At noon today we were at 32 18S 175 57E steering 190M, under double-reefed main and storm staysail at 5 knots. The wind was 20G27 from the ENE. Our noon to noon distances were 113nm by the log and 120nm over the ground. Overall we'd logged 566nm and 618nm respectively. Our distance to go was 204nm. Just a Freo to Geraldton.
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| Into the grey |
Yesterday afternoon the engine was shutdown at 1400 when a new breeze appeared. We'd been fooled by two preceding new winds, thinking they were the predicted wind arriving at last. But this one was the real deal. Since the wind was predicted to increase and boats ahead of us reported strong winds and nasty sea state we double-furled the main and set the storm staysail.
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| Kazi the WindPilot at work in 3m waves |
Overnight the winds stayed moderate but the sea state was pretty ugly with 3m waves falling over themselves. Very rolly and a little concerning since we were beam on to them. But Zen Again handled it well and by midnight the seas had calmed to match the 15G20 wind.
By dawn the wind had built to 25G30 and the waves were building back up but not breaking. The sea scape was quite impressive under a low overcast sky with light rain. Temperature dropped from 19 to 16C. We were passed through the stationary front shown on the synoptic chart below.
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| Synoptic Chart showing stationary front |
The screenshot below shows a set of boats which departed Minerva Reef on the same day as us. All except one are much bigger than us. The top left blue boat is Swedish sv Aura, a 32-footer, and we're to their E. It seems they're determined to overtake us. We're taking it easy for a Wednesday morning arrival.
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| PredictWind Tracks |
Trust all's well where you are!
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