LTY UPDATE: Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012
Day #5 of passage from Vanuatu to Marshall Islands LTY time: 19:05 (Marshall Islands time = UTC +12)
Location: 600nm NNE of Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu
Distance to go Majuro: about 830nm
Position: 06 32.267 S, 169 16.165 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
SOG: 6.4 kts (SOG = Speed over Ground)
COG: 037 degrees (COG = Course over Ground)
Wind: 3-8 NNE
Seas/Swell: 1m @ 6 seconds SE
Weather: Sunny and clear skies with large fluffy clouds surrounding all horizons.
Air temp: 90 F 32C
Sea temp: 95.5 F 35.3 C
Barometer: 1017nm CHASING the WIND on my MAGIC CARPET Another ideal day of sailing out here on the South Pacific. Conditions continue to be about the same with that “Birds in a Nest” type situation of clear skies above and fluffy clouds all around. The wind been doing as forecast and as typical for this part of the world by dropping off slowing and now starting to turn to the north as we start to leave the SE Trades behind and head for the equator and the northern hemisphere. Right now they are blowing out of the NE about 3-8 knots and I’m still able to keep them coming over my starboard bow (right side) but will soon need to tack over as I’m pointing more and more to the west and need to be going slightly to the east. Sail boats have a limit as to what angle they can sail upwind and on Learnativity this is about 50 degrees (head on would be zero) to be sailing efficiently. So I’ve got both the main and the genoa sheeting in tight or what is called “close hauled” sailing and I’m pinching the wind as close as I can to ride that 50 degree line for maximum boat speed and best heading. Earlier today I changed over my auto pilot from having it steer the boat to a given way point to now be in “wind vane” mode where it maintains a set wind angle, 50 degrees in my case. This means that as the wind shifts the boat will steer to keep the wind at the angle you specify and hence I’m very much “chasing the wind” today and letting Learnativity and the auto pilot determine the course. It is working out very well and the sailing has been very smooth as we rise up and down over the gentle hills of the SE swell that is now aft of our beam. As the wind has shifted gradually north throughout the day though, this means that we are pointing more and more north and now about NNW so I’m keeping an eye on these headings and will likely need to tack over to the east so I don’t lose the easting I’ve gained and can maintain a mostly northerly direction. I may need to do some motoring in the transition period there as either point of sail will be taking me either west or east and I want to go mostly north but the winds should clock back around to the South by tomorrow and I won’t be too far off course. Sailing really does feel like a magic carpet ride to me. Learnativity weighs over 33 tons and yet here I am in a relatively light breeze and we are silently sailing along at 3-5 knots! It is such a thrill to think that I’m doing what sailors have done for centuries of using the energy of the wind to take you where you want to go. Of course I’ve got the significant advantage of sails that allow me to sail up wind as they become wings or air foils that produce lift and pull rather than push us through the water. It isn’t that long ago that sailboats could only go downwind and that is where the “Trade Winds” get their name as all the trade ships that were carrying their cargo from supply to demand locations were following these routes dictated by where and when the wind blew. And I can’t imagine, though I try, what it must have been like for these sailors when they had almost no maps or charts at all and really no idea where they were until the invention of a clock that would work onboard that enabled them to take sightings of the stars of sun and figure out their longitude. Latitude was known early on and relatively easy to calculate as each line of latitude is the same distance from the next so once they could figure out the longitude they knew where they were! Now of course I’m out here sailing with incredibly detailed electronic (and some paper) charts, over 7 different GPS systems to pinpoint my exact location and so many other benefits. But, it is still just me and Mother Nature out here and it is still sailing on her winds and so I feel very much connected to both the human history and nature. For some reason today I had the urge to sit up on the bowsprit and just take it all in. So I perched myself up there such that I was the furthest thing forward and everything else was behind me and as usual it was a marvellous sensation. Feels so much like flying and you can’t see anything but water below, in front and around you. The scale of the watery world stretched out before me helps keep me humble and appreciative of being able to have these kind of experiences. For a planet that now has over seven billion people living on it, I’m certainly a very privileged person to be out here so very much by myself with not another soul or speck of land in sight of likely for hundreds of miles and even thousands in many directions. Once I had satisfied that urge for some forward flying I had the idea to try out the opposite so I climbed down onto the aft swim steps and sat there with my feet dangling in the 35C degree sea water as I looked out at the wake I was leaving behind and yet another unfathomable mass of ocean stretching out as far as my eyes could see. Like being up on the bow, there was no boat and nothing but water in my field of view and it only served to multiply my sense of the vastness of the ocean and get that thrill of being surrounded by nothing but ocean for every one of the 360 degrees of horizon surrounding me. OK, enough of my ramblings for tonight. The sun has set as I typed this up and there are some storm cells up ahead to the NNW that I need to try to skirt around so I’ll say good night for now and be back with more tomorrow. Thanks again for joining me on this adventure. Wayne
Day #5 of passage from Vanuatu to Marshall Islands LTY time: 19:05 (Marshall Islands time = UTC +12)
Location: 600nm NNE of Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu
Distance to go Majuro: about 830nm
Position: 06 32.267 S, 169 16.165 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
SOG: 6.4 kts (SOG = Speed over Ground)
COG: 037 degrees (COG = Course over Ground)
Wind: 3-8 NNE
Seas/Swell: 1m @ 6 seconds SE
Weather: Sunny and clear skies with large fluffy clouds surrounding all horizons.
Air temp: 90 F 32C
Sea temp: 95.5 F 35.3 C
Barometer: 1017nm CHASING the WIND on my MAGIC CARPET Another ideal day of sailing out here on the South Pacific. Conditions continue to be about the same with that “Birds in a Nest” type situation of clear skies above and fluffy clouds all around. The wind been doing as forecast and as typical for this part of the world by dropping off slowing and now starting to turn to the north as we start to leave the SE Trades behind and head for the equator and the northern hemisphere. Right now they are blowing out of the NE about 3-8 knots and I’m still able to keep them coming over my starboard bow (right side) but will soon need to tack over as I’m pointing more and more to the west and need to be going slightly to the east. Sail boats have a limit as to what angle they can sail upwind and on Learnativity this is about 50 degrees (head on would be zero) to be sailing efficiently. So I’ve got both the main and the genoa sheeting in tight or what is called “close hauled” sailing and I’m pinching the wind as close as I can to ride that 50 degree line for maximum boat speed and best heading. Earlier today I changed over my auto pilot from having it steer the boat to a given way point to now be in “wind vane” mode where it maintains a set wind angle, 50 degrees in my case. This means that as the wind shifts the boat will steer to keep the wind at the angle you specify and hence I’m very much “chasing the wind” today and letting Learnativity and the auto pilot determine the course. It is working out very well and the sailing has been very smooth as we rise up and down over the gentle hills of the SE swell that is now aft of our beam. As the wind has shifted gradually north throughout the day though, this means that we are pointing more and more north and now about NNW so I’m keeping an eye on these headings and will likely need to tack over to the east so I don’t lose the easting I’ve gained and can maintain a mostly northerly direction. I may need to do some motoring in the transition period there as either point of sail will be taking me either west or east and I want to go mostly north but the winds should clock back around to the South by tomorrow and I won’t be too far off course. Sailing really does feel like a magic carpet ride to me. Learnativity weighs over 33 tons and yet here I am in a relatively light breeze and we are silently sailing along at 3-5 knots! It is such a thrill to think that I’m doing what sailors have done for centuries of using the energy of the wind to take you where you want to go. Of course I’ve got the significant advantage of sails that allow me to sail up wind as they become wings or air foils that produce lift and pull rather than push us through the water. It isn’t that long ago that sailboats could only go downwind and that is where the “Trade Winds” get their name as all the trade ships that were carrying their cargo from supply to demand locations were following these routes dictated by where and when the wind blew. And I can’t imagine, though I try, what it must have been like for these sailors when they had almost no maps or charts at all and really no idea where they were until the invention of a clock that would work onboard that enabled them to take sightings of the stars of sun and figure out their longitude. Latitude was known early on and relatively easy to calculate as each line of latitude is the same distance from the next so once they could figure out the longitude they knew where they were! Now of course I’m out here sailing with incredibly detailed electronic (and some paper) charts, over 7 different GPS systems to pinpoint my exact location and so many other benefits. But, it is still just me and Mother Nature out here and it is still sailing on her winds and so I feel very much connected to both the human history and nature. For some reason today I had the urge to sit up on the bowsprit and just take it all in. So I perched myself up there such that I was the furthest thing forward and everything else was behind me and as usual it was a marvellous sensation. Feels so much like flying and you can’t see anything but water below, in front and around you. The scale of the watery world stretched out before me helps keep me humble and appreciative of being able to have these kind of experiences. For a planet that now has over seven billion people living on it, I’m certainly a very privileged person to be out here so very much by myself with not another soul or speck of land in sight of likely for hundreds of miles and even thousands in many directions. Once I had satisfied that urge for some forward flying I had the idea to try out the opposite so I climbed down onto the aft swim steps and sat there with my feet dangling in the 35C degree sea water as I looked out at the wake I was leaving behind and yet another unfathomable mass of ocean stretching out as far as my eyes could see. Like being up on the bow, there was no boat and nothing but water in my field of view and it only served to multiply my sense of the vastness of the ocean and get that thrill of being surrounded by nothing but ocean for every one of the 360 degrees of horizon surrounding me. OK, enough of my ramblings for tonight. The sun has set as I typed this up and there are some storm cells up ahead to the NNW that I need to try to skirt around so I’ll say good night for now and be back with more tomorrow. Thanks again for joining me on this adventure. Wayne
Great storytelling Wayne and easy to envision a little bit of your excitement with the views "up front" and "behind". I love the thought of dangling one's feet in 35C water! Our pool is down to about 60F right now, so will be covering over soon for the winter.
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