Passage to Nuka Hiva, Day 19

Date: Mar 29, 2014
06° 09' S 136° 55' W
Previous 24 hour run: 143nm
Water Temp: 84.2
Wind: E 8. Boat: 3.5 @ 200T
Log: 12847 (*)
Distance to go: 255nm

I've been out for over eighteen days. The previous day's run (March 28th), over 24 hours, was 132nm.

One more milestone I passed recently, is that I can now turn on my engine and motor my way to anchor. My motoring range is something like 400nm. I have no intention of doing this, but its nice to know its an option.

The wind I've been enjoying has started to fade away. Since 8am the winds have diminished from 13 knots to 8. At 13 knots, the boat moves well, with the sails full. At 8, on the broad reach that I am now on, the boat moves at around 2.7 knots with the sails flapping back and forth as waves move under the boat. Luckily I have a current working with me, so my speed over ground is 3.5 to 4 knots. Unfortunately, its not the 6 to 8 knots it was yesterday.

As the winds died, the sails started to flap in the wind more and more. Once I realized this wasn't a short term phenomena, I put the second reef in the main in order to keep it from slatting so badly. This slows me down a little more, but reduces the chafe on the sails and stress on the rig. I'm now running with a full genoa and a double reefed main, on a broad reach, making slow progress toward my destination.

Luckily I haven't yet been becalmed on this passage. My wind vane self steering continues to steer the boat reliably.

With the boat slowing down, I now expect to arrive sometime between late monday or tuesday. The light wind conditions I am in now are forecast to last for a few more days, perhaps improving on monday.

All is well aboard.

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