LTY UPDATE: Friday, October 5th, 2012
Day #7 of passage from Vanuatu to Marshall Islands LTY time: 17:25 (Marshall Islands time = UTC +12)
Location: 858nm NNE of Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu
Distance to go Majuro: about 640nm
Position: 03 19.400 S, 171 03.078 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
SOG: 6.5 kts (motor sailing) (SOG = Speed over Ground)
COG: 000 degrees (straight North) (COG = Course over Ground)
Wind: 0-5kts out of NNE
Seas/Swell: 2m @ 7 seconds NE
Weather: scattered cloud all around filling in more and more as the day progressed
Air temp: 90 F 32C
Sea temp: 96 F 36 C
Barometer: 1017nm PLAYING CAT & MOUSE with SUNBEAMS Day #7 out here so first week done and less than a week to go I'd guess. Still too far away to be able to make any accurate ETA for Majuro but with about 640nm to go it should be about 4 to 6 days which would make it somewhere between Oct 10-13 is my best guesstimate. Weather is never too predictable and least of all in the band on either side of the equator as currents and winds all go through their transitions form southern to northern hemisphere with the Coriolis effect. In this part of the planet we have what is called the SPCZ or South Pacific Convergence Zone which is a band of weather that stretches out in a generally east west direction and tends to drive north and south of the equator as the seasons progress. Right now it is lying south of the equator from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon's out east past Tonga. I've making my way through it and its effects for the past few days and should be out of it by tomorrow I hope and find nice clear sunny weather, and some favorable winds up north of the equator. For your approximate reference I'm at 3 degrees south right now and Majuro is at 7 degrees north and there are 60 nautical miles between each degree of latitude. Soon Ruby and I will need to start readying ourselves for another equator crossing celebration and I'm hoping that will be during the day this time so we can enjoy it all the more. I think this is about the eighth crossing for her and I so we are well seasoned shellbacks as is the name for those sailors who have crossed the equator as opposed to the equator “virgins” known as Polliwogs. More on all that as we cross the equator in a few days. I’m also delighted to let you know that we made it out of all that dark and stormy weather of the past few days and in the wee hours of this morning the skies overhead gradually opened up with each nautical mile of ocean that slipped under the hull and let a still quite full moon and more and more of the millions of stars shine through. Mother Nature continued to show off again at first light this morning with what I found to be a game of cat & mouse between the early rising sunbeams as they escaped upward and the surround rim of billowing clouds. The clouds were filled in all the way down to the eastern horizon so the sun itself could not get through to signal sunrise, however this didn’t stop the radiating sunbeams from finding escape routes up and out over the tops of the clouds leaving their telltale bursts of rich pink and rose pastels coruscating from within the upper reaches of the whipped cream clouds. As I sat in awe and wonder of this magnificent show to signal the dawning of the new day, these pastel paint gun bursts of colours would move from one cloud to the next spread out from the far west side up to the north. Not sure how well I am painting this moving picture for you but what it reminded me of was that game most of you have played with a cat or dog where you put your hands under the sheets and wiggle your fingers and just as they pounce on this “mouse” you quickly move your hand away to some other spot and wiggle again. Ruby and I often play this game each morning as we wake up and that’s what I reminded of as I watched these early morning sunbeams fade in and out in bursts in one cloud and then do so again over in another one. I’m sure it was one of those “you had to be there” experiences but just wanted to share it with you. While the dark and stormy weather has been delightfully replaced by these fun and games of sun, clouds and blue sky, the wind has been lost in the process. I tried my best to squeeze some energy out of the wipers of wind that were blowing out of the north but they never made it up over about 8 knots and were 3-5 most of the time which just isn’t enough to move us forward with any speed at all when they are coming right at us. I did enjoy the first half of the day tweaking sails and making some forward movement but by 10am we were unable to maintain even 2 knots of speed and below that point I lose steerage as there isn’t enough water flowing over the rudder and so we just drift rather randomly about and the sails don’t appreciate that and let me know with all their slating and slapping of their sheets (ropes/lines). So I reluctantly fired up my trusty Cummins diesel and it was soon merrily thrumming away and pushing us north at over 6 knots without breaking a sweat. The seas have also reverted back to the shapes of gently rolling hills rather than steep sided mountains to the motion is now that soothing ride similar to what you’d experience in a car or motorcycle out on some great country roads in a hilly area. The sun is setting, though it is hard to tell just where or when as the clouds have been filling in more and more both on the horizons and overhead as the afternoon has worn on. Looks like we might get some rain during the night but it also may just skirt off to the west and we will slide through in the dry patches but that is all just random luck for the most part and does help to keep the decks and boat nice and clean and free from salt build up so it is all good no matter what happens. And with that I’m going to head down to the galley to fix up some dinner. Salad night tonight (I alternate with one dinner being a big salad and appetizers and the next being a more tradition dinner) so I’ve got some chopping and dicing to do. Thanks to having a great fridge and freezer on board, that is working very well after my last rebuild and servicing in Luganville, I still have a few more days’ worth of fresh veggies for salads such as lettuce, cucumbers, white radish, tomatoes, carrots and so on so I’m eating as well and as healthy as every out here. Night for now, be back with more tomorrow. Wayne
Day #7 of passage from Vanuatu to Marshall Islands LTY time: 17:25 (Marshall Islands time = UTC +12)
Location: 858nm NNE of Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu
Distance to go Majuro: about 640nm
Position: 03 19.400 S, 171 03.078 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
SOG: 6.5 kts (motor sailing) (SOG = Speed over Ground)
COG: 000 degrees (straight North) (COG = Course over Ground)
Wind: 0-5kts out of NNE
Seas/Swell: 2m @ 7 seconds NE
Weather: scattered cloud all around filling in more and more as the day progressed
Air temp: 90 F 32C
Sea temp: 96 F 36 C
Barometer: 1017nm PLAYING CAT & MOUSE with SUNBEAMS Day #7 out here so first week done and less than a week to go I'd guess. Still too far away to be able to make any accurate ETA for Majuro but with about 640nm to go it should be about 4 to 6 days which would make it somewhere between Oct 10-13 is my best guesstimate. Weather is never too predictable and least of all in the band on either side of the equator as currents and winds all go through their transitions form southern to northern hemisphere with the Coriolis effect. In this part of the planet we have what is called the SPCZ or South Pacific Convergence Zone which is a band of weather that stretches out in a generally east west direction and tends to drive north and south of the equator as the seasons progress. Right now it is lying south of the equator from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon's out east past Tonga. I've making my way through it and its effects for the past few days and should be out of it by tomorrow I hope and find nice clear sunny weather, and some favorable winds up north of the equator. For your approximate reference I'm at 3 degrees south right now and Majuro is at 7 degrees north and there are 60 nautical miles between each degree of latitude. Soon Ruby and I will need to start readying ourselves for another equator crossing celebration and I'm hoping that will be during the day this time so we can enjoy it all the more. I think this is about the eighth crossing for her and I so we are well seasoned shellbacks as is the name for those sailors who have crossed the equator as opposed to the equator “virgins” known as Polliwogs. More on all that as we cross the equator in a few days. I’m also delighted to let you know that we made it out of all that dark and stormy weather of the past few days and in the wee hours of this morning the skies overhead gradually opened up with each nautical mile of ocean that slipped under the hull and let a still quite full moon and more and more of the millions of stars shine through. Mother Nature continued to show off again at first light this morning with what I found to be a game of cat & mouse between the early rising sunbeams as they escaped upward and the surround rim of billowing clouds. The clouds were filled in all the way down to the eastern horizon so the sun itself could not get through to signal sunrise, however this didn’t stop the radiating sunbeams from finding escape routes up and out over the tops of the clouds leaving their telltale bursts of rich pink and rose pastels coruscating from within the upper reaches of the whipped cream clouds. As I sat in awe and wonder of this magnificent show to signal the dawning of the new day, these pastel paint gun bursts of colours would move from one cloud to the next spread out from the far west side up to the north. Not sure how well I am painting this moving picture for you but what it reminded me of was that game most of you have played with a cat or dog where you put your hands under the sheets and wiggle your fingers and just as they pounce on this “mouse” you quickly move your hand away to some other spot and wiggle again. Ruby and I often play this game each morning as we wake up and that’s what I reminded of as I watched these early morning sunbeams fade in and out in bursts in one cloud and then do so again over in another one. I’m sure it was one of those “you had to be there” experiences but just wanted to share it with you. While the dark and stormy weather has been delightfully replaced by these fun and games of sun, clouds and blue sky, the wind has been lost in the process. I tried my best to squeeze some energy out of the wipers of wind that were blowing out of the north but they never made it up over about 8 knots and were 3-5 most of the time which just isn’t enough to move us forward with any speed at all when they are coming right at us. I did enjoy the first half of the day tweaking sails and making some forward movement but by 10am we were unable to maintain even 2 knots of speed and below that point I lose steerage as there isn’t enough water flowing over the rudder and so we just drift rather randomly about and the sails don’t appreciate that and let me know with all their slating and slapping of their sheets (ropes/lines). So I reluctantly fired up my trusty Cummins diesel and it was soon merrily thrumming away and pushing us north at over 6 knots without breaking a sweat. The seas have also reverted back to the shapes of gently rolling hills rather than steep sided mountains to the motion is now that soothing ride similar to what you’d experience in a car or motorcycle out on some great country roads in a hilly area. The sun is setting, though it is hard to tell just where or when as the clouds have been filling in more and more both on the horizons and overhead as the afternoon has worn on. Looks like we might get some rain during the night but it also may just skirt off to the west and we will slide through in the dry patches but that is all just random luck for the most part and does help to keep the decks and boat nice and clean and free from salt build up so it is all good no matter what happens. And with that I’m going to head down to the galley to fix up some dinner. Salad night tonight (I alternate with one dinner being a big salad and appetizers and the next being a more tradition dinner) so I’ve got some chopping and dicing to do. Thanks to having a great fridge and freezer on board, that is working very well after my last rebuild and servicing in Luganville, I still have a few more days’ worth of fresh veggies for salads such as lettuce, cucumbers, white radish, tomatoes, carrots and so on so I’m eating as well and as healthy as every out here. Night for now, be back with more tomorrow. Wayne
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