can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

American Spirit II - Day 139; Into the Gale, Moving Objects in the Heavens, Watch Keeping Hand Off Explained, in a New Time Zone & a Free Wheeling Wind Turbine



At 12:02 AM the wind is 10/11 knots and our boat speed is 6.0. Comfortable.

At 12:39 AM I saw a 2 second shooting star that covered 20% from its zenith to the horizon. Spectacular! Like someone drew a lighted line across the night sky. I saw another, regular, shooting star 2 minutes later.

During the watch change at 1:00 AM we noticed on the SSB radio screen a message: "All Ships 53962000." Never heard it come in. Might have been a distress call?

Joel relieved me at 1:00 PM. He had been sleeping until then. When another crew member takes over a watch, the person on watch doesn't just say 'good night' and head below to sleep. First off, the person on watch will make coffee for the person coming on watch, in exactly the manner they want it done. And they will hand deliver it to them. Then they will wash the French Press out and put it away. The cockpit will be in perfect order, with all lines coiled up and stowed properly and any trash removed. If a sail adjustment is necessary, the person going off watch will have done this before the new watch person comes on duty; or they will do it together if necessary. Then a history of the watch will be given - wind speeds, boat speeds, nearby traffic, etc. Future sail adjustments may be spoken of then. Only then will the person going off watch actually go off watch.

After going off watch at 1:00 AM I took a shower. Strange time to do so, but going to bed 'clean' is a nice feeling.

I slept solid until 5:00 AM. At 5:30 AM we passed, we think, the sailboat Free & Breezy to starboard. A red light was showing.

On watch at 6:00 AM. 1/3 moon was out behind me. The wind speed was 13/14 knots, and our boat speed was 6.0 to 6.5 knots.

At 6:15 AM I saw a satellite go from right to left above me, northwest to southeast. Too high for a plane, and too fast.
At 7:00 AM I noticed the refrigerator had turned itself off due to low voltage. 11.95.

Sunrise at 7:15 AM. Clouds on the horizon, so no green flash. Still looking for my 2nd sunrise green flash. At 7:19 AM the sun poked out from behind a cloud. Put both fish lines in the water.

I noticed two wave sets. The trade wind or wind waves, which follow the wind angle; and larger swells from the south, from the Southern Ocean.

During the 9:30 AM communications net II Audeacious indicated that they had 25-30 knots of wind. Since they are ahead of us by 2 days, this is good information to have; and a reason why the nets can be so valuable. It means we have bad weather ahead of us. Batten down the hatches mate!

Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, pear halves and toast with butter, jelly and peanut butter. And not just any butter. New Zealand butter out of a can the size of a nuts can. Really good, so it must be bad for you.

After breakfast we dropped the low side starboard pole as the wind had gone forward of the port beam. We were now on a close reach, which is very unusual on this trip because usually (almost always) the wind is aft of the beam or behind us. You sail around the world...down wind. The wind is 15 knots and our boat speed is 7.0 to 7.5 knots. We put 1/2 reef in the main.

At 11:17 AM I talked to Circe on the VHF radio. They indicated that they were doing 8 knots. Impressive. Also, bigger boat.

Noon position: 14 degrees, 51 minutes South; 164 degrees, 5 minutes West. 380 miles to Niue.

Due to our speed, our hydro generator was generating enough voltage that our refrigerator and freezer turned themselves back on again. Thus shut themselves off when the boat voltage gets too low for them to operate properly.

I took a nap from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM, when Joel then took has nap. It was rough out, with the boat constantly tilted at 15%. Wind 16, boat speed 7.7. At 3:10 PM we put a full reef in the main and a reef in the jib. Wind building.

At 3:17 PM we entered a new time zone, 165 degrees West longitude. We're not going to change our clocks and watches until we get to Niue, though.

Dinner at 5:45 PM. Freeze dried Sweet and Sour Pork and Rice; creamed corn; and fruit cocktail.

Right after dinner we entered into a big cloud area. Like one of those movies we've all seen where the boat enters into a 'dark' area, knowing that trouble lurks therein. Well, our trouble is going to be wind and waves. The tail end of the gale south of Niue.

During the 6:30 PM communications net II Audeacious reported that a New Zealand (?) air force or navy PC Orion Patrol Plane had circled them and talked to them on the VHF radio. Asking who they were, where they were going, etc. Cool.

During my 8:00 PM watch the winds continued to build. Double reefed both sails. The wind was steady at 20-25 knots with gusts, a lot of them, 25-30. I slowed the boat down so we wouldn't be standing on our heads all night. And because with all the black clouds shooting by us you neve know when you're going to get a super wind burst. In hindsight we slowed the boat down too much. (We'll fix that tomorrow).

The wind turbine kept 'running away.' Meaning, was freewheeling because it was spinning too fast. It does that when the wind gets over 25 knots. I finally turned it off. After a couple of minutes it finally stopped. Whew!

At 9:08 PM I noticed that the hydro generator wasn't perfectly vertical in the water, so I had to tighten that up so it would produce electricity and not be a drag on the boat.

At 10:15 PM I shortened sail more. And at 10:37 PM I noticed a red boat light to starboard. Then I saw a green light, meaning it had altered course and was heading behind our boat. Then they started pointing a spot light up into the clouds. I reciprocated and pointed my spot light onto our mainsail so they could see that we were a sail boat. Then I noticed that our tri-light at the top of the mast was off. I checked below and the switch was turned off. Joel had inadvertently turned it off in his sleep with his hand. I turned it back on.

At 11:37 PM the wind was a steady 25 knots and and our boat speed was 6.0 knots.

Joel relieved me at 12:00 AM

344 Days until home.

Brian Fox
-------------------------------------------------
Do not push the "reply" button to respond to this
message if that includes the text of this original
message in your response. Messages are sent over a
very low-speed radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: "American Spirit II"
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply.

Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners. For more information on this service or on the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:
http://www.sailmail.com




Previous | Next