK3MO, in Melbourne and Bob, VP8LP, in the Falklands who gave Uku his daily weather update for 'One and All' - pretty well the same for 'Nereida', we're still quite close and both now headed NE - or trying to!
NW wind had got up so we're making 6-7kt - and on course...!

7am Changed course to round Burdwood Bank - very shallow. I'd planned to avoid it in case of strong wind - which we're now getting - so I'm please my route planning has worked out well - it's bumpy enough, just now, without adding to the rough seas by crossing a shoal area for a minimum of 12 hours. Off to my bunk, now we're settled - will need to have a series of naps, in case wind shifts over next few hours.

10.40am Up again to trim mainsail and adjust Fred - mostly wind has been pretty consistent at F5, but has backed from NW to W. A gorgeous, sunny, but cold, day with blue sky above. Lots of smaller birds swooping close to the waves, enjoying the free uplift. 23 miles to my WP to round the shallow bank and start heading more E - keeping S of the Falklands Back to my bunk for another short nap - making up on recent lost sleep.

2pm Blue sky and sunshine disappeared a while back - totally cloudy sky now. Changed course -from NNE to ENE, around Burdwood Bank. Wind is W, although it feels rather lighter than earlier, so we can make our course on a very broad reach without gybing - excellent! Time for a very belated breakfast ... or brunch...?!

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 79. We made just 88 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. Too much drifting in no wind plus headwind...

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 79 (by daily DMGs): 8,084 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 246 n.ml. to SW; Stanley, E.Falklands: 174 n.ml. to NE

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/21 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 53-35.23S LONGITUDE: 061-29.32W COURSE: 074T SPEED: 5.2kt
WIND_SPEED: 12kt WIND_DIR: W SWELL_DIR: W SWELL_HT: 4.5m CLOUDS: 100%
BARO: 992.9hPa TREND: -2 AIR_TEMP: 11.0C SEA_TEMP: 9.0C
COMMENT: Rounding Burdwood Bank to N.Big swell.Cloudy, cold, damp.

Wednesday 6pm A lovely blue sky with just a few whispy clouds. Seas around 4m/13ft so not exactly calm! W wind of most of today has just backed enough to WSW to have to gybe to keep on course.

Debating whether OK to cross the Burdwood Bank or not - if winds and seas not too strong, should be fine. Wind has been less, about 20kt now, perhaps, but will check weather forecast. It's 300 miles from here. Reading the S.America Pilot...

Wind instrument display suddenly came alive with sensible readings - but soon died again.

8:15pm Sun getting low - almost a clear sky still - just some white cloud low in S and W.

Having a problem sending the daily news/blog - took a long time and many attempts. Often the Iridium stellite system struggles to make, and keep, connections.

Thursday 12.30am = 8.30pm PST - party time in Victoria! Lovely to speak to my friends at RVYC having a celebration of my Cape rounding! Although middle of the night here, the sky was not dark - more twilight with a bright moon shining every now and then through gaps in the thin, broken cloud layer - and a line of light along the southern horizon in between the cloud layer there. I had a 'Dark and Stormy - Nereida version' ready to share a drink with the party - and again, just afterwards, with my Gibsons friends. It felt good to be celebrating!

4am Spoke to Bob, VP8LP, in the Falklands. He gave both Uku and myself a weather forecast for the next two days - basically no wind over the day today until much later or maybe this evening. 14-19kt WNW then, easing by midnight and on into morning but becoming strong by midday (W 21-29kt) tomorrow, as rain comes in possibly, easing by evening and dying away again by midnight tomorrow to 6-11kt from WNW.

Mark was also on air and heard both Uku and myself talking to Bob but not quite well enough for a chat - pity! I hear he's doing well and closing on J-L. Go, Mark!!

8am A lovely sunny day, making just 2.5kt in not much wind. A pair of Black-browed albatross and a white-chinned petrel keep circling the boat - sometimes close to - and a small dark storm petrel, Leach's or similar, with white band on its rump, is flitting around close to the water

My wind instrument has come alive and is saying there's 10kt of wind from 035T. I can believe the 10kt, since I just gybed the main and got us moving in the light wind, but we're making NNE - so the wind can't be from there... maybe it's from E-ENE, since we're very close-hauled on starboard tack.

I'm having a problem adjusting to sailing north, rather than south... and also having a problem with time - the daylight hours are so long and we've moved through several time zones recently... Uku asked Bob what his local time was - from Bob's answer, it seems that the Falklands keep Summer saving time - his time was one hour ahead of what I expected - but I'm not changing my 'local time' which is presently Atlantic Standard Time (in Canada): GMT-4hr. (52 30'W is longitude of next time zone change)

It's calm enough now for me to have a look at the genoa furler problem - I know it won't be easy but need to get started or it will never be fixed... I'd far rather be in my bunk, getting the rest of last night's sleep!

10am Well, I got out the manual to remind me how furler was put together - drinking some nice fresh coffee. Also had to keep an eye on our sails/course - didn't want to head W of N so we're very close hauled, cutting our speed. Sky is very overcast - looks like rain coming in.

Chocolate brown juvenile albatross is circling around with its parents - Black-browed albatrosses, mainly white body and head, with distinctive mark over the eyes, dark wings & upper body between and black-edged, well-marked underwings - a colony of them breed in the many islands around Cape Horn. Not as large as the Wandering or Royal albatrosses but still impressive as they glide around - rarely flapping their wings.

10.30am Foggy! Adjusted Fred off the wind more - speed up to 3.6kt but had no choice but to accept heading due N. Must keep an eye out that wind doesn't back further to send us NW.

Seeing a boat 'Under Way Sailing' on AIS scteen, just 13 miles away to NE, headed W making just 2.7kt - the "Tai An", fishing.

Midday Wind was taking us W of N - has clearly backed. Tried to tack around - not enough boat speed - so gybed around (always works!) Now close hauled on port tack, making over 5 kt in increased wind. Not quite making our course yet - but wind will possibly back some more soon.

1.30pm Wow! From drifting off course in no wind - suddenly the wind got up ... and up ... and up. We ended up speeding along at 8kt or more for quite a time! wind must have been well over 30kt for some time. Birds appeared in large numbers and were clearly excited by the strong wind - swooping around in small groups, often very close to Nereida. I was thrilled to see a Cape petrel among them - distinctive in its splattered black-and-white plumage. The first time I ever saw one was approaching New Zealand for the first time, at the end of a Tasman Sea crossing. There were lots of different albatross and petrels (but, interestingly, no prions).

Finally the wind started easing and slowly died down - to about 10kt or less giving boat speed of 3.5kt. We're now ambling along at 5kt in seas that are unusually calm.

After the wind had died down, many of the birds took a rest on the water - often in groups. A juvenile albatross had both parents with it. Quite an exciting event altogether...

Took lots of photos - but having a problem downloading them to post here - another project to work on now....

Will post some when I can.

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 78. We made 89 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 78 (by daily DMGs): 7,996 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): Cape Horn LH: 160 n.ml. to SW; Staten Island: 26 n.ml. to WSW; Stanley, E.Falkland: 258 n.ml. to NE

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/20 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 54-43.48S LONGITUDE: 063-05.20W COURSE: 036T SPEED: 5.0kt

WIND_SPEED: 10kt WIND_DIR: WSW SWELL_DIR: NW SWELL_HT: 1.5m CLOUDS: 90%

BARO: 993.8hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 11.0C SEA_TEMP: 9.0C

COMMENT: BIG gust under cloud - SOG 8kt for a time, until died down.Birds galore!;

Tuesday 4pm Finished speaking to radio friends on 17m a short while ago - was great to hear Tom, N5TW - a continuing help to me on making good contact via Winlink for many of my emails and weather downloads. Many thanks, Tom!
I should also take the opportunity to thank, once again, Luis Soltero for loaning the use of the Aurora/Redport terminal with its Iridium connection giving GPS tracker and phone connection, as well as an email facility - enabling sending of photos with my daily reports. I've been making good use of both systems while on passage.

The sun is shining after a brief shower and I'm feeling very happy - a major problem I was convinced I had several hours ago has vanished into thin air! It looked as though a mast-climb was unavoidable... The mainsail seemed to have become entangled somehow at the first spreader - I thought the main halyard and third reef line, being both looser than they should, together with being on almost a dead run most of the time recently, were the cause of the problem, together with the strong winds and the tossing about of the boat by the angry seas over the last few days. It seemed I'd have to climb the mast and reach out to the end of the first spreader to cut the sail away where I thought it was trapped and damaged - I couldn't see us gybing after Cape Horn, as we'd need to, without the sail tearing if I didn't cut it free beforehand... I got into my climbing gear to check it out, also deck harness and gri-gri, thinking to plan well ahead of the calm conditions hoped for near the Cape ... Then went on deck to trim the staysail for a beam reach - the main had freed itself in the SSW wind and was looking fine... What a reprieve!!!

Having tea with chocolate brownies to celebrate - and then organising a nice meal in the present slightly calmer seas - still the occasional big one coming by to test my handholds...

8:30pm Went to let out 3rd reef in the far lighter, very pleasant, conditions - spotted the lazy running backstay block lying on the side deck with no shackle there to hold it in place... Without it, we couldn't change tack since the running backstay is a strong line that helps support the mast when the staysail is in use - which it is all the time now that the genoa cannot be used. Had to deal with that immediately - searched my spares and found three possible shackles - two of the pins were just a tad too big but the third fitted fine - I've 'moused' the pin in place. I'm sure I 'moused' all the shasckles on deck so I'm surprised this happened... Maybe I missed one or two? I'll be checking tomorrow in good light. Had just enough light around sunset to see well enough.

Took a photo of the group of islands ahead that include Isla Hornos - light is fading and I wanted a record of something close to the big event!

Wednesday 12.30am Cape Horn light seen flashing on the grey 'mound' that is Cape Horn on Isla Hornos - 9 miles off to NE. Seas have got up a bit with increased wind - appropriate, I feel!
Moon shining brightly between a few clouds. Still a lot of light in the western sky.
Can't relax until well past the Cape...
Thanks to so many of you who have sent good wishes for a safe passage past Cape Horn.

2:43am AST Wonderful to be passing the Cape finally! Unbelievably at this hour, there was a lot of light around - it never really got dark and now, well before dawn, the Cape was clear to see, with its white flashing light low down. Took lots of photos in hope that one or two might turn out well. Wind and seas suddenly got up, as I'd been warned they would, and we were making good speed at the time of passing. The wind was cold but that didn't matter, the moon was shining between clouds - there was even an early albatross flying by... The whole setting was exhilarating...

2.45am Took a long time gybing around in big seas after passing the Cape. Caught sight of a sailing boat approaching unexpectedly - hsd to change course to avoid it! Wondered if it was 'One and All' - but Uku had passed the Cape a few hours earlier - close to, I was amused to see. (He'd claimed he wasn't interested in passing near the Cape but I'd pointed out that his friends would like to see photos, if possible - so he clearly dcided to get close - probably having reasonable light, not the darkness he'd expected, helped his decision.) Wind was well up at 25-30kt so I had to reef down again before gybing... Lots to do! Very ready for some sleep...

Wednesday 2pm LT (=GMT-4hr) - into the next time zone - actually crossed into Canadian Atlantic zone (GMT-4) on passing 67 30'W - just before Cape Horn which is at just over 67 15'W (67 15.245W to be precise!).

Now making for E of Staten Island (Isla Estados) and will then head W of the shallow Burdwood Bank - with big swells expected, somewhere to keep clear of. I'm hoping not to get too much swell inshore of it. Then S of the Falklands, past E. Falkland, heading finally NE, aiming to get further from and on the N side of the many strong weather systems down here.

Greetings to the Royal Victoria Y.C. members gathering this evening to celebrate my Cape Horn rounding - I'm honoured that you should do so and will be with you in spirit - I'm hoping to join you in a celebratory 'Dark and Stormy'!!

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 77. We made 133 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 77 (by daily DMGs): 7,907 n.ml.

Distances (at 1900Z): from Cape Horn LH: 72 n.ml.; to Staten Island: 68 n.ml.; to E of Stanley, E.Falklands: 298 n.ml.

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/19 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 55-32.50S LONGITUDE: 065-15.66W COURSE: 063T SPEED: 5.7kt
WIND_SPEED: 20kt WIND_DIR: W SWELL_DIR: W SWELL_HT: 3.5m CLOUDS: 90%
BARO: 1004.3hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 9.0C SEA_TEMP: 9.0C
COMMENT: Heading to E of Staten Isl. Seas up again in stronger wind than y'day.

Monday 5pm Wind is back up to 30kt - glad the third reef is still in place!
Finished chatting on radio and made a nice mug of hot soup - a big wave came along and half the soup went all over the stove top - so not only did I have half what I had looked forward to - but I then had the job of cleaning up the mess in these rough conditions... with galley sink seacock closed, of course, just to help matters along. Plastic kitchen bowl, emptied into head, and seawater (from dedicated pump) for rinsing the sponge used, to the rescue....
The fact that I'd been needing to clean the stove top anyway is neither here nor there... but at least that job got done at the same time - looks good again!
Bumstrap is an essential in the galley just now - difficult to do anything safely for any length of time without it.

While on the radio, I asked Jim, WB2REM, to place Nereida's position on Google Earth to see if we were on the continental shelf yet - seems we're not, but quite close - which would also partly explain the wave action - they pile up at the edge of the shelf as they head inshore so maybe that's adding to our swell. He said we're running parallel to the edge of it just now. Propagation today on 17m was excellent and several of us were able to have a decent conversation for quite a time - unlike some days.

It has been raining a lot today - grey overcast all day long... Why does the sky look miserable when it's rainy grey but the prions look so pretty in their grey and white plumage ?

Back to the galley - need to have some decent food tonight - last night's choice (a dehydrated meal) is definitely not to be repeated.

7.30pm Wind 30kt, gusting up to 35kt now

Tuesday 6am Presently, 115 miles from Cape Horn. It got very 'boisterous' at times overnight - I understand my tracker might be playing up after a particularly energetic 'wave event' - several have tossed us around vigorously.
Another victim was the wind transducer at the mast top. After wind from W at 30-35kt, gusting to 38kt around midnight, by 1am, I noticed the display was not behaving well and by 2am it had gone completely - a series of dashes on the wind display is all that there is to be seen now - damn!!!! It's very useful to see the wind angle to the boat when nearly dead downwind as we have been for the last few days and it's nice to know the wind speed and direction at a glance from down below.

I've been sent Uku's position ('One & All') at 0400Z and 0800Z today and see that he crossed ahead of us overnight - he's now to starboard of us, roughly ten miles to our S-SE.

Wind feels as though it has eased a bit. We've just crossed over onto the continental shelf where the depths rise up dramatically from thousands of metres to just hundreds.

7am Three Wandering albatross seen soaring gracefully and effortlessly, circling around Nereida under a grey sky. All-white underbody with black underwing tips, no 'splashes' of white on the dark wings but a white upper body in between, extending to just beyond the wing bases. A few prions busily swooping close to the sea and a white-chinned petrel also came gliding by. It's busy out here - breakfast time?

It hardly got dark last night - I've not seen the moon for a time so wonder if it's around full moon so it was lighting up the cloud layer from above? Otherwise, it's simply because we're well south and midsummer is only three days away down here.

Uku commented, during our radio chat yesterday evening, that he'd not seen the sun for several days to get a sight so he's running on dead reckoning. He knows our position and roughly where he is in relation to us which was maybe why he crossed over to get further offshore - there are a few islands ahead, inshore of our path to the Cape.

11:45am Seeing a small grey lump rising from the sea on the horizon off to port - Islas Ildefonso are 9-10 miles off - the reason Uku changed course overnight, no doubt. Wind must still be close to 30kt since we're still making 6kt SOG on a broad reach. One albatross is soaring nearby in the hazy sunlight - clouds are white, not grey, just now, and slightly broken.

2pm Spoke to Uku a short time ago - over VHF - 'One and All' is only 12 miles to our S - friends told him. No sign on my AIS display still.
I re-booted the wind display - readings came back - but total rubbish! No use at all.
Slowed a lot - need to trim sails ... and let out that hard-working third reef?!

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 76. We made 145 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 75 (by daily DMGs): 7,629 7,774 n.ml.

Distance from Cape Horn LH (to ESE): 62 n.ml.

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/18 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 55-58.34S LONGITUDE: 069-07.03W COURSE: 097T SPEED: 4.5kt
WIND_SPEED: 20kt WIND_DIR: SSW SWELL_DIR: SW SWELL_HT: 3.5m CLOUDS: 50%
BARO: 996.4hPa TREND: -2 AIR_TEMP: 12.0C SEA_TEMP: 10.0C
COMMENT: Slowed down in less wind. Some sunshine and scattered cumulus. C.Horn 62ml

Sunday 6pm Finding the time of day thoroughly confusing - it feels quite early but it's well gone tea-time! Next time zone change is on passing 67.5W - just before reaching Cape Horn.

Sunset is late and sunrise is very early - nearly at midsummer here, so nights are short.

Wind keeps gusting up to mid-thirties - so boat speed is up around 6.5-7kt or more most of the time. Under a grey sky covered in rain clouds with frequent showers - none very heavy this afternoon..

Seas staying well up at 5m - quite rough - so continually being thrown around a lot and surfing frequently over 9kt - just saw 10.0kt and have seen 15kt very briefly.....

7:25pm Daylight beginning to fade. Seems this will probably continue for another day - until midnight Monday at least, before the wind eases on getting closer to the Cape. Being totally honest, I'm right on the edge of my 'comfort zone'!! I have to go up and watch the seas and how Nereida responds so as to convince myself that "Everything is gonna be all right!" Good song that and one I sing often when things get tough....! Definitely not a relaxing Sunday afternoon!

Instead of tea, tending to have a hot mug of CupaSoup - much appreciated in 8C/46F air/sea temperature - must go dig out some more packets and then have some food - something quick'n'easy tonight. Wind 30-37kt now.

Galley is in 'lockdown' mode in these rough conditions - sliding fridge top is bolted down and dry locker (full of tins of food) has its lifting lid well secured -= don't want tins flying around should we broach - lethal missiles! All pots and pans are put away.

Monday 6:45am Had several gusts to 40kt overnight but wind mainly eased a bit now - around 28kt.

Some big waves crashing onto us - a couple just came by - pretty violent - hope not many more like that - nearly broached in wave action.

10am Small group of prions swooping around - they fly so fast.. Sky quite bright, although usual total overcast. Seems a lot calmer now, with fewer of those big waves. Wind now mainly around 26kt. Boat speed less - only making 6kt or just under - varies a lot with waves picking us up and taking us forward with them - we're surfing often - so it's difficult to estimate actual boat speed. Plenty of rolling around still.

Keep thinking I should be letting out the third reef but then I look at the 27kt wind speed, a 30kt gust comes long and I decide to leave things a bit longer.

Seeing coast of Chile on AIS screen 70 miles off - not far. Uku is possibly 28 miles away but not showing on my AIS screen although I've been assured that he's now transmitting. Might not see his signal until we're a lot closer.

1pm Still getting occasional 30kt gust and being tossed around by fairly frequent big waves - nearing shallower water off land (Chile) can't be helping. Looking forward to the calmer seas forecast for when just off the Cape early on Wednesday and on towards Staten Island - which I'll be giving a good clearance, en route to E of the Falklands.

1900GMT (=1400LT) - end of Day 75. We made 147 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 75 (by daily DMGs): 7,629 n.ml.

Distance from Cape Horn LH (to ESE): 205 n.ml.

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/17 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 55-30.40S LONGITUDE: 073-20.54W COURSE: 102T SPEED: 5.6kt

WIND_SPEED: 26kt WIND_DIR: W SWELL_DIR: W SWELL_HT: 5.0m SWELL_PER: 7s CLOUDS: 100%

BARO: 1002.1hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 8.0C SEA_TEMP: 9.0C

COMMENT: Cape Horn 205ml away. Big seas still. Wind gusting to 30kt

Saturday 4:30pm Was just enjoying seeing some sun and bits of blue sky when a big dark raincloud came over and the wind gusted up to 24kt from 15-17kt - rain! Wind was soon back down - to SW 17kt - and then back up to 24kt with another shower... down again ...and then up to 30kt under another cloud - coming and going so quickly.... Blue sky still visible around the edges of each dark grey, angry-looking cloud with some sunshine in between the heavy showers. The wind makes a very distinctive sound in the rigging - a musical moaning noise.... When it arrives, I can pretty well guage the wind strength from its sound.

A pair of white-chinned petrels, around most of the day, were joined by a small flock of Antarctic Prions - quite small birds, swooping around close to the water nearby, staying together as a group. Occasionally, I'm also seeing a solitary Black-browed albatross - quite distinctive from the much larger Wandering albatross seen the other day with its young one.

Pity Uku on 'One and All' didn't head SE to begin with last night, well before the wind went from WNW to SSW - he might then have made his proposed 'photo shoot' rendez-vous with 'Nereida'... The last time we met was quite a few years ago, in Simon's Town, S. Africa - a small group of single-handed cruisers got together at the False Bay Y.C. there, near Christmas, after sailing S from Richards Bay - the usual landfall at the end of the Indian Ocean crossing from Australia.

We'll have to make do with radio contact, either tonight, after the Pacific Seafarers' Net, or after his daily weather update from Peter, ZL1PWM, around dawn tomorrow. Propagation on 40m overnight is excellent just now. I made contact last night again, on 7160 soon after 0400Z, with two radio operators in Chile - I enjoy that - makes me feel close to the people of the country I'm passing by.

8.30pm Close to sunset - but, although some breaks in the cloud, the sun is hidden. Seas are SW 4m, only very occasionally rocking the boat rather suddenly, literally! Today's tally of birds ia: pair of Black-browed albatross, pair of white-chinned petrels and a small flock of prions - all seen from time to time throughout the day - I wonder if they've 'adopted' Nereida' - I hope to see them regularly from now on.
Getting a short rest before PacSeaNet at 10pm LT (=0300Z). Looks as though we'll be here at least until tomorrow afternoon, maybe not getting underway again until dawn Monday. Keeping a constant eye on the weather forecast for the Cape - it's a 3 day sail from here...

Sunday 4:35am LT/EST Just got underway ...unexpectedly! Spoke to Peter at 3:30am, after Uku's daily radio weather update ('One and All' is possibly only about 30 miles away) "Get underway now!" was the advice - weather warnings are diminishing and waiting longer is beginning to look less favourable... So we're heading now to Cape Horn - ETA in roughly 3 days - Wed 19th Dec.
Wind is SW 22kt, sky is overcast and grey (surprise!), seas are SW 4m/13ft or more.
Definitely time for breakfast and coffee... I'll make up on sleep later sometime...

6:45am Wind soon got up to 25kt or more - and then a big rain cloud came over - winds well over 30kt for a time... Rough conditions - 'boisterous' is, I think, the term used... 'gripping' is another - I was definitely gripping tightly as we regularly heeled right over in the bigger gusts! We were galloping along at around 7kt in seas made rougher by the wind... I was very pleased to see the edge of the cloud heading our way - and what looked like a raincloudless sky behind... Getting a hot soup, to be followed by some coffee and breakfast - still not had that yet.

8:10am Wind up to 34kt again under a rain cloud...boisterous conditions! The good news is they pass over quickly, boosting our speed as they do so....

8.30am Just plotted a hypothetical course from an assumed position to our NE for Uku at start of his passage towards the Horn. We're likely to be on converging courses, not too far apart - maybe 25 miles initially? I hope his AIS is transmitting - I'm keeping a careful eye on my AIS screen. We arranged to talk on SSB/HF at 1800Z/1pm LT so we can exchange position info then.
The sun has just come out and several prions are swooping about the boat, low over the water.
Think i'll get a short nap - I'm low on sleep hours at present....

1.30pm Had an excellent sleep! Woke to find sun shining brightly from between scattered white clouds and W wind 26-30kt giving us a good speed towards the Cape on a broad reach. Was hoping to chat to Uku over SSB/HF radio at 1pm - but had no contact on either frequency we'd arranged. Maybe he was busy just then... Should have had a good contact by ground wave. Was hoping to check on his rough position - hopefully, he's going faster than I am, although not by too much - to avoid possible strong gusts when getting closer, W of the Cape. My AIS is still not showing him and the VHF is silent. (I heard crackling yesterday when he tried calling.)

1900GMT (=1300LT) - end of Day 74. We made 64 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions - just 9.5 hours underway today, rest drifting at 1kt, hove to.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 74 (by daily DMGs): 7,482 n.ml.

Distance from Cape Horn LH (to ESE): 354 n.ml.

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/16 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 54-55.30S LONGITUDE: 077-30.88W COURSE: 107T SPEED: 6.0kt
WIND_SPEED: 30kt WIND_DIR: W SWELL_DIR: W SWELL_HT: 4.5m CLOUDS: 75%
BARO: 1000.6hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 9.0C SEA_TEMP: 9.0C
COMMENT: Cape Horn 354ml away. Bright, sunny, scattered white clouds

Friday 3pm Wind up again now - was down around 20kt or less but now NW gusting to 24kt. Expect it to increase and we're heading a bit S of rhumbline to the Cape now, hoping to avoid worst of wind and swell later. Making ~6kt and surfing on waves occasionally.

5pm Wind 32kt from NNW, with 28 kt in between gusts. Soon after came heavy rain with very reduced visibility. Half an hour later - rain easing off and wind eased to ~27kt, gusting 30kt.

6:45pm Thoroughly enjoying a lovely hot CuppaSoup... Wind is still from NW and still mostly around 27-30kt but the boat's motion feels a lot smoother. Front seems to have passed over but centre of Low hasn't yet because wind direction hasn't backed to SW. Sky is grey and it's still raining, although no longer hard.
(I've come to the conclusion that anyone becoming a sailor (or windsurfer) soon becomes a bit of a meteorologist, like it or not, both to maximise good sailing time and also to avoid strong conditions. Either that, or a 'tree-watcher' - are the leaves moving enough to give good wind for possible windsurfing or sailing after work today...?)

Saturday 3am Spoke to Peter (Northland Radio), ZL1PWM, after he gave Uku on 'One and All' his daily weather update - assumes his present course and speed are held for next few days but does not give Uku his GPS position any longer, as it used to. The warnings of 55kt gusts in two areas and 6m seas or more are still there on two different weather models so I said I'd keep to my plan of heaving to where I was at that point and wait for a day or more so that when I reach the Cape, conditions would not be so intense.
Uku spoke to me also - he was going to continue on, despite the warnings, but was keen to pass close by me so we could tske photos of each other's boats!! At that point he was about 55ml to my WNW, so it was agreed I'd leave my VHF radio on. His AIS would be on transmit, so I'd see when he got close and when then he'd switch his AIS to receive so he could find me.
That's the plan - I'll be surprised if it works but it would be fun to take the photos he wants if it does! We can't get close enough to have a cup of tea together - the 'unassisted' rule disallows that even if it were physically possible in present swell conditions - which it is definitely not (we're rolling all over the place).

4.30am Finally hove-to after a major problem with the staysail furling line. It had clearly been let loose at some point (or maybe had worked loose over last day or so of sailing) and, with the broken plastic part that normally would hold it in place having given way, it had rotated 180 degrees and the line was twisted around the stay below the drum.
I had to get onto the foredeck and untwist the line and position the drum correctly, starting to furl in the sail as I did so, and then keep tension on the line as I slowly inched my way back to the safety of the cockpit. That meant keeping the line in tension past its various stanchion fittings until I finally reached the clutch by the aft deck...
No safety line, boat rolling in big seas...and my boots kept tangling with the surplus line... Felt a bit risky... Then I was able to finish furling in the staysail and get the boat into a hove-to position - and get to my bunk for some more sleep - I'd had less than three hours up to then.

11am We're still drifting at 0.9kt but the wind shifted to SW while I was sleeping so our direction of drift is now ENE, not due S as it was in the NW wind. Our present position is less than 6ml SE of where we heaved to.
Wind is quite noisy in the rigging, although only 19kt now. We have the occasional bird come visit - But I'm getting to a late breakfast while keeping an eye on my AIS screen for any sign of 'One and All'- I think he's being optimistic! ETA around 1800GMT/1pm LT plus or minus an hour or so! Coffee time!

12:30pm Just got a position update on Uku from Peter - he was 36 miles NNW of me at 11am, making 4.7kt, headed ENE. There's no way he can reach me in the present wind, which has backed to SSW - what a pity! No photo shoot... So close, yet so far...!
Our AIS signals are probably too weak to reach each other and the swell doesn't help. I can't see his signal but can usually see big ships 24ml away - their signals are stronger. He'll be feeling pretty frustrated..!

2pm Getting lot calmer although still rolling around often. Blue streaks showing in the NW-W sky - sun frequently shining. A pair of white-chinned petrels gliding around us, close by. I'll see if I can get photos of them later. Taking the down time to re-provision in the galley from stores elsewhere.

1900GMT (=1300LT) - end of Day 73. We made 86 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions - including 9.5 hours hove to - going nowhere!

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 73 (by daily DMGs): 7,418 n.ml.

Distance from Cape Horn LH (to ESE): 418 n.ml.

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/15 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 54-42.04S LONGITUDE: 079-19.02W COURSE: 063T SPEED: 0.8kt
WIND_SPEED: 17kt WIND_DIR: SSW SWELL_DIR: WNW SWELL_HT: 4.0m CLOUDS: 80%
BARO: 981.7hPa TREND: 4 AIR_TEMP: 8.0C SEA_TEMP: 9.0C
COMMENT: Still hove to - on to Horn late Sun ..or Mon?

Thursday 3:30pm CST Total overcast again. Hove to still. Wind has been building but gusting up and down for most of the day - now to 29kt from NW. Waves are fairly big and the occasional one bangs into us with a sudden noise.

Pleased to find a pair of reading glasses - they'd been missing for several weeks. Had to be somewhere since definitely not thrown overboard...! They'd slipped down side of bedding in bunk.

Thinking about trying to move on S a bit after present winds have eased somewhat. Would like to get more S ready for next system to pass to North - don't like the look of its very big swells added to its strong winds... Means moving later tonight and then heaving to again once we've arrived at 55S.

10pm CST The 'blow' is up to 36kt from NW now, dropping to 32-34kt in between - seas not too bad so far, thankfully. Just the occasional one makes us lurch suddenly sideways as it hits us. Had a good few hours' sleep up to 8pm - missed out making up on sleep earlier today and wanted to be ready for possible early start overnight.

Believe we're about to drift across the Time Zone boundary (into N. American Eastern Time zone = GMT-5hr) - we're now at 082 30.7'W Our drift while hove-to started heading us NE yesterday but is now due East at about 1.5kt -no problem since we've plenty of sea room but I will feel better if we can get underway, even if only for a short time, to get further S once this wind eases - maybe around dawn or soon after.
Must get to my bunk for some sleep..

Friday 4am LT (= EST = GMT-5hr) First light - getting underway towards Cape Horn - spoke to Peter at 0810Z - several weather warnings have been lifted - looking OK to head direct....Grey rainy-looking sky - wet everywhere but no rain, just big seas from both NW and SW - biggest are from NW at 5m/16ft, probably more. Albatross, with white body and dark wings held out stiffly, gliding nearby close to the sea as I came on deck to prepare to get underway. Quite a few things to do .. including gybing the main.

5am Well underway - 540 miles to Cape Horn - about four days away.
Really being thrown around a lot by the two wave trains. Wind just N of W at 24kt.
Fingers got so wet and cold in wind, had to don my leather sailing gloves - couldn't have functioned for much longer without them. Air is 9C/48F - wind chill on wet skin makes it feel a lot less.

10am Sun shining through grey cloud at times. Wind WNW 19kt, swell a lot less now the wind has abated somewhat but still the occasional one that comes to throw us about. Having a late breakfast after a good sleep - making up for hours lost overnight..

Spoke to Uku as well as to Peter before getting underway earlier - was good to hear from Peter that 'One and All' is transmitting on AIS - that means if Uku gets close, I'll see his position on my screen (he can't see his own position nor mine, I believe) - excellent news! With him being only 84ml to my W, I'd been getting concerned since we're both headed to the Cape directly now and he'll certainly overtake me - he's going faster. I was also able to give Uku my position which he was happy to have - he doesn't want a collision any more than I do!

I almost didn't bother noting it down but Peter gave me One and All's MMSI number - I've seen no ships on my AIS screen since passing Polynesia - most never come this way - too stormy, rough and cold and Panama is a far more attractive, usually more direct, option!

Thought I'd post photos taken from Nereida this morning...

1900GMT (=1300LT) - end of Day 72. We made 61 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions - drifting hove-to until 1000Z.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 72 (by daily DMGs): 7,332 n.ml.

Distance from Cape Horn LH (to ESE): 497 n.ml.

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):

TIME: 2018/12/14 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 53-44.95S LONGITUDE: 081-09.76W COURSE: 135T SPEED: 5.5kt WIND_SPEED: 22kt WIND_DIR: NW SWELL_DIR: NW SWELL_HT: 5.0m CLOUDS: 100%
BARO: 988.2hPa TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 9.0C SEA_TEMP: 9.0C
COMMENT: Underway to Horn - slightly S of rhumbline.

Wednesday 2pm Still lovely sunshine but cold air. Went to adjust Fred - wind has backed quickly to WSW from W. Saw two small grey birds swooping and circling around us - prions? Tried hard to take photos - SO difficult as they move so fast close to us. I take lots, in hope, and then have to spend quite a time zooming in to search each frame and deleting most of them....

6pm Warning of high winds near coast on my path if continued on present course - have changed course accordingly to stay further off the coast...

11.30pm Weather warning again - of 55kt winds on my path - even the changed one - so decided best to heave to (again!) so system passes away from us in a day's time... Have not long finished heaving-to on starboard tack - now making 0.6-0.9kt roughly due S. Missed 7160 'sched' - busy on deck organising sails etc.

Thursday 2am Spoke to Peter, Northland Radio, about warnings, along with Uku on 'One and All' who has the same weather - he's not far W. Discussed the area of risk - looks as though Nereida is rather close to it so I decided to heave to on the other tack to avoid drifting any further S.

4.15am Dawn was around 3am so had daylight for work on deck. On port tack now, having changed mainsail and gybed around. Hove-to in W18kt wind, drifting NNE at 0.5kt. Back to my bunk for some more sleep!

11:15am Wind has been slowly building over last few hours - now from WNW at 26 kt. Sun shining, at times, in between gathering clouds - sky nearly covered but a lot of it is thin cirrus and sun gets through.

Wind, which was SW, is now veering to NW and will then back into the W as the system gets close. The next system is not far behind, so. quite soon, the wind will back towards SW and then, again, go W - NW and finally SW when the centre of the system has passed. The wind pattern on the N side of these systems is invariably the same - NW ahead of a Low, becoming W, then SW as it goes off to the East. (To be on the S side, getting E winds, we'd be in Antarctica!)

Photos of Antarctic Prions attached - pretty birds, beautifully marked.

1900GMT (=1300LT) - end of Day 71. We made 47 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions - a lot of it (14hr) drifting, hove-to, first S then NNE-NE.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 71 (by daily DMGs): 7,271 n.ml.

Distance from Cape Horn LH (to ESE): 558 n.ml.

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign of kc2iov):

TIME: 2018/12/13 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 53-29.35S LONGITUDE: 082-49.88W COURSE: 059T SPEED: 1.0kt
WIND_SPEED: 24kt WIND_DIR: WNW SWELL_DIR: WNW SWELL_HT: 4.0m CLOUDS: 100%
BARO: 998hPa TREND: -2 AIR_TEMP: 11.0C SEA_TEMP: 10.0C
COMMENT: Still hove to, on port tack. Wind building slowly.

Tuesday 5:45pm Wind has been consistently NW 24-28kt all afternoon and set to continue. Seas pretty big and throwing us around a lot - really have to be prepared and make sure I'm holding on tightly - you can usually feel the wave coming, so just a matter of reacting quickly to the warning.

Had a very nice 'Southern-style Chicken' chunky soup yesterday, with addition of more chicken - so now adding potatoes, sweetcorn and tomatoes - will bulk it up nicely for tonight and maybe tomorrow - needing hot soups/meals a lot now - it's 8.6C/48F, with both sea and cabin the same temperature - so wearing lots and often tucking in to my warm sleeping bag for extra warmth. Also a good place to be in present rough seas - I'm definitely safe in my cosy bunk!

6:15pm Was nice to hear Sid, K7SID, (8155 group) on 14160 just now - propagation is not good to Phoenix AZ from here without a powerful antenna to help - so was good to hear his voice - Season's Greetings to you both, Sid!

11pm Was nice to make a couple of contacts on 7160 tonight from Chile - not too far away... Both (CA3CLF and CA3HSC) were from Santiago, the capital.
Still speeding along at ~6.5kt in wind from NW at 28kt, gusting 30kt, with seas continuing to toss us around - time to get to my bunk again.... but first I'll study the latest gribs (weather files) that I just downloaded.

Wednesday 3:45am LT Woke up just after dawn - wind had suddenly dropped from around 28-29 kt to 15-17kt and backed into W. Boat's motion noticeably less abrupt now with sea crests not whipped up by strong wind. Boat speed has dropped a lot also - from 6.5kt or more to 5-5.2kt, down to 4.5kt at times.
Clock time seems clearly wrong... On checking time zones' info, change of zone to UTC-5 is at longitude 82.5 degrees W and we've not reached there yet (we've presently only just passed 085W so still in N.American Central time, not Eastern time yet). Early dawn must be partly result of being close to mid-summer here and maybe also being not far from time zone change - feels wrong, though!
Early morning sun is shining through breaks in the cloud - no solid grey overcast just now - just 80% cover, showing plenty of blue streaks - nice! A bird is swooping around fast, close by - shearwater, perhaps? Going to be a slow day today, compared with the speed of last night...

8:30am Bright sunshine and blue sky overhead! White cumulus ahead and spreading alto stratus well astern - hope it doesn't sread over too much, too soon... Wind W14kt, on broad reach.
Saw same quite small bird swooping around - all-brown with yellow beak...
Time for breakfast and I'll see if I can identify the bird. No albatross seen this morning, as yet...

1pm Lovely, relaxing, sunny day with an interesting clpudscape - a breather in between the frequently stronger conditions. Seas still quite high (4-5m) - they keep on coming. They're smoother but still roll us around often. Cold air - put some well-loved ski socks on as over-socks to try to keep my feet, and toes in particular, warm. Helps to warm them up in the sleeping bag often.
No birds seen just now - have been studying my bird book - must make more of a note of feet & bill colouring to make a positive ID. Also known ranges of birds is a great help - unlikely to see a tropical-only or N-hemisphere-only bird down here!
Looks as though my all-brown bird might be a White-chinned petrel (they are common all over the Southern Ocean) but I need to see its bill clearly to be sure - has a dark tip. On my previous two long Southern Ocean passages, I've seen more than one at a time - they're quite gregarious birds and I'd often see them resting in groups on the water, 'chatting' to each other...

1900GMT (=1300LT) - end of Day 70. We made 132 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. Yesterday's strong conditions up to dawn this morning hrlped our daily DMG.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 70 (by daily DMGs): 7,224 n.ml.

Distance from Cape Horn LH (to ESE): 604 n.ml.

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign of kc2iov):

TIME: 2018/12/12 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 53-01.72S LONGITUDE: 083-52.96W COURSE: 117T SPEED: 4.5kt
WIND_SPEED: 14kt WIND_DIR: W SWELL_DIR: SW SWELL_HT: 4.5m CLOUDS: 75%
BARO: 992.8hPa TREND: 2 AIR_TEMP: 13.0C SEA_TEMP: 19.0C
COMMENT: Lovely, sunny, relaxing but slow morning!

Monday 6pm Got an email from Peter, ZL1PWM, that the severe weather warning that caused me to heave to is no longer - Predictwind forecast is for far more moderate conditions near the Cape next Monday, as in other weather models. So we were able to get underway again - excellent news! Of course, in shaking out the 3rd reef and raising the mainsail, first a batten got tangled in the reef line and then the sail caught in a lazyjack line - seemed that whatever could go wrong and get in the way did so! Wind: WNW 18-20kt.

A repeat news item from yesterday afternoon - finally seeing Wandering albatross close by and an all-dark sooty petrel(?) as well as occasional shearwaters! I'd gone up on deck to check swell direction and cloud cover and ended up taking time tidying lines in cockpit and saw a grey and white bird swooping nearby (shearwater or prion? I must check in my bird book to remind myself) and then another, very dark, bird (petrel?). Then, along came a Wandering albatross - magnificent! Shortly afterwards, a juvenile came close - they were clearly parent and young and rested for a time in the sea close to Nereida - so difficult to take decent photos in such big swell and with the boat pitching and tossing. (apologies for poor photos!)

6.30pm Made several good contacts on 14160 - unusual - of late, propagation has been bad but talked to Victoria, B.C., Florida, Connecticut....all with good clear signals.

Sailing nicely - staysail sheets had to be untangled before I started out - I'd forgotten that on furling in the staysail when I heaved to under mainsail alone last night, I'd left the sheets too loose and they totally tangled themselves, flailing around in the strong wind. Fortunately, it wasn't too difficult sorting them out.

Daylight fading - time to sort out tonight's meal.

Tuesday 11am Going well in NW wind of 24-27kt, soon expected to back to WNW. Bright overcast with very occasional hint of sunshine. earlier.. Seas at 4-5m - pretty big and small sections of crest breaking slightly from time to time - adds to the resulting motion as we often surf a little - at ~8.5kt - as the wave passes by.
Impressive to see these big rollers approach our starboard quarter - and catching sight of a majestic albatross gliding on fixed wings above. I'm studying my bird book to remind me of all the other different birds hereabouts - prions, petrels, shearwaters, etc.

Weather looking good for next few days' onward passage to the Cape.

1900GMT (=1300LT) - end of Day 69. We made 114 n.ml.(DMG) over the 24 hr period, measured in a straight line between the two 1900 GMT positions. Includes 3-4 hrs still hove-to, prior to getting underway again yesterday.

Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 69 (by daily DMGs): 7,092 n.ml.

Distance from Cape Horn LH (to ESE): 733 n.ml.

Position & weather report for 1900 GMT posted to Winlink.org and Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign of kc2iov):

TIME: 2018/12/11 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 51-41.38S LONGITUDE: 086-44.44W COURSE: 127T SPEED: 6.4kt
WIND_SPEED: 26kt WIND_DIR: NW SWELL_DIR: WNW SWELL_HT: 5.0m CLOUDS: 100%
BARO: 994.9hPa TREND: -2 AIR_TEMP: 9.0C SEA_TEMP: 9.0C
COMMENT: Big seas - swinging boat around as crest passes under.