35:52.811 S
177:54.611 W
22/5/09
15:30
Had a lot of trouble sending the last blog entry. The
MPDS connection kept saying it was busy.
It had been given a new dial-up connection. I restored the old one but it didn’t
make any difference.
I had to resort to Iridium which didn’t want to play
either for the first 4 goes, but
eventually did connect, but the routine went on for over an hour. If it stays like this, I won’t be able
to send any pictures whilst en route.
A while ago the generator kicked in but kept
stopping. Steve had to re-set its
automatic control. I’ve spent the
afternoon trying to configure the new navigation displays to my satisfaction and have very nearly
succeeded. The sun continues and so
does the SW wind which is carrying us a bit South. We are trying to avoid poling out which
makes the boat very rocky and rolly.
We haven’t seen a single ship of any description since
leaving yesterday. The only company
is a continual parade of stunt Albatrosses (not sure of the plural) soaring and
diving around the boat.
20:30
The
Wind has dropped and what little
there is, is dead behind, so to stop the sails from flogging all night we decide
to motor. There is stronger wind ahead of us. Anthony, our weather router has promised a briefing
in a few hours. He couldn’t send one yesterday as promised as he was in the
Kiel
Canal and
couldn’t get a signal. He did get
our position as of noon today. I think we’ll motor until we
hear from him. At least we’ll make a better course for a few hours.
Sill no MPDS but the Iridium seems to be
working.
Jon has
distinguished himself by being practically the first new crew member to remain vertical
during his first few days on the boat. Must be the New England
upbringing.
23/5/09
07:00
Well we
certainly caught up with the wind or it caught up with us. By 3AM we were sailing again in
a Southerly Force 6 which has backed to SSW 6/7. We are doing over 9 knots as I write. The Wind is behind the beam and the sea
is up a bit. Not much of a dawn
this morning with too many big clouds on the horizon. A squall had been
shadowing us but has passed in front, so we’re still
dry.
Anthony did send a briefing and I enclose same in case
anyone’s interested:
“At the moment the
conventional route looks to be favoured.
Current situation and
synoptic outlook
So far, the weather
patterns have behaved as previously predicted. There is an area of low pressure
to the east of you (moved from north of
New
Zealand) and high pressure to
the south west with a ridge extending north east. There is a convective area
which appears to be organising itself into a shallow low presently around 20S
164E. There is poor certainty regarding the future movement of this area, but it
is possible that the high pressure will allow it to move south east in which
case it would be on your track from 25th. The precipitation forecast (on the
northwest of this low) suggests 40 to 50 knots in the frontal system.
After 25th the low is
expected to continue moving south slowly to be at 36S 171W on 27th from which
time it is expected to move east.
Routing
There are three
options, rhumb line, north and east. Rhumb line puts you in the middle of this
low which, despite being shallow, will give you strong winds in the frontal
areas with lots of electrical activity. I certainly hate being near lightning
and would not recommend this strategy although it does have the advantage of
having the shortest time. The eastern strategy will give you headwinds for about
24 hours on the 26th whilst the low passes south to the west of you. The
northern strategy is probably the most attractive option in the context of
achieving downwind sailing during the passage, but it will put you into a
convective area with heavy squall activity from 24th to
26th.
On balance, the
eastern strategy is the one I would choose. This would mean heading for 36S 170W
to be there by 1900 UTC on 24th. If you arrive there earlier, getting
further east would be an advantage.
Wind
forecast
On the recommended
route the wind will be SW F4-5 occasionally 6 through to 2400 on 24th. Then you
will have a period of very light winds with E winds filling in, building and
backing to be NE
F5 by 2400 25th. The
wind will continue to back thereafter as the low moves south to give
W
F4 from
26th.
If you prefer to look
at the north option, please let me know and I will detail a forecast for
that.
I will monitor the low
over the next few days and send you a further briefing on
24th.”
We are following the
“eastern strategy,” although not too slavishly as we want to keep up boat
speed.
12:00
We’ve had quite a bit
of wind this morning. SW7/8 but now it’s settled in to a more moderate SW
6.
Yesterday’s run was
185 miles including 9 1/2 engine
hours.
