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Day 9, squalls, wind shifs and ships…..

04 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Well yesterday turned out to be a nice day, lots of \”breeze\” (18-25 knots) and we were able to make some northing. The swells became more tolerable and today feels like we\’re almost at the dock relatively speaking!..:-)

We saw two small junkie fishing boats yesterday. They were apparently just outside the \”Chagos Exclusive Economic Zone\” which means the fishing is good there. Last night, we passed our 12th ship, \”Friendship Freedom\”. A tanker full of oil out of the Persian Gulf. In his AIS \”destination\” column that we get as a read out on our electronic chart system, it said: \”ARMED GUARDS ONBD\”. A sign of the times…. This also of course assumes that \”bad guys\” can read English!

The ships are swinging away from the NW Indian Ocean. So will we btw! We were actually on a collision course with last nights tanker and I had to ask him to alter course on the radio which he happily did.

Last night it was rain, rain and of course, more rain. The night started off with an hour of 27-33 knot winds, then gusts to 35. It has backed off ever since. We\’ve actually seen short periods where there was no wind. Currently, 17-20 knots from the NNE and much calmer seas. We\’re now in no hurry to cover the last 125 miles as we will not enter the reef system till after good light tomorrow morning. I\’m sure we\’ll have to slow down late tonight.

We covered 145 miles the last 24 hours, which was fine as we were not going to make in today in any event. We\’ve been in email contact with \”Sunflower\” who is at Salomon Atoll and gotten some good local knowledge from them. We got an email today from s/v \”Saviah\”, the young Yanks who went direct from Cocos to Mauritius and they report several good whacking fronts and heavy trade winds 25 ++. This is why I didn\’t want to take their route AND, it can get much rougher in their last 1500 miles to South Africa with some huge seas. No thanks!

Watching the squall lines, sailing along. Weather should be gusty, a bit rainy/squally but not too much wind or sea the rest of the way. We\’ll be getting to Chagos just ahead of a low that will pass over us the next day or two. Glad we get to miss that one!

My report may or may not be a little late tomorrow depending on arrival time. I will put out the position report then as well.

KIT, Scott with Sleeping Nikki

Day 8, Uh!…..

03 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Well, the last 24 hours has not been lots of fun. Squalls, rain and most importantly, wind from a less favorable direction. We passed a few more ships on AIS yesterday and had a bit of a start this morning (1/2 hour ago) as we came upon a dilapidated looking 150 foot fishing vessel only a mile away. It was all lit up and motoring the opposite direction toward Indonesia. It still gives me a bit of a wake up call and reminds me of how I do not want to see such vessels. Given where we are, it\’s a needle in haystack meeting, so I\’ll hope it\’s the last one.

Our issue at the moment is that we\’re in the low pressure squall zone and the winds are trying to keep us south. We have to get north and around the lee shore of the Great Chagos Bank which is sitll about 200 miles west of us. It\’s 80 miles (at least), north to south and Salomon is 40 miles to it\’s north. So, we\’ve got to keep speed and work north of it in a NNEasterly wind. Not so much fun. We\’ve a 3.5 meter swell (10-11 feet) from both behind us (east) and in front of us (north) as we work to the northwest. No big breaking seas which is the bonus or you could say, I\’m looking at the glass half full…:-) I just looked and we\’ve done 157 miles. Two more days like this and we\’re home free.

I must fix the stove. The propane safety switch has apparently died off. I have a spare. Just no fun working on it in the lumpy seas.

KIT, more tomorrow, Scott and Nikki

Day 7, weather and ships…..

02 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Yesterday was a nice sailing day, the evening got a bit cranky. The winds are definitely \”northern hemisphere\”. There is a small low pressure system now between us and Chagos which is moving toward Chagos. This should allow us to follow it in with the more or less current conditions.

The wind, being from the NE is a bit \”beamy\” and we\’re not as comfortable as when it\’s behind us. If it goes aft at all, I\’ll sneak a bit more northerly track in to avoid just coming down on the lee shore of the Great Chagos Bank. The bank is about 80 miles wide and very shallow. Once upon a time, an atoll that must have been magnificent.

We\’ve been in touch with \”Sunflower\” who is at Salomon now, but we may miss them as they may leave before we arrive?

Each day is a bit unique out here (of course), but we get a feel for the day depending on the \”squall scene\”. Last night, it was delightful not to have too many, today is setting up to be a squally one so far.

Yesterday, we crossed a major SE Asia/China to South Africa shipping lane and actually ended up seeing 7 ships on our AIS system. We spoke with two. One coming from China, the other going to Singapore. The one bound for Singapore, \”Eleni\” at 967 feet full of oil, actually had to turn slightly to avoid us. Pretty wild when you think about where we are. We spoke on the radio, his English was very good.

We did 161 nm yesterday, we\’re currently beam reaching in 17-21 knots with a reefed main and staysail. Fortunately, the seas are relatively calm. Relative being the operative expression…:-) 417 miles to go, we should be there on our Friday.

Stand by, feel free to write! Well enjoy hearing from you all..

Scott and Cooking Nikki….