This post was originally shared exclusively and directly with our subscribers during our passage across the Tasman.
All is well with us, and getting better with each passing hour. Just in the past two hours, the wind has become much more steady — exactly what we needed before another long night at sea.
The wind angle has changed slightly and I can no longer hold quite as much north in our course to angle up to Norfolk Island before turning west toward mainland Australia. The main advantage of that course was that there was supposed to be more wind along that latitude, but another advantage is that it would give us more sea room away from any weather coming up from the southern ocean.
Both advantages are largely moot now. The forecast has changed and there won’t be more wind at that latitude, and there doesn’t appear to be anything bad coming from the south in the next seven days. So, for now, my main priority is to keep the boat moving at a speed greater than 4 kt/hr. With the slow wind speeds we are experiencing (7-11 knots), and the angle of sail (nearly dead downwind at 165-170 AWA), this is actually pretty challenging. By heading up slightly, we’ll hold a slightly faster, stable, and more comfortable downwind angle of 150-160 AWA, with a slightly more WNW heading.
If I was less tired, we could go faster; I’d swap our headsail for my 165 genoa or even put up our symmetrical spinnaker.
But, I was troubleshooting an issue with our AIS transceiver the past few days and couldn’t verify the fix until I saw another ship… checking to be certain it appeared on our chartplotter (multifunction display, or MFD). Since I wasn’t certain I could trust the MFD to show dangerous targets, I have been setting alarms to wake me every hour since we passed the northern capes. (Before that, I slept on a beanbag in the cockpit in full kit and woke every 20-30 minutes.) This morning around sunrise I saw a cargo ship on the display, verifying that the MFD is showing AIS targets properly. I cannot express my joy and relief! I’ll be able to sleep in longer increments tonight and should feel a lot better tomorrow.
A number of other interesting things have happened, but I don’t have the brainpower to write any further this evening. Since the sun is sinking below the horizon, it’s time for us to go to bed.
More soon!
-e & z & w xo
P.S. Zia is much perkier today but has yet to toilet. She is eating and drinking normally, so I’m sure it’s just a matter of time now and she’ll slip into her routine at sea. I have her favourite treat (dried Possyum sticks, kiwi as!) on standby in the cockpit for the moment she finally does her business.