Cocos Keeling to Rodrigues

Cocos Keeling to Rodrigues
May 24, 2016

Day 1, Sun May 22

1985 nm to go. Winds 15 to 18 knots, seas rough. The wind and chop are from the southeast and the swell from the SW. The decision with No Regrets is to travel west first as there is a hole in the wind to the south. We have been in contact with 2 boats ahead who are motoring. But Maggie can only travel SW with our conventional sail plan-near the rhumb line which is 254degrees. We are getting used to life aboard and always holding on with one hand. We each do a 4 hour shift covering the hours of darkness. It is just lucky that we are beginning with a full moon.

Day 2, Mon May 23

This has been an ideal sailing day. The wind and seas have calmed down to about 12 knots. We put up the spinnaker in the morning and sailed over 6 kt all day. The boat doesn't roll as much with this sail. It was comfortable enough to get some work done as well as reading. I had a big cooking day to have some easier things ready for later in the trip. For overnight we switched to a poled out genoa (a head sail). These sail changes take about 45 min but we are reluctant to carry the spinnaker at night when it takes 2 people out on the deck to get down if the winds pick up. A bird traveled on our traveler most of the night despite efforts to shoo him away. Bob is washing up his mess today.

Day 3 Tues May 24

Another easy day with the spinnaker. We are covering 130 to 140 nm a day. Rob made water and I defrosted the freezer. We download weather forecasts either on the sat phone or on the SSB. We are talking twice a day on the SSB and can also receive emails from other boats out here. More naps and books read. The weather is more of a problem on the west side of the Indian Ocean. Personally I like boring days at sea.

Day 4 Wed May 25

Last night we decided to keep the spinnaker up overnight as the winds were light and it was giving us an extra knot per hour. At 5 am all 3 of us were up getting it down in a squall and in the dark. Our own fault for being greedy for those extra miles. Once we were all awake in the later morning, it went up again, this time just for the day. We are about a quarter of the way across. Average wind speeds in the south Indian Ocean are 12 to 25 knots. With 4 days at less than that we expect a change soon. We have changed course from west to SW along the rhumb line.

Day 5 Thurs May 26

No Regrets received an email from Tom Tom that his forestay has broken. This is a line from the top of the mast to the bow. It helps support the mast and holds the foresail. He has jury rigged some support using a spinnaker halyard, and is sailing at 3.5 knots with a bit of mainsail. He is about 500 nm ahead. The conditions there are 25 kn with 2 to 4 meter seas. We will stay in touch in case he has a problem.