Buy us a beer!

Monday, March 2, 2026

Pacific Ocean, 306NM SW of Catalinia

The night brought some light winds and we made good progress aided by the current. At dawn watch change we reefed the mainsail to 2nd reef in preparation for the expected 30kn winds. They came as promised and we enjoyed the speed immensely. A dampener to the feeling came with a debree field of trash, twigs and sizeable logs. Sharp lookout was required in a desperate attempt to avoid hitting the biggest ones. Only once I missed a big one, but the impact was luckily only a soft thud.

As we are going to the night, the big theme is avoiding the island of Malpelo with enough sea room. The nearly full moon accompanies us on the night watches giving the sea a delightful sparkly surface.

From the logbook

Time Position Course Speed Log Weather Remarks
02.03. 0:00 Z 6°19'32"N 80°51'46"W 233° 4.9kt 13043.4NM wind 9.4kt 19° baro 1006 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 1:00 Z 6°17'7"N 80°55'30"W 238° 4.3kt 13047.9NM wind 8.6kt 6° baro 1006 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 2:00 Z 6°12'51"N 80°58'32"W 206° 5kt 13053.2NM wind 12.8kt 315° baro 1007 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 2:26 Z 6°11'5"N 80°59'37"W 211° 4.6kt 13055.3NM wind 9.9kt 323° clouds 4/8 baro 1007 hPa Sky partially filled with clouds looking like cotton balls. Looks epic.
02.03. 3:00 Z 6°9'28"N 81°1'0"W 228° 3.7kt 13057.4NM wind 7.7kt 333° baro 1007 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 3:10 Z 6°9'4"N 81°1'28"W 210° 3.6kt 13058NM wind 8kt 338° baro 1007 hPa Joined the Pacific Seafarers roll call, the controller in Hawaii heard me clearly
02.03. 4:00 Z 6°7'24"N 81°4'3"W 240° 4.1kt 13061.1NM wind 7.2kt 353° baro 1007 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 5:00 Z 6°6'23"N 81°7'16"W 249° 2.8kt 13064.5NM wind 3.8kt 24° sea state 3/10 clouds 1/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1008 hPa Bergie on watch
02.03. 6:00 Z 6°4'55"N 81°10'47"W 239° 4.3kt 13068.3NM wind 7.5kt 47° baro 1007 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 7:00 Z 6°3'37"N 81°14'17"W 256° 3.2kt 13072NM wind 5.5kt 73° baro 1007 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 7:33 Z 6°3'19"N 81°16'5"W 268° 3.6kt 13073.8NM wind 7kt 78° baro 1007 hPa Windows are fogged over. I can see the southern cross, but north star is so low you can't see it in the haze
02.03. 7:54 Z 6°2'59"N 81°17'13"W 234° 2.8kt 13075NM wind 8.1kt 82° baro 1006 hPa Sails set: Main (1st reef), Staysail. Finally back to sailing instead of drifting!
02.03. 8:00 Z 6°2'47"N 81°17'27"W 223° 3.6kt 13075.3NM wind 8.4kt 72° baro 1006 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 8:23 Z 6°1'35"N 81°18'7"W 199° 3.9kt 13076.7NM wind 11.7kt 60° baro 1006 hPa Autopilot deactivated, windvane steering
02.03. 9:00 Z 5°59'18"N 81°18'29"W 186° 4.2kt 13079NM wind 10.6kt 55° baro 1006 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 10:00 Z 5°55'5"N 81°18'37"W 159° 4.3kt 13083.3NM wind 13.1kt 54° baro 1007 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 10:57 Z 5°49'53"N 81°18'37"W 176° 4.9kt 13088.5NM wind 21kt 45° baro 1007 hPa Sails set: Main (2nd reef), Staysail
02.03. 11:00 Z 5°49'32"N 81°18'42"W 199° 5.6kt 13088.9NM wind 16.5kt 41° sea state 4/10 clouds 0/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1007 hPa Suski on watch
02.03. 11:33 Z 5°46'16"N 81°18'58"W 172° 4.7kt 13092.2NM wind 18.6kt 53° baro 1007 hPa We just missed 1meter wide box floating in the sea. Phew.
02.03. 12:00 Z 5°43'49"N 81°19'18"W 181° 5.8kt 13094.7NM wind 21.3kt 36° baro 1008 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 13:00 Z 5°38'18"N 81°20'6"W 184° 4.9kt 13100.3NM wind 18.1kt 44° baro 1009 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 14:00 Z 5°32'34"N 81°20'14"W 168° 6.5kt 13106NM wind 21.9kt 44° baro 1010 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 15:00 Z 5°25'44"N 81°19'26"W 192° 6.7kt 13112.9NM wind 21.1kt 40° baro 1010 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 15:05 Z 5°25'11"N 81°19'30"W 196° 6.9kt 13113.5NM wind 21.8kt 33° sea state 3/10 clouds 0/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1010 hPa Wing on wing
02.03. 15:17 Z 5°23'51"N 81°19'41"W 198° 6.7kt 13114.8NM wind 18.3kt 36° baro 1010 hPa A lot of debree in the water. Twigsand branches, coconuts
02.03. 15:30 Z 5°22'21"N 81°19'55"W 176° 8.1kt 13116.4NM wind 28.1kt 32° baro 1009 hPa We ran over a big verticle hanging log with couple of thumps.
02.03. 16:00 Z 5°18'48"N 81°20'45"W 207° 8kt 13120NM wind 22.8kt 31° baro 1009 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 17:00 Z 5°11'17"N 81°22'55"W 197° 8.9kt 13127.9NM wind 25.3kt 39° sea state 4/10 clouds 0/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1008 hPa Bergie on watch
02.03. 17:22 Z 5°8'33"N 81°24'3"W 202° 8.9kt 13130.9NM wind 30kt 26° baro 1007 hPa Started watermaker
02.03. 17:34 Z 5°7'6"N 81°24'44"W 214° 7.5kt 13132.5NM wind 23.9kt 30° baro 1007 hPa Watermaker 234ppm
02.03. 18:00 Z 5°4'10"N 81°26'15"W 224° 8.6kt 13135.9NM wind 22.7kt 29° baro 1007 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 19:00 Z 4°57'27"N 81°30'4"W 196° 7kt 13143.6NM wind 25.3kt 34° baro 1005 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 19:23 Z 4°54'46"N 81°31'30"W 207° 8.4kt 13146.7NM wind 22.6kt 33° baro 1005 hPa Watermaker 214ppm
02.03. 20:00 Z 4°50'11"N 81°33'32"W 185° 7.6kt 13151.7NM wind 25.8kt 38° baro 1004 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 20:58 Z 4°43'6"N 81°36'41"W 210° 8.4kt 13159.5NM wind 20.9kt 32° baro 1004 hPa Stopped watermaker, 218ppm
02.03. 21:00 Z 4°42'52"N 81°36'49"W 209° 8.6kt 13159.8NM wind 24.1kt 49° baro 1004 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 21:08 Z 4°41'59"N 81°37'18"W 197° 7.7kt 13160.8NM wind 21.8kt 29° baro 1004 hPa Pumped the bilge
02.03. 22:00 Z 4°36'8"N 81°39'22"W 192° 6.7kt 13167NM wind 17.7kt 28° baro 1005 hPa Hourly position log
02.03. 23:00 Z 4°29'46"N 81°41'59"W 212° 5.5kt 13173.9NM wind 16.6kt 48° sea state 3/10 clouds 0/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1005 hPa Suski on watch