Tag: squalls

ARRIVED GIZO – EXHAUSTED

Rain Squalls, our companions, day and night. Photo Ray Penson

As I was daydreaming, I suddenly noticed the depth sounder was reading 5 meters!  Immediately I put the engine into neutral and we slowed, as we slowed the depth reduced, I gave a kick astern and we stopped.  The depth now read zero, that means nothing under the keel!  I checked everything, a flashlight over the side, we should be in deep water.  Then I realised my mistake.  I was so tired and my brain so befuddled, I had been reading the wind instrument instead of the depth sounder.  As we reduced speed so the relative wind reduced to zero as we stopped.  Clearly, I had not been thinking straight.  I was very tired.

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BEATEN BACK BY THE CURRENT AND FICKLE WINDS

Struggling to depart Kavieng, butting wind and current.

Departing Kavieng was hard work, a light onshore wind threatened to put us onto a lee shore, thankfully the wind freshened a bit, allowing us to head away and clear the land. Then the wind died and the current pushed us westwards, losing ground and making interesting track patterns on the navigation plotter. There followed a series of squalls making for uncomfortable sailing, on a positive note I was able to fill the water tanks with nice fresh rainwater. This carried on for two days, yo-yoing back and forth with the squalls but slowly making progress eastwards.

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A VERY CHALLENGING SAIL

The makings of a perfect meal, everything fresh. Photo Ray Penson

The sail from Biak to the Ninigo Islands looked, on paper, to be a perfect sail.  The seasonal winds were predicted to be favourable with a current behind us of 0.6 knots.  I was really looking forward to an easy trip of about six or seven days.  The distance was just less than 500 miles.  The reality turned out to be much different, an exhausting mammoth effort to reach the Ninigo Islands after sixteen days and over a thousand miles of sailing. 

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BIAK AND MORE MAINTENANCE

Biak Cave system, 3,000 Japanese soldiers are claimed to have died here. Photo Ray Penson

Once again, I have maintenance jobs mounting up.  This light weather sailing with frequent squalls is taking its toll on the gear, sails and running rigging.  Biak is a good place to do this, the anchorage for the most part is fairly calm and only transient squalls upset the equilibrium. 

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A NIGHT OF SQUALLS

It started last night around seven.  First an unsettling motion and confused sea and then a night of squalls.  I was up all night trying to get through without losing to much of the precious ground we had made to the east.  We succeeded getting twenty-three miles to the east and also came out with... Continue Reading →

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SUNDAY SQUALLS

Last night I was watching the wind die down over a period of about an hour.  I had been running with the main double reefed and the staysail in strong winds.   After a while I put out half the jib and everything seemed comfortable.  I had a feeling that something was not right but couldn’t... Continue Reading →

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