1300Z, August 17, 2022

The days since my last post have been busy sailing with varying wind directions and speeds requiring frequent adjustments to the sails.  I sometimes would have to start the engine to keep moving when the wind was light or coming a direction that was not useful for sailing along a course reasonably constructive toward reaching my destination. Many times the wind would be just on the cusp of being useful for sailing so running the engine as well (motorsailing) would result in reasonable progress.

For weather forecasting I’m employing the most commonly-used and well-regarded weather and routing models. I download updates twice a day on the low bandwidth Iridium GO satellite link which can take up to an hour depending on how much data I ask for. The most useful part of the downloaded data are colored forecast maps sent as compressed data files (GRIB files) showing forecast wind speeds and directions for several days. I’ve actually been surprised how far off the forecast can sometimes be but I’ve been in a fairly unsettled area of weather so I would expect it to be more difficult to forecast. Fortunately, I haven’t been hit with any storms, just a half dozen or so rain squalls where the wind speed can increase violently and the rain fall intensely but that usually last only 5-10 minutes.

I crossed the halfway point on this passage a few days ago. There is a tradition (or I just made it up) to offer a dram of whiskey to Neptune at the halfway point for continued good fortune on the passage. For such occasions I brought along a bottle of Battle Point Whiskey from Bainbridge Organic Distillery, made just a few miles from my house on Bainbridge Island. For those who have tried it, it’s one of the smoothest whiskeys you’ll ever taste.

As of this morning I am now less than 600 nm from Horta, counting down the miles. The forecasts say I’ll be crossing a high pressure dead zone with no usable wind for 36 hours starting tonight. More motoring. I’ll see if that forecast pans out. I’m currently projecting my arrival in Horta on August 22-23, depending on how much dead zone I have to deal with.

1800Z August 10, 2022

The last four days have largely been a hunt for following wind and the Gulf Stream current which meanders its way across the North Atlantic like a river. There are some charts showing its location but it’s hard to keep its direction lined up with a sailing route and the restrictions wind direction present. During some of the first 4 days I got impressive speed gains from the current but then lost it, found it again for awhile, but permanently lost it again west of 60W longitude.

The wind has generally been at my stern which can make good sailing but tricky since it can throw the boom from one side of the boat to the other, sometimes with violent speed, as the variable wind shifts direction only 5 or 10 degrees. Fortunately, I equipped Phywave with a boom brake that let’s me lock down its position regardless of the wind direction. Generally, it’s better to sail just off the wind on a “broad reach” where the angle of the wind to the stern is about 30-40 degrees. Sailboats are usually at their fastest on a broad reach but it may mean you’re not sailing in the direction of the ideal route to your destination. That’s been my situation.

I’ll arrive at the halfway point on this Norfolk-Horta passage sometime tomorrow, an important milestone, but from there the sailing will get more difficult and much slower as a high pressure system (essentially dead air with no wind in the center) builds in across my route. I’m now pivoting to the north to try to ride westerly winds on the north side of that high if it develops as forecast. It will take days to find out if this was a good decision, so unlike flying where I know within hours, sometimes minutes, whether I made a good or bad decision about the weather.

Otherwise, things are OK on board, getting to know the boat better and how it likes to sail, and monitoring consumptions on fuel, water and power. Today I’m trying to find out if I can count on the solar panels and wind generator to fully recharge the batteries after their overnight power drain. I run the navigation electronics, autopilot and refrigerator full time whick takes 12-13 amps depending on how hard the autopilot has to work. The solar panels in direct sun produce 10 times the power of the wind generator, sometimes over 20 amps. If solar panels can fully recharge the batteries it means I won’t have to run the engine at all to charge batteries, saving fuel. It’s starting to cloud over, though, so I don’t think I’ll make it today. If my generator was wired as I wanted it would charging the batteries too. I’ve got a contractor lined up in Horta to get that situation corrected.

1800Z, August 6.

With the boat finally finished and positioned in Norfolk I was ready  to start my passage to Horta.  There was no tropical storm activity and none expected in the next 5 days so I decided to make a run for it. On the morning of Aug 2 at 1200Z I set sail for Horta in the Azores. I expect the passage will take 18-20 days. 

I’ve already dealt with rain squalls in the middle of the night, rushing to get sails down with my headlamp on.  Worse were patches of no wind where motoring was the only way to make progress – I hate to run the engine, noisy and hot. Once I had intercepted the Gulf Stream current late the second day things improved. With good wind on a beam reach in the GS current I was getting 9-10 kts SOG (speed over ground), the best way to measure actual progress.

I’ve seen dolphins playing around the boat 3 out of 4 mornings, and a small fish of some sort jumped into the cockpit, threw him back. Only 1 bird spotted.

Last night a tanker came within a mile of me. Not a real hazard since I was tracking him on radar the entire time. Just rare for ships to pass so closely in the middle of the ocean.

Things are running smoothly on board, a few issues with the new genset wiring. It only feeds power to the 120 volt outlets, not the battery charger where I most need it. They acknowledged the mistake but nothing they can do about it with me at sea. Correcting it will be on the project list when I get to Horta. In the meantime the solar panels and a few hours of engine time keep the batteries charged.

I’ve connected with a couple of cruiser nets on the SSB shortwave radio, checking in with my position report and to chat a bit. Small events to break up the day.

As I write this I’m becalmed again running the engine to get to 40N and find some wind. At 1200Z today, 4 days total, I’ve put almost 600 nm under the keel so on average I’m doing ok.

The link to my Predictwind tracking map 

is: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_PHYWAVE/

The genset installation was finished on July 28.  The next day we primed it, fired it up, and ran it for 3 hours to break it in. It worked fine so with that done Phywave is finally 100% ready to go.

I left Rock Hall on July 30 for an anchorage in the Solomon Island area but soon discovered a problem – the autopilot wasn’t working – essential when sailing solo. I hand-steered to my anchorage (Mill Creek) where I investigated the problem thinking it might be serious. The next morning I discovered a small linkage rod between the rudder and the rudder position sensor had been disconnected during the genset installation and not reconnected. Putting it back in place fixed the problem, an easy fix once I found it.

That day I moved further south, motoring all the way bashing into 18 knot headwinds right on the nose and 3-4 foot seas. I anchored in a place called Little Bay, short of my destination at Deltaville. 

On August 1 I moved south again to Cobbs Marina on Little Creek in Norfolk. It turned out to be a great stop for final diesel refueling – very easy access to the fuel dock. Since it was near closing time and I was leaving first thing in the morning they let me stay tied to the fuel dock overnight. A horrendous squall blew through that evening so glad Phywave was tied up.

Ready for departure to Horta, Azores.