We are currently in position 29 36S 13 02E and saillng at 6 knots on a course of 020M. The wind is SE at 12-18 knots with a 1m sea and 2m SW swell. We are sailing under single-reefed main and single-furled yankee. Scattered cumulus clouds around. A nice sunny day. Our day's run was 151nm and we have 1318nm to go.
Yesterday afternoon we had a very pleasant time under full sail. In the evening the wind increased to around 18 knots so we put a reef in. Later we gybed onto starboard tack as the wind swung from S towards the SE. This allowed us to stay east of the rhumb line which weather forecasts suggest we should do to keep some wind.
We plan to continue N until later this afternoon when we'll be about 100nm east of the rhumb line. Then we'll gybe back on to port tack. Hopefully this will keep us in the wind and allow us to track towards St H as the wind returns to the S.
Our first day out from Cape Town was under the control of Kami the autopilot. The new arrangement is working well. However, since we're not surfing on waves we decided to give Kazi the Aires vane gear a try. Kazi loves the conditions and has been steering ever since. We even gybed under Kazi's control (it steered while one of us adjusted its course setting). I believe the oversized wind vane is making a big difference in these quite light apparent wind conditions.
Kazi the Aires vane gear at work
No prizes for the origin of the names Kami and Kazi. Together they are Japanese for divine wind. I just hope we've got the kazi = wind bit correct!
South Atlantic sunset last night
These are the nicest sustained sailing conditions we've had for a very long while. I suspect we're going to have a couple of light wind days with bigger swell in a day or two. Neverthess the guitar has emerged from deep stowage for the first time since we departed Australia. Oh yes - the water temperature has climbed from 16C to 23C. Nice.
Trust all's well where you are!
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