Another wonderful sailing day and night. We have the wind on our beam and are being pushed along nicely at six knots towards Suwarrow. Its almost too good to be true, this is the first constant weather we have experienced since departing from Honolulu. The wind went light for a couple of hours in the... Continue Reading →
INTO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE AND CHANGE OF PLAN
We had a wonderful night last night, clear skies, big moon and just the right amount of wind to keep us moving along nicely with a low swell. The nights are cool and an extra layer of clothes is required for the early morning watches. I watched Venus rise just after the Southern Cross in... Continue Reading →
CHRISTMAS ISLAND / KIRITIMATI TO PENRHYN
I awoke early this morning, it was too quiet. On deck all was peaceful, the anchor cable was lying soundlessly in the water. After days of wind this was a pleasant surprise. I was now too awake to go back to sleep and it was too early to wake Jessica. For the next hour I... Continue Reading →
PUBLIC HOLIDAY ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND
Last night I slept in the cockpit under the stars. I started off in the forward cabin but the noise of the waves against the bow and the anchor chain drove me out. It's quite cool here at night and a long sleeved shirt, sarong and socks was the comfortable attire for sleeping outside. Fortunately,... Continue Reading →
BOAT BOUND AT CHRISTMAS ISLAND
Any hopes of going ashore this morning were foiled by the wind. A solid trade wind made conditions at the anchorage unsuitable for using the dinghy to g et ashore. I have plenty of little jobs to attend to - the time will not be wasted. At lunchtime, we experienced wind against tide conditions that... Continue Reading →
A DAY OUT ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND
This morning we had a run ashore, in fact by the time we had ourselves ready it was almost lunchtime. The wind and waves at the anchorage are too much for the small rubber duck so we had to launch the pig which has been languishing on the foredeck for months undisturbed. This is Jessica’s... Continue Reading →
ARRIVED CHRISTMAS ISLAND
This morning I saw the loom of Christmas Island in the distance, off the port bow before sunrise. I was a bit surprised, I didn’t think the place was big enough to light up the horizon. It always feels good to make landfall as expected – even in the GPS age when the average muppet... Continue Reading →
FREE OF THE INTER TROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE (ITCZ)
Yesterday afternoon I tacked east and after a few hours the wind started to back around and I could head south again. We are close hauled on the port tack again with the wind from south of east. The motion became quite violent on board as Truce was jumping off waves and crashing into the... Continue Reading →
STILL IN THE INTER TROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE (ITCZ)
Today turned out to be a bit of a non-event. The intent was to sail south, pick up the easterly traded and then carry on to Christmas Island. But, events last night and this morning have postponed our breakout from the ITCZ for another day. Firstly, last night turned into an epic of calms blows... Continue Reading →
INTER TROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE (ITCZ) TRANSIT
Another day of slow but steady progress. So far, we have been fortunate with the weather in the ITCZ and have even managed to make ground to the east. We are now positioned to the east and upwind of Christmas Island. Hopefully, that will put us in a good safe upwind position for the final... Continue Reading →
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 