30:23.620 S  163:23.760 W

29/5/09   19:30

It’s been a really pleasant days sail..  The wind has stayed NW/NNW mostly Force 4. We are sailing to windward at 7-8 knots.  There is no sea so it’s  quite idyllic.  Still waiting for a decent sunset.   Horizon clouds always seem to arrive to blot things out just when they should get interesting. In mileage terms we are over half way. 

21:30

A few squalls about. Wind holding at NW Force 4.  The wind’s just in front of the beam, so we’re shifting, averaging over 9 knots for the moment.  And in the right direction!

27/5/09   03:30

Wind  NNW Force 5 so we’re pointing a bit higher and still maintaining  good boat speed. Back night. No moon. Broken cloud. Some faint stars. And it’s dry.

10:00

The wind has gone WNW Force 5 so we’re broad reaching mostly over 9 knots. Very good sailing.  We’re trying to out run a squall but  don’t think we’ve got much of a chance.

13:00

Well the squall caught up bringing a blanket of cloud and a bucket of rain and 35 knots of wind.  Fifteen minutes later it was back to blue skies but the wind has gone WSW Force 4.  It’s behind the beam and not as nice as pre- squall.

We’ve had an encouraging weather  up-date from Anthony:

“With a bit of luck, you should find that the worst weather of your trip is now past. Your position report is very close to where I had hoped you would be.

Current situation and synoptic outlook

The low that has been affecting your recent weather has temporarily stalled and is gradually filling, centred at 34S 174W. A convective area on the northeast flank of the low is moving east southeast and will pass to the north of you during the next 12 hours. It is fairly close - about 30 nm from you and you may be able to see it on the horizon. Tomorrow the low will intensify slightly and move slowly east to be centred at 33S 171W by 0000 UTC 29th producing light to moderate NNW - NW winds in your expected position. After 1200 UTC on 29th a further convective area will move slowly across you track for 12 hours. Again this is likely to ahead of you but it will be fairly close. On 30th and 31st an area of high pressure will lie to the north of you and a new vigorous low will be moving east from New Zealand. This low is expected to move east at a slightly faster rate than you so that the very light winds you have on 31st will be replaced by moderate to strong N winds on 1st which will continue until your arrival at the Australs.

Routing

The high pressure to the north of you on 30th leads me to suggest that you should not aim to be north of the rhumb line until after 31st although the N winds forecast during the last couple of days would give you an easier wind angle if you chose to make more northing early on. Very much a personal choice - you would use less fuel staying south of the rhumb line.

Wind forecast

27th: NW backing W, possibly SW for a time, F3-4

28th: Initially W or SW F3-4 veering NW after 1200 UTC

29th: NW F4 increasing F5-6 after 1200 UTC, backing and decreasing WNW F4-5 by 2400 UTC

30th: W-WNW F5 reducing to F3 by 2400 UTC

31st: W F3 or less, veering N F3 by 2400 UTC

At present the winds for 1st look like N F5 and for the 2nd NW F4.

Next weather briefing 30th. You will probably not want another briefing until you are ready to leave the Australs. I am at a regatta in Marseille from 3rd - 7th and will have restricted availability.”

Our 24 hour run was a better 187 miles with no engine hours.  We’ve now been a sea for a full week and logged  1260 miles including 12 ¾ engine hours.  We are well over half way and there is another 925 miles or so to go.

Question of the day:  Can Kiwi’s Spell????