Saturday May 3, Day 3:
All is well!!! Another trawler weather day….sweet. Conditions still are as predicted…winds were 8-13 kts SE-SSE in the am, calmed to light and variable <5 kts in the afternoon/evening and then built overnight to 8-12 kts primarily from the East. Seas built a little to about 4-7′ SE in the am but still pretty long periods, and then calmed in the afternoon and a NE swell developed….maybe 3-5′ long period…..must be from the LO that was north and then east of us??? We had the NE swell off/on for quite a while and now it seems primarily SE. A most comfortable ride!!
AND…..we have arrived in the tropics….sweats no more!!!!!!! The air temp is now in the 70’s with a little more humidity…..shorts and t-shirts baby!!!!
AND the new rod and reel are virgins no more…..one small/medium size Mahi….we ate fresh fish for dinner…..yummers!!!!
Boat Stuff:
Big Bay Computer: still having issues with the serial ports. There are 3 serial ports on this computer….for our NMEA, AIS and Autopilot. I know for sure 2 of the ports are bad and I suspect the 3rd one is too. We are using a dual port serial to USB converter for the A/P and AIS and we have all functions via this mode. However, some of the NMEA data is not showing up on our Simrad instruments and on Nobeltec so I suspect the 3rd serial port is bad. Where is a Radio Shack when you need one…..need a serial to usb converter compatible w/XP….think they make them anymore????
SSB: arghhhhhhh!!!!!! We had the SSB working pretty well last season thanks to Adam on sv Bravo when he helped install a temporary random wire as the antenna versus our fiberglass vertical one. We had an “expert” look at the system in Auckland and he found the vertical antenna shot so he thought a new vertical one would be better than a horizontal wire…..well, it is not…..so, I have attempted to install a temporary wire but just on the flybridge versus going from the bow sprit to mast like Adam did…..we will give it a try later this am!!
But, we did find one new source of noise….the Spectra Watermaker…the DC circuit for the flush and panel. Jeff on Double Diamond told me about it. Last night on 4417 on the Taupo net I was not receiving very well…turned off this watermaker breaker (this is not an easily accessible breaker; get on your hands and knees and reach under the console) and viola we had great reception. But today on 8191 @ 8:00 am on the Southern Cross net we had the typical poor reception….we could hear people but really down in the weeds. It was cloudy with squalls all around so maybe the propagation….not sure!!!
Engine Room Cameras: not working….think we have a loose connection under the console…..this will have to wait until we get to anchor…it works one day and then takes the next few days off!!!!
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Stats:
Position: 26 40S 176 40E
Traveled: 177nm today; 535 total; 614nm to go; ETA to Savusavu late Tuesday afternoon 5/6
Course: 358M COG
Wind: mainly 7-12 kts; NE-SE; current is 10 kts E
Waves: seas building to NE-SE swell 4-7′; <1′ wind chop; still a fairly smooth ride; some NE swell…..current is 4-6′ E 10 secs
Speed: current speed is 7.1 SOG; found that countercurrent 🙁 (((; has varied 6.8-7.9 kts; avg is 7.7 kts; 1600 rpm
Weather: 90% cloud this am; some rain last night but no associated winds; sea temp 75 deg F; air temp is 75 deg F
Boat sightings: 0 today; 1 total
Fishing: yep; 1 Mahi; 3 total
Sail: down
Fuel burn: 1.35nmpg; 1.5 nmpg total….this is about as expected…..maybe slightly better…..but we are in a countercurrent so it will come down some more!!!
Hope all is well!
John
Mystic Moon
