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S/V Nereida sails around the world

RTW Day 223: N. Pacific: Difficult Overnight Passage Through Hawaiian Archipelago in Very Light Wind

Saturday 1st June 2013

Midday   Feels good to see Lisianski Island and the seamount to its W astern of us! Lisianski was due E at 11:30pm in no wind. Lost a lot of sleep last night trying to keep the boat headed N in little or no wind with boat speed of 1-2 kt for a long period of time. Lost steerage and drifted in circles quite often. This morning's weather faxes indicate present ENE wind will continue into tomorrow but will then veer to SE by midnight and to SW over Monday, so I am hoping to be heading NE in stronger winds after this weekend.

It's a bright sunny day with few clouds and a fairly calm sea, with a gentle 5-second swell from the E. Had breakfast in the cockpit and it's calm enough for me to deal with the remaining not-so-fresh fruit and veg (almost all dried or moldy). Laysan Albatross (See Photo) is gliding around in the distance. Our red-footed hotel guest left well after dawn, having slept with its long-necked head tucked under its wing, making it look headless!

Evening    Wind veered earlier and we made course of  011T at 3.5kt - time for a party in bright sun but increasing cloud to celebrate escaping to N of Hawaiian Archipelago. Our course would keep us well E of Pearland Herms Atoll (to ESE of Midway) so we're now clear of all danger.

Opened bottle of bubbly chilled in small portable 12v cool-box and enjoyed music and sea view from cockpit. White-tailed tropic bird seen overhead. Before relaxing, took long mop and water and cleaned solar panel. Boobies had covered it with their 'guano' ! Wind had veered more - we're now making over 5kt on 015T.

laysanalbatross

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 70n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 2646n.ml.; Midway Island: 188n.ml. (304T); Kauai: 842n.ml. (105T); Cabo San Lucas 3483n.ml; San Francisco 2677n.ml

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:
http://www.exactearth.com/media-centre/recent-ship-tracks/tracking-nereida/
http://www.7163net.com Current Position Reported by Ham Radio with Google Earth Tracking

RTW Day 222: N. Pacific: Albatrosses, Terns and Boobies, as We Get Close to Lisianski Island

Friday 31st May 2013
Had a nice meal last night to celebrate crossing the Tropic of Cancer.

This has been a very slow but pleasant day, full of birdlife under sunny skies with a lengthy, very sociable radio session on 15m from 0030Z onward.

Overnight, three boobies roosted on the stern arch - one red footed (see photo), one all-brown immature and one all-black(including a black breast), except for white under body, light bill and pale green-yellow feet (brown booby?). Surprisingly, with 'lively' seas, they managed not only to hold on (two on solar panels and third on aerial platform) but they also got back after losing their grip later, despite the dark, moonless sky.

Coming up into the cockpit early this morning, I found the immature booby perched on a starboard wench - it didn't seem much bothered as I checked things over and eventually flew off after I'd got some close-up photos.

I've been bird-watching a lot, after cutting the toes off a worn-out sock to place as protection over my left fore-arm which has become photo-sensitive. The skin got damaged when I serviced the main port wench in bright sunshine recently and now reacts very badly to sunlight. (I'm taking a mild course of antibiotics which has definitely helped.)
Frequent sightings of Albatross today: 2-3 Laysan and 1 Black-footed - all dark with white at the base of tail and bill. Every so often, 2-4 terns have flown by noisily and boobies have been seen regularly. One red-footed booby is again roosting overnight on a solar panel.

booby

We're are slowly passing Lisianski tonight and should be clear of it by the morning. Light wind is likely to continue for the next day or two while we get N of Midway Island.

(Lisianski Island is named after Yuri Feodorvich Lisyansky, an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy. Lisianski was the commanding officer of the sloop-of-war, Neva, an exploratory ship which ran aground on the island in 1805. Neva is the name of the dangerous shoal SE of the island.)

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 82n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 2681n.ml.; Midway Island: 244n.ml. (315T); Kauai: 810n.ml. (101T); Waypoint W of Lisianski Island 44n.ml (346T); Cabo San Lucas 3480n.ml; San Francisco 2695n.ml

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 221: N. Pacific: Albatross Near By... and Hotel Nereida Has Guests Again

Thursday 30th May 2013

1348GMT - Crossed the Tropic of Cancer at 173:23 W - out of the tropics with speed down at 2.5kt, but on course.

Early morning, under grey cloud, sails were backed in light NE winds. Set Fred to keep the sails very close-hauled, since the wind was highly variable ENE-NE, and that worked well until 11am, with speed mostly around 4.5kt. Then came another larger area of rain cloud ahead of a Cold Front and we several times sailed or drifted W in almost no wind - impossible to stay on course and we lost ground. Finally, after sunset, in company with three boobies roosting on the stern arch, we managed to stay on course albeit at only 2-3kt into the night.

This morning, got the message "chart not available" five times over, so downloaded several weather faxes this evening. Felt slightly reassured by them - there is a hint of ENE wind for 2 or 3 days so we may succeed in passing safely through the reef area ahead by late Saturday. I can't wait to get that extensive hazardous area behind me.  I just hope the wind keeps up and doesn't die again as we're passing through.

I was delighted to see Laysan Albatross fly past this morning and one was around again for some time near sunset. Hoping to see a Waved Albatross, present in large numbers on Midway Island.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 100n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 2718n.ml.; Midway Island: 320n.ml. (322T); Kauai: 776n.ml. (096T); Waypoint W of Lisianski Island 127n.ml

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 220: N. Pacific: Will be Crossing the Tropic of Cancer Soon After Midnight

Wednesday 29th May 2013

Last night speed dropped to just under 4kt and and the same is happening tonight at times.

6:30am - Up for weather fax download. Unfurled full genoa and speed increased to 4.2kt in ENE wind with sun shining through light broken cloud layer.

By mid-morning, sailing at 5.3kt in good conditions. Angled solar panels for midday sun - input went from 7A to 14A.
Thoroughly enjoying reading Dana's "Two Years Before The Mast" - very interesting, especially since it talks about places I've sailed to in California as well as rounding Cape Horn.

Had some good radio contacts today. Monitored 10m (28540 kHz) from 2230Z and then 15m (21280 kHz) from 0000Z. 10m didn't seem to work too well but had several contacts on 15m in early afternoon - Japan, Jamaica, Australia as well as the usual USA stations plus others.

Speed down by mid-afternoon and on into the night. Doubt we'll have decent wind until we're further N. Should we passage through reef on Friday, 200n.ml. to go - if we're not becalmed before then!

Managed to see all three planets after sunset, but clouds on horizon hid atleast one each time. They appeared to be in almost a vertical line with Venus central and Mercury and Jupiter above and below.

Saw a frigate bird high up yesterday - very distinctive, unmistakeable outline. Hoping to see some Pacific Albatross soon - they breed on small islands in the atolls ahead as well as in places on the Hawaiian Islands.

A friend just sent the following links from Latitude 38 & Sail-World.com which might be of interest:

http://www.sail-world.com/cruising/usa/Incredible-Jeanne-crosses-equator---one-more-leg-to-victory/109684

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 116n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 2765n.ml.; Midway Island: 415n.ml. (327T); Kauai: 737n.ml. (089T); Hawaii: 965n.ml (097T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 219: N. Pacific: Running Backstay Comes Loose

Tuesday 28th May 2013

Started the 6:30am download of satellite photo and weather faxes. Went on deck to adjust course and trim sails - heard an odd sound ... saw running backstay had come loose. Turned out that the shackle holding the block to the metal eye at the end of the stay was broken. Found a similar strong shackle in my spares and replaced it so the backstay was put back in place and tensioned - necessary, since we will be on starboard tack a lot on the way N. It's been a bright day but with lots of cloud and seas quite high. Morning speed was good at 6.4kt. Winds E15kt, abating a little this afternoon - spent quite a time 'tweaking' to maximize speed and course as the wind lessened.

On studying weather faxes, saw the wind over the next few days is set to turn to NE - bad news, since it means best course will be NNW-NW as we pass through the Hawaiian Island chain. Spent some time checking on possible course and looking on the plotter.This evening finally decided
needed to change the waypoint being headed to for one further W with lots of clear water to W and N for manoeuvring as we pass through the channel.

So we're now heading on 344T to a point W of Lisianski Island - under autopilot to maintain accurate course overnight as the wind backs possibly. Having freed off the wind, seas speed went up to 5.5kt from 4.0kt.

Too much cloud in W at sunset again to see planets low down.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 155n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 2837n.ml.; Midway Island: 523n.ml. (332T); Kauai: 738n.ml. (081T); Hawaii: 740n.ml (090T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 218: N. Pacific: Excellent Speed in E Wind, But Choppy Seas

Monday 27th May 2013

Constantly keeping an eye on COG (course) and SOG (speed) to optimize both by 'tweaking' - adjusting Fred and/or trimming sails and furling in/out genoa, depending on heel and condition.

Trying to keep heading N, although happy to make some more Easting in case winds force us NNW as we close on Hawaiian Islands' chain reefs and atolls - E.T.A. Thursday, if present speed of 6.5-7kt is maintained. Have noted several safe passages through. Present E wind is very welcome (as oppose to ENE), since this means that, although still close - reaching, we're more off the wind, giving good speed, and banging less into the 2m sea so a smoother ride.

Quite cloudy this afternoon, after bright morning of boisterous sailing in the bigger seas. Tonight, starry overhead, with only a little cloud ahead and in the W.  Big grey clouds at sunset prevented any sighting of the planet trio of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury soon after nightfall, close to the W horizon.

Continuing to find flying fish on side-deck each morning.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 126n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 2960n.ml.; Midway Island: 659n.ml. (339T); Johnston Atoll: 208n.ml. (111T); Hawaii: 962n.ml (081T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 217: N. Pacific: Passing 200n.ml W of Johnston Atoll

Sunday 26th May 2013     

Happy Bank Holiday and Memorial Day To U.K. and USA Friends!

Overnight, flying fish on side-deck - small area on its belly glowed in the dark!

9am    Wind veered to E, so able to free off and make N course at better speed.

11:30am   Rain clouds around - no sooner partly-furled in genoa than wind dropped, speed down to 2.5kt, so had to unfurl genoa and trim sail again. Later, back on course in E wind, speed 5.4kt bright sun.

1:30pm A lot of large cumulus around again. Had just finished spending a long time clearing up a major spillage of detergent powder when realized wind was up - we were bouncing around and heeling a lot. Genoa in  .... adjusted course ... so finally turned on autopilot for a short while in gusty and changeable conditions.

Sunset   Large dark grey raincloud downwind - it had missed us! Clouds were clearing away ahead as the sunset light faded. Just above the W horizon, looked for the usual trio of planets to show: bright Venus was below and to the right of Jupiter, but was closer than last night. Mercury was just above Jupiter and also to its right - about twice as far away as Venus, all three forming a clear triangle, not quite equilateral.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 107n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3063n.ml.; Midway Island: 774n.ml. (343T); Johnston Atoll: 212n.ml. (076T); Hawaii: 1000n.ml (071T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 216: N. Pacific: Gentle NE Trade Force Us West

Saturday 25th May 2013

8am   Bright and sunny, I noticed some towering cumulus clouds ahead to windward, with rain clearly falling from its base. Slowly, we drew closer and, for a time, I thought it would pass astern of us - but no. Our course changed with the veered wind and soon heavy rain was rinsing the boat off. I stayed watching from the companionway in case I needed to furl in some genoa as the wind increased but all passed without any great drama - just some increased heel and speed as we skirted the cloud until finally coming out into the sunshine again. Another far smaller rain cloud shortly after gave us more Easting in the veered wind and some more rinsing off but there was no more rain for the rest of the day.

Wind backed and, despite traveller and boom hauled to weather as much as possible, we could no longer make our N course but were forced NNW at 4kt or less over the rest of the day and into the evening.

7pm    Dark. After sunset, Mercury was a faint object to the right of, and slightly higher than, Venus and the line joining them formed the base of an isosceles triangle with Jupiter at its apex. The moon was late rising - not seen near sunset, possibly due to cloud in E.

Satellite photos show it is clear ahead and weather fax shows the wind will be ENE for some days so we are likely to be forced further W.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 121n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3140n.ml.; Midway Island: 879n.ml. (345T); Johnston Atoll: 252n.ml. (051T); Hawaii: 1024n.ml (071T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 215: N. Pacific- White Tropic Bird Comes By

Friday 24th May 2013

5:30am   Unfurled to pull genoa in lighter winds - sun just risen. Day was mainly bright with lots of thin high clouds but afternoon brought total light overcast with sun shining through from time to time.

11am-3pm (& again 10-11:30PM)     Spent a long time on emails. Having to receive and sent via voice relay on my HF radio certainly slows things down and keeps my replies short! Many thanks to Jim, Rick and Tom for their time and help in that. Propagation got difficult on 15 meters today but 20 meters worked well.

3pm    Lovely white - tailed tropic bird, with with white streamers and black feet and eye patches, circled several times.

6pm  Glorious sunset colours were beginning to fade as bright moon rose in E. Golden in W, vivid pink clouds all over the rest of the blue sky - dramatic!  No planet seen tonight - too much cloud.

For second night running, wind veered and increased enough for us to bear away and make better speed - around 6 kt. Later, cloud mainly cleared away and moon shown brightly over a choppy sea.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I've wedged and latched the galley stove to prevent it moving after gimbal support broke on Wednesday.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 127n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3233n.ml.; Midway Island: 997n.ml. (346T); Johnston Atoll: 339n.ml. (035T); Hawaii: 1067n.ml (065T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 214: N. Pacific: Catch Sight of Mercury After The Sun Goes Down

Thursday 23rd May 2013

After sunset tonight Jupiter, Venus and Mercury were all visible in above the W horizon. Came down for food and realized we were heeling a lot. Wind was up and veered. Furled in some genoa, eased mainsheet and adjusted Fred. Speed was over 6.5kt in the better conditions and we were sailing more up the wind and making a good course. Earlier in the day we had been making a very poor speed of 3-4kt, so this evening's speed was welcome. It had been a good sunny day and the solar panels put in plenty of electrons.

Amazingly, when I downloaded weather faxes this morning, the ITCZ had re-formed to the S - it had vanished just long enough to let us through. Early this morning I found 8 flying fish on the side-deck.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 110n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3332n.ml. ; Midway Island: 1121n.ml. (348T); Johnston Atoll: 448n.ml. (025T); Hawaii: 1123n.ml (059T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 213: N. Pacific- Heavy Stove Comes loose ...

Wednesday 22nd May 2013

We're trying to head due N but have had to be very close-hauled to make our course in E-ENE winds. Early this morning, I was delighted to find the winds had veered to just S of E, meaning I could sail more off the wind, which immediately increased our speed from 4.5kt to 6 kt - far better! That lasted until mid-afternoon when I suddenly found us heading NW - winds had dropped and backed - time to sail closer to the wind again - which promptly reduced our speed down to 4-4.5 kt again - pity! So it's slow-going tonight.

Big problem of the day was finding galley stove had come off its gimbal on one side - support is broken. Worry is that is on port tack (we're on starboard tack now), the heavy stove will tend to move inboard, so I've spent most of the day trying to fix it. Presently, it's wedged in place and part-lashed, hoping to prevent any movement.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 113n.ml.; Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3416n.ml.;  Midway Island: 1229n.ml. (348T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 211-212: N. Pacific- Feeling Happy - ITCZ Vanishes!

Monday 20th May 2013

NE course continued overnight, with speed up to 5.5 kt, but well before dawn, winds  backed and our course was due N for several hours. By 11am, we were heading NW in a NE wind - NOT the direction expected or wanted!  For the rest of the day our NW course continued, but soon after sunset the wind veered and we were again heading N occasionally NNE.

Another sunny day with very little cloud and gentle sailing in fairly calm seas, although occasionally we have been banging into short chop. From 10am I had the radio monitoring 10m (28.540MHz) and had several good contacts with Australia and the USA. Received and sent several emails - system is working very well.

Job of this afternoon was replacing wind steering vane off the stern. Tying everything including myself to the boat for safety lengthened the time taken but finally Fred was looking very smart with the new red covered vane in place.

Looks as though big area of clouds of ITCZ will be reached tomorrow or Wednesday - clear path 300ml to the E of here.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 101n.ml. (actual -108n.ml.) Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3585 n.ml. ; Midway Island: 1439 n.ml. (350T)

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Tuesday 21st May 2013

Missed several radio skeds last night - carefully set plotter alarm ... but later turned plotter off to save power ...   :-(

Beautiful clear starry night with hints of first light at 4am.

9am Busy at chart table - noticed course was 030T, instead of due N - winds had veered to ESE and increased - jumped up on deck - two enormous rain clouds ahead - reduced genoa alot in readiness and adjusted Fred to bare away. Seas much bigger and rougher. Heavy rain! By 10am, genoa unfurled in light winds. By 11am, sunny again, course due N, speed 4.5kt - close-hauled and pounding into rough seas - slowing us down.

Had several radio contacts on 10m over the morning but the signal was fading in and out.

1pm Solar input 15A with little clouds.  Weather faxes are showing NO ITCZ ahead - fabulous! Occasional squalls still possible, but weather gods definitely smiling on us just now...

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 102n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3514n.ml. ; Midway Island: 1337n.ml. (350T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 210: N. Pacific - Another pleasant day in the S.E. Trade Winds

Sunday 19th May 2013
Another pleasant day of trade winds sailing, ambling along NE in good sunny conditions, in E-SE winds at speeds of 4.5-5.5kt, making good Easting again.
Around midnight, soon after the half moon disappeared in the W, I sensed our changed motion and went on deck to furl in some genoa. A large black cloud was over head, the wind was up and rain was starting. As we heeled in the stronger conditions, with my headlamp out of battery power, I held a torch in my teeth while I winched in the genoa furling line a bit ... and then some more! Rain fell increasingly heavily and I got very wet but our heeling was reduced and boat speed steadied at around 5kt.
By dawn, with boat speed down to 3kt, the genoa was unfurled to full again - that was a solitary rain cloud and no more were seen over the day.

Spent more time looking over Hawaiian Island chain out to beyond Midway Island checking for reefs and seamounts to avoid - shown by skull and cross bones galore on my chart plotter. There are some wine glasses showing the few safe deep passages through.

Afternoon - covered a spare windvane framework, ready to replace present tattered one on Hydrovane.

ITCZ has moved from 4N to 8N - the weather gods are being amazingly kind just now!

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 94 n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3684 n.ml. ; Midway Island: 1522 n.ml. (352T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 209: N. Pacific - Wind died, so winch serviced

Saturday 18th May 2013

5:30am   Lovely sunrise. Making 5.5-6kt now and overnight on 050T - help from possible E flowing counter Equatorial current as yesterday. Wind SE, so continuing to make good Easting. Satellite photos show mass of cloud ahead from 4N on, but clear here.

8:00am    Wind just died! Struggling to make 1.5kt and stay on course. Calm conditions, so  ideal for taking apart port sheet winch (big one) to service thoroughly - it's been misbehaving badly of late.

3:00pm   Winch finished - sounding sweet. Pawls were dirty and sticking. As I started on it, noticed two flying fish on the side deck close by. Haven't seen any for some time. Wind slowly came up from midday on and we're now making 5kt heading NE in ESE wind. Very little cloud over the day.

Next project is renewing cover on vane framework for wind steering - will do it and hopefully replace tomorrow.

It is a pleasant refreshing evening with bright half moon over head. Wind died soon after sunset - speed down to 2-3kt, but came up later to 4.5kt.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 110 n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3778 n.ml. ; Midway Island: 1591 n.ml. (354T)

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 208: Pacific - Into the Northern Hemisphere .... and the N. Pacific

Friday 17th May 2013

At 14:53GMT (2:53am local time) at, 175:56w, we crossed the equator. The time was earlier than expected because the wind veered to the SE, allowing us to fall off a little. This increased our speed and we still maintained a NE course which gave Baker Island a very good clearance. I celebrated with a few sips of a nice Tasmanian single malt whisky and some S. African mango juice but left the main party until midday.It has been another glorious day of sailing in the S.E. Trades and I had my party with music, singing and dancing. I opened a nice bottle of bubbly and had some Brie and pate on crackers.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 113 n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 3887 n.ml

From: KC2IOV/MM by HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM, Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 207: South Pacific- Great sailing up to the Line - we will be crossing over night

NOTE FROM JEANNE: My computer malfunctioned on the 10th of May and can not be fixed, so I am without direct email capability for the rest of the trip.  My friends have set up an email-to-radio relay for me with an email address of my radio call sign (KC2IOV) at mv dot com.  Please use this email address for any important messages but understand that everything gets relayed to me over the radio and so the capacity is very limited.  I will reply to email as soon as I can but there may be long delays in replying and some messages may not be replied to until I make landfall at the end of my trip.  But as of this date I am doing well!  Note:  Any Yahoo Group members' replies to my email will not have been received.

Thursday 16th May 2013

Over the day, the course has been 020T, speed has been 4-5kt. Priority at present is avoiding the tiny Baker and Howland Islands ahead just N of the equator. Their positions on my chart-plotter display were confirmed last night by Mark, N1UK - good to know exactly where they are, since I will past them in the dark - they have no light. [We remember Amelia Earhart as we pass them. There is a day beacon on Howland Island named after her. She came down somewhere near by in her little plane in 1937.]

Weather faxes are showing good weather: E winds across the equator until I reach the ITCZ which is at 4-5N. Satellite photos still show it is clear ahead, with no major convection until the ITCZ.

Other priorities are checking the weather continually and looking in detail at the sea bed in the Hawaiian Islands chain out to beyond Midway. We might want to pass through somewhere, so I have noted all the many hazzards - reefs, islands, seamounts....lots of them!

I am writing this singing along to music playing - getting into the equator crossing party mode already - expect to cross the line tonight - 2:30-3:30am(Friday 17th of May) at approximately 176W, passing  30 n.ml.  E of Baker Island.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 106 n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 4000 n.ml.

From KC2IOV/MM By HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:

RTW Day 206: South Pacific - Another Lovely Day of Sailing

Wednesday 15th May 2013
9:30 am   Hot bright sunny! Tony's Net (Aus-NZ) just finished. 30 percent clouds.
11:25 am   On 10 meters for the last one and a half hours - propagation not got enough for US but sufficient for Australia and NZ. Slowed down to 4.5kt, cloud up at 40 percent but so far none of the expected rain clouds or squalls.
1 pm   Satellite pictures downloaded so it is clear ahead - the cloud mass S of the equator has disappeared - 10 percent cloud now - great! I am delighted to be avoiding all of the squalls I was expecting. Our course is also good at NNE with a consistent ESE winds.
3:30 pm   Pacific Seafarers' Net - Randy, KH6RC, passed on messages from Barbara and Ian about my arrival in Victoria.
A lovely evening with good sailing continuing but the wind is definitely dying, the speed is down to 3.8kt. The wind is tending to back more toward the E from ESE giving a more N course. I received a report that my AIS beacon was copied on May 15th by a listening station in Monterey, California in what must have been a miracle of propagation and ideal ionospheric conditions. These signals are VHF and normally line of sight. The previous AIS transmission received at that location  from the Nereida, was when I was southbound on the outward leg and much closer to the coast.
24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 121 n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 4101 n.ml.
From KC2IOV/MM By HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:
http://www.exactearth.com/media-centre/recent-ship-tracks/tracking-nereida/

RTW Day 205: South Pacific- A Beautiful Day's Sailing

Tuesday 14th May 2013

7pm   Starry night, very few clouds, crescent moon lighting up the sea, Southern Cross not so high since close to
the equator (4S).

We had a lovely sail today after an extensive early morning rain cloud killed our speed for over two hours.
We passed under two heavy showers-each time the winds first increased, giving us 5 kt speed, and then
died so we made
under two kt. Our overnight course of 030T became 350T. Winds finally picked up and veered,
so then we made 5kt or more, sailing N-NNE
for most of what was a very hot day.

Downloaded satellite IR photos of cloud cover-showed a mass of cloud ahead, both N and S of equator- can
expect strong squals in the active convection there-from possibly late wednesday to late sunday.

The brown noddy flew off this morning, after the rain, having sat in the cockpit just a foot away from my
winching without moving.
So far tonight, she has not come back to roost as I expected.
I like thank Rick, WA1RKT for setting up an email address to be used to relay urgent messages via HF
radio.Non-urgent messages can continue come to me via my website 'Contact' page- to be read on landfall.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 97 n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 4219 n.ml.

From KC2IOV/MM By HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM Port St. Lucie, FL

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:
http://www.exactearth.com/media-centre/recent-ship-tracks/tracking-nereida/

RTW Day 204: South Pacific- Hotel Nereida welcomes a guest

Monday 13th May 2013

7am
On deck in strong winds-face to face with brown noddy on port winch.
Reduced genoa-with big grey mass of clouds ahead with grey overcast.

Midday
Clouds thinning, winds down-still NE.
Course has been only 340T since morning.
Brown noddy landed on foredeck as well as is in the cockpit- it had a long black spear like bill for fishing.
Downloading weather faxes.

1pm
Course, finally, due N,  seas 4.3kt.

8pm
Brown noddy has adopted the boat- identified as a female with help of N7RY and VK4DBJ. Just settled into short nap before evening radio sked when heavy rain fell- I saw the boat was turning N-NE – NW-SW!
Realised sails had been backed by sudden change of wind.
Up on deck to get us back on course-shared the cockpit with the brown noddy- not worried by my presence. Bird has now been named Brownie. Had meal in cockpit tonight with Brownie a couple of feet away- no problem.

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 100 n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 4309 n.ml.

From KC2IOV/MM By HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM Port St. Lucie, FL

...........................................................................................................................................
For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:
http://www.exactearth.com/media-centre/recent-ship-tracks/tracking-nereida/

RTW Day 203: South Pacific- drifting backwards overnight but good winds over day

Sunday 12th May 2013
3am Woken by heavy rain and boat heeling (having slept through all evening radio sked-forgot to set alarm). Sails were aback, boat was going SW at 2-3 knots. Winds soon died and for next 4 hours, despite all my efforts, we drifted SW in little or no winds-we lost 6 miles before a gentle E wind arrived at 7am.
Good sailing over daytime, NNE at 3-5 knots, with skies clearing to leave band of rain and clouds behind by 4pm when a pod of dolphins came by. A noddy tried to land on solar panels near sunset- finally made it to aerial support. Later, as I took in the washing from the preventer beneath the boom at 10pm, I noticed the noddy hovering over head- maybe it had lost its footing as we bumped around in the swell-not possible to land in darkness. Lovely starry night with ESE winds...making NE at 5 knots.
24hr DMG to 2300 GMT: 34 n.ml. (Ugh !!!) Strait of Juan de Fuca: 4408 n.ml.

From KC2IOVmm By HF radio. Copied by Jim, WB2REM

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For my positions and track, see:
www.svnereida.com - 'Travels' - "Where is 'Nereida'?"
and/or:
http://www.exactearth.com/media-centre/recent-ship-tracks/tracking-nereida/