I haven't been too happy about the speed at which I was heading west and the Sailmail connectivity issue sealed my decision. This boat was doing over 7 knots at times headed WSW, to the north of the Marquises. Although it felt great to go fast, it really wasn't in the right direction so I bit the bullet and tacked. Unbelievably, the COG dropped from 7 kt to 1.7 kt. Nevertheless I had arrested the westward movement and I was still making some progress to the south. I looked at the chart again and I can expect to be dealing with this current until I get to latitude 10S. ... I can well understand why sensible people sail around the world taking the "coconut route" with its favorable trade winds and currents.
Two hours later I could not stand it any more. The boat speed was at time dropping to less than a knot and I felt that I was doing little more than holding my ground. I found it difficult to believe that sea current provides the complete explanation of the amazing difference in boat speed that I was experiencing. Whether it was solely that or included differences in sailing dynamics or maybe even a little bit of voodoo thrown in was irrelevant to me. I had to deal with the effects. I tacked the boat again and soon we were traveling WSW at over 6 kt.
Just as well. At 4 AM I awoke to find the boat in some agitation, even though our boat speed was only about 5.5 kt. The wind had picked up to over 15 kt and better yet, had backed a good 15 degrees, putting us close to a course of SW, now heading for the Tuamotu archipelago south of the Marquises. The leech of the headsail was fluttering a bit too much so I rolled it in a bit and moved the car forward along the track to get a better sheet angle. We lost about a half knot in speed but the headsail was much happier.
I stayed up for a while listening to BBC and Australian ABC radio.
I rose at 9.30 AM to find the boat making 6.5-7 kt to the SW. The wind had strengthened to 18-19 kt apparent and the sea was correspondingly rougher. I was very glad that I had taken my opportunity to change headsails the day before because on this day it would have been wetter, more dangerous, harder on the sail, and maybe even impossible. We were at lat 02N15 and had made another degree of southing since the previous noon. I was planning to take it easy this day, but was mindful of my next task: remove the sail cover and lazy jacks which are doing nothing but getting in the way and and being beat up by the wind.
I visited the foredeck at mid morning. Everything appeared to be in order. The deck cargo was secure. Both foresails were drawing well. Now that I was getting used to managing the extra pair of sheets and the running backstays I was starting to like this cutter sail plan very much. The headsail was set to about the same area as the staysail and they - and their forestays - were sharing the load more or less equally. The headsail was still fluttering but with so little sail showing I didn't think that it was being unduly stressed. I planned to tighten the leech cord at first opportunity.
I tidied up the sail cover and had a look at the task of removing it. It is a simple matter of moving the slides forward along the boom track and removing them at the mast end. However, the forward and aft reefing lines were in the way, so it was a job for a calmer day when I had the mainsail fully raised.
I had a look at the charts and the Marquises were still 1400 miles away at about 08S, 139W. I would cross the equator long before then (in 2 days I hoped) and sooner or later the wind would back toward the SE allowing me to steer south well before I got to the Marquises, and perhaps the strength of the South Equatorial Current would diminish. (But if there was voodoo at work all bets were off.)
At noon our position was 02N07, 118W07. We had a n-n distance of 120 miles in the direction 235T. We had gained 68 minutes to the south. Our speed was averaging 6.1 kt with course 235T. After another bout of cloudiness the sky was clearing again.
I revisited Richard Dana's "Two Years Before The Mast" regarding their path through the equator. On 15 May they were at 14N56, 116W14. Three days later, on 18 May they were at 09N54, 113W17. Four days later, on 22 May they were at 05N14, 116W45. (The book gives their longitude for this day as 166W45, but that is impossible and must be a misprint.) Within 24 hours of crossing the equator they encountered the SE trade winds from the ESE. Thirteen days later, on 5 June, they were at 19S29, 118W01. They were averaging 1.1 degree of southing at about the time they were in the doldrums but averaged 1.8 degrees of southing once they were past the equator. On 12 June they were at 26S04, 116W31, had lost the trade winds, and were averaging 0.9 degree per day. I wasn't sure how this translated to a sloop in the 21st century and my summer to their winter, but nevertheless I would keeping their numbers in mind.
At 3 PM I started the engine for a 1 hour run (125.4 cum. engine hrs). The house batteries were at 12.4V but I couldn't be sure that they would not drop below 12.3V overnight. 60A net were charging into the house bank at the usual 1100 rpm.
After my radio fax session with Pt Reyes Ca I had a go at a weather fax from CBV in Chile. The reception was very noisy, but I could recognize the galloping pattern of the fax and the image, though grainy, was recognizable. I will experiment with Chile at other times of the day.
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