Becalmed
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Noon position: 38 37.3 S 147 13.8
E The gentle E'ly breeze held overnight allowing us to make some comfortable miles. We negotiated the traffic separation scheme south of Wilsons Promontory, keeping clear of several large ships that were transiting the area while we were trying to make ground tacking against the light headwind. By 2300 we had cleared the traffic separation scheme and I could then relax a little now that we were no longer in the middle of a major shipping lane. We managed to keep on sailing until 0800 when what vestige of wind there was died away, leaving Sylph rolling in the short low swell, sails slatting and chafing useless against her rig. So, not wanting to push my luck with the injection pump, we drift, bare-poled, waiting for sufficient wind to set some sail again. We sit five miles to the SW of an equally bare-poled one-legged oil platform, appropriately named 'Perch', though of course inappropriately named after a species of fish rather than its ungainly stance. Unfortunately, when the wind does come it will be from the wrong direction. The forecast is for a moderate to fresh NE'ly breeze, ie a headwind, picking up later this afternoon and remaining mostly from the NE until late Tuesday, when we can expect the wind to freshen further and back into the WNW, which will then hopefully speed us on our way. In expectation of some bouncy conditions ahead, I am preparing a pressure cooker full of vegetable curry for this evening's meal, which will make do for at least three meals. All is well. |