Surprise Wind Shift

Last night I went for a nap on a cloudless 2/3 moon night with a starry sky. 30 minutes later I was awakened by the boat laboring, with another mini front with 35-40 knots of wind in it. I was able to just get the fractional gennaker rolled up with seconds to spare when the high winds hit. The wind shift also took us off to the northeast. Due to the big wind shift, eventually I decided that we had to gybe to the other direction. (Actually we’ve been tacking, not gybing, as ifs safer for the boat.)

Then, I noticed that the hydrogenerator was no longer whirring its usual sound, so I went to take a look, and the line that pulls it down into the water, had broken. Over the course of the few next hours, I tried to lean far enough over the side to get at it, but just can’t reach it. So we will need some calmer weather to be able to lean out one of the lazarette stern hatches.

We’ve gybed (tacked) again this morning to clear a corner of the Antarctic Exclusion zone.

Yesterday was interesting in that I came within 10 miles of Alan Roura, and then later, I actually saw Comme Un Seul Homme, the boat of Eric Bellion. I called him on the satellite phone, left a message, and later he called back and we had a nice chat.

Now we are studying weather for the anticipated storm this week.

Position
43° 52’S x 48° 16’E
Course
086° True
Speed
17.2 knots
True Wind Speed
30.0 knots
True Wind Direction
300°
Sails
Mainsail (2 reefs) plus Solent
Air temperature
41°F cockpit / 5° C
Sea Temperature
48°F / 7.2° C