Thursday 20 August 2015

Cocos-Keeling Outbound Day 3

Hi everyone,
We are currently in position 13 15S 92 21E, sailing at 6.5 knots on a course of 255M. The wind is 18-22 knots from the ESE with a 2m sea and low swell from the SSW. We are sailing under full yankee and double-reefed (trisail size) main. Our day's run to 0900 was 150nm and we have 1710nm to run.

Yesterday afternoon the wind gradually built to 20+ knots. We were tramping along under single-reefed main and a few turns out of the yankee. We spent much of the afternoon giving the backup autopilot a run. It is working well, as is the primary unit. Early in the evening we changed back to the primary and put the second reef in the main. That was much more comfortable - we don't need to be surfing waves out here!

Weather conditions were very stable overnight and we made good progress. There were a few scattered clouds about so we had a nice starry night. No sideswippers yet but the motion is tiring. The boat is rolling a fair bit so bracing one's self is a priority. Definitely "one hand for yourself and one for the ship".

We're eating well thanks to Nicki's preparations. Working our way through precooked meals to which we add freshly pressure-cooked veggies. We follow the hot meal with chilled fruit which is great in the sticky heat at the end of the day.

Not much to report in the way of wild-life. We see a handful of birds during the day but otherwise nothing. Sadly we're seeing plastic debris from time to time, presumably washed out to sea from Indonesia.

Prior to the sked last night we managed to chat with Australian yacht Tuuletar (http://www.svlogbook.com/Tuuletar/) on 8297kHz. They have just departed Broome - about 1800nm away. There are still only three yachts doing the sked but we expect this to increase as others leave Ccoos.

Trust all's well where you are!

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