End of Day 18 Beaufort NC USA towards Guernsey

This Blog entry is an edited version of the message we intended to send back whilst we were on the passage.  Unfortunately the laptop we use to work with the modem connected to the HF/SSB radio failed on 13 June so we had no way of sending it at the time it was written.

2359hrs (N, GMT -1) Mon 15 Jun 2020

Dear All,

At midnight the wind had dropped off to just 5 knots and so, after several hours of ghosting along under sail at around 4½ knots, but with the speed now down at 2½ knots, it was time to switch to engine power if we are going to maintain any sort of progress east.  We could have just drifted and waited for the wind to build again but, based upon Chris Parker’s Saturday weather forecast, we felt that we ought to keep moving so that we are on the edge of the big low pressure system coming at the end of the week and not in the middle of it.  The big question is where the fronts will be and where along them the predicted gale force winds.  We plan to get another detailed update on Tuesday so today’s task was just to keep progressing east to put some distance between us and the expected centre of the low.

Dawn – with near glassy seas

And that’s not a lot of wind.  Not a lot of wind at all!

For the first 13½ hours the was so little wind that we got no help from the sails.  Nicky had furled away both the genoa and staysail shortly after midnight but the mainsail was still up, hanging limply.  However, finally, at 1330hrs the wind started to increase just enough to sail at 3½ knots so we poled out the genoa and switched off the noise-maker.  We went for that sail plan because we didn’t think that there was enough wind to fill our spinnaker/MPS and lift the weight of the sheets and guys.

We have been running the engine at 1500 rpm to conserve fuel so, whilst we weren’t sailing fast with the engine off, it was a lot better than drifting or using our precious fuel supplies.  We still have enough fuel to motor for 3½ days (84 hrs) but are expecting to have to motor more on Tuesday to keep making easting and stay clear of the depression and then want to keep the remaining fuel in reserve for when we are in the English Channel and potentially have to deal with a no wind situation with the strong tidal flows there.

No speed records broken today!

Creeping along at 3¼-4 knots was the theme for the rest of the day and night.  It feels like slow progress but it is progress and in the right direction too.  On the HF/SSB radio we are talking to yachts which are a couple of hundred miles southwest of the Azores and which are struggling to make any reasonable headway towards Horta because of winds on the nose and very confused seas.  In comparison we are very well placed and in far more comfortable sea conditions.  We have also used the HF/SSB radio to speak with Tim on Rohkea, another yacht on the OCC Atlantic crossing radio net that we help to run.  He’s about 570miles to the northeast of us and had been aiming to make landfall in Falmouth but is now looking to divert into Cork or Bantry Bay in Ireland to keep clear of the depression that we are heading east to avoid.  He is able to download the same meteorological charts and GRiB files that we used to get before the laptop failed and has kindly agreed to talk us through what the weather situation when downloads the files tomorrow.  That will help immeasurably in understanding how and where the depression develops and will also prepare us so that we can ask the right questions when we talk to Chris Parker in the evening.  We have to talk to Chris in the evenings because he is based in Florida and our SSB will only work effectively at those ranges after the sun has set.  That’s according to radio propagation theory, but Florida still a long way away and, in reality, clear communications with Chris are not guaranteed, hence the extra support from Tim on Rohkea is really appreciated.
Love to all,

Reg and Nicky

Passage statistics:

Position at midday 15 Jun: N46 30 W030 13

Position at midnight 15 Jun: N46 34 W029  6

Midday to midday distance through water (23hrs due time change): 111 nautical miles (average 4.8 knots).

Midday to midday GPS distance towards destination (23hrs due time change): 121 nautical miles

Midnight to midnight distance through water: 110 nautical miles (average 4.6 knots)

Midnight to midnight GPS distance towards destination: 118 nautical miles

Total miles covered through water: 2787 nautical miles

Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Guernsey): 1122 nautical miles

End of Day 18 Beaufort, North Carolina, USA towards Guernsey