We are currently at position 16 43S 80 20E sailing at 6 knots on a course of 270M Note that variation is 10W here! The wind is ESE at 14-18 knots with a 2m SE sea and swell. We are sailing under yankee and single-reefed main. Our day's run was 145nm and we have 980nm to run - we have passed the half-way point!
Morning twilight
We've had another instance of our log misbehaving. It appears to have dropped 20nm. This is quite clear as it only logged 11nm in a 6 hour period and we know we weren't going that slow! The same thing occurred on our passage to Cocos. Both happened when the trip log reached 1000nm. Seems Mr Raymarine didn't expect ST40 instruments to do ocean passages!
The strength of the wind was constantly changing overnight which meant we were very under-canvassed at times. Twas quite uncomfortable in the light patches with the boat uncomfortably Then a cloud would come over and we'd be charging along for a while. Made for a busy night. Given the most sail we had up was the full (No 2 size) yankee and the single-reefed main (which is actually equivalent to a double-reefed normal main) I think we did OK.
Our mainsail is about 90% hoist and was made for us by Extreme Sails in Fremantle. Dubbo and Carl did a great job on the sail. The sail is only 2 sqm smaller than a normal main since it has extra roach. However all the lost area is aloft and it certainly does slow us down in light airs. On the other hand the second reef gives us a trisail sized sail which is proving VERY useful. The sail has batten cars which fit our mast slot and have external rollers each side - they work very well indeed when reefing.
Chasing the sun under yankee and single-reefed main
The sked last night included seven yachts. One of the British yachts did daily runs of over 180nm for its first two days out - pretty good going. There's evidently more wind in the east at present. We could tell they were pushing the boat since every day they reported a breakage. Happily they managed to fix (at least temporarily) each breakage.
To mark passing the halfway mark Nic made an omelette for breakfast. Usually we have cereal so this was a great treat. This afternoon we'll have a small tot of rum for three (one for King Neptune) to toast his magnificent benefaction upon our passage so far!
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