Jeanne Socrates - nonstop solo RTW 2018

[Cisco]

Valis, I asked a question somewhere else and JohnT from CapeTown sent me this... please pass it on.

'

Hi, I contacted Bridgett at Cape Naval for you. The answer is "yes, when the weather service bothers to send them the info to transmit".

The frequencies I was quoted are:
4012.1 KHz
7506.1 KHz
13536.1 KHz
18236.1 KHz

Download the 04:30 Schedule for full info.

Times now appear to only be at 05:00, 10:30, 15:30 and 22:30 (all UTC)

I must admit that I have not heard of anybody in this neck-of-the-woods using WX Fax for many years, so cannot confirm the above info as being accurate. From talking to Bridgett, it appears quite sporadic!

In the old days the WX Fax service was transmitted by Cape Town Radio, but they closed down the HF WX Fax service as their satellite service had taken over. The SA Navy took over, but there are few funds these days to maintain the ageing transmitters, never mind the staff to actually operate the service.

John
_________

 

[ProaSailor]

I don't recall if I mentioned it, but I've certainly noticed the strangely consistent speed numbers, apparently selected from a very small list of possible values.  Her 24-hour average runs are pretty close to the reported hourly (most of the time) speeds, but I find it impossible to believe that her speed is the same, down to the tenth of a knot, hour after hour.  I've decided to only take the tracker numbers as a rough indication of her true speed.   

I've been trying to match the polars I'm using for my "what-if?" routing exercises to her actual speed from whatever source I can get, and the windspeed / angle from windy.com.  It's a fun exercise, but far from precise.  Probably the most important factor is that Jeanne isn't sailing the same as a full and rested crew trying to wring the best possible speed from the boat.  I do agree with her "don't break anything important" philosophy.

These are the only speed values that appear on her tracker - highly suspicious, multiples of 1.95 rounded ("floor") to a single decimal place, likely a rounding error somewhere:

-1.9 knots  (when she is transmitting on the HF radio?)
3.9 knots
5.8 knots
7.8 knots

She loves her DDW sailing configuration.

Her current position, 20/11/2018  13:24 (UTC?) - Lat/Lng: -31.42,-118.15 - Speed: 5.8 knots - Heading: 90 degrees (due east)

Just north of that wind line, but likely not for long: https://www.windy.com/?-31.420,-118.150,6,m:cNxacSs

 

[ProaSailor]

Her current position, 20/11/2018  20:25 (UTC?) - Lat/Lng: -31.53,-117.49 - Speed: 3.9 knots - Heading: 64 degrees  (NE)

blog: Day 48 Mon-Tues 19-20 Nov 2018 Change of climate as a Low affects us.....
https://svnereida.com/blog/4928-day-48-mon-tues-19-20-nov-2018-change-of-climate-as-a-low-affects-us

Wind generator is doing well in the stronger wind but I'm still needing to run the small diesel generator 2-3 times a day for half an hour each time to enable my radio use and for charging computer etc.

Her track since previous post seven hours ago: (yellow point)

 

[Norse Horse]

Ventusky with the 3hr acc rainfall showing. Her position from Proas post.

https://www.ventusky.com/?p=-35.0;-109.7;3&l=rain-3h

 

[ProaSailor]

Jeanne's position this morning: 21/11/2018 12:46 UTC - Lat/Lng: -32.40,-117.18 - Speed: 3.9 knots - Heading: 158 degrees



Still north of the wind line, which is moving south away from her: https://www.windy.com/?-32.598,-116.378,7,m:cLPacT8



Looks like some tough choices in a slow boat for the next couple of days, until the high passes south of her on Friday (west to east) and those easterlies bend left around it to become northerlies by Saturday.  Still a long way to go to Cape Horn.  2,233 nm. to -56,-76, which is 16 days at 140 nm. per day.

 

[ProaSailor]

At 22/11/2018 12:33 UTC, Lat/Lng: -33.55,-115.57, Speed: 5.8 knots, Heading: 173 degrees.

About an hour ago, Jeanne took a sharp turn to starboard, from heading 101 degrees (E) to heading 173 degrees (S), apparently determined to punch through that wind line and get into the band of SEasterlies just south of it, temporarily leaving the NWesterlies behind.  The upper edge of the next wind hole is ~270 nm. due south.

https://www.windy.com/?-33.550,-115.570,6,iressure,m:cJmacWF



When the high moving from west to east centers due south of her tomorrow (Friday), the northern edge of the westerlies "below" it will be ~430 nm. from where she is now.  As the high continues to move east, the narrow band of easterlies bends around it to become NE and northerly by Saturday.

Struggles with the solar panel wiring continue unresolved.

 

[Norse Horse]

Office pool to celebrate her rounding of the Horn?

Dec 5 2pm as per her log recording.

 

[oysterhead]

Nereida is on the Longue Route 2018 tracking page...

https://maps.sail.cloud/home/event/19

 

[ProaSailor]

Office pool to celebrate her rounding of the Horn?

Dec 5 2pm as per her log recording.

December 5th?  I'm not sure where you saw/heard that?  On Nov 5th, she said "I think I'll leave it to celebrate seeing in the New Year - by then, we should be well past Cape Horn".

I don't when she'll get there but definitely not by Dec 5th!  This morning she had 2,115 nm. great circle distance to reach the -56,-76 reference point I've been using, which is ~300 nm. from Cape Horn.  That's ~2,400 nm. total if she makes a bee line toward it, which she probably won't, since she loves to pole out wing-and-wing going DDW, a slow point of sail.  At 140 miles/day, 2,400 miles would take 17 days, which would be December 9th, but yesterday's blog entry said she had made only 79 nm. in the previous 24 hours.  And there is rougher weather ahead than she's been through for most of her trip thus far.  Making Cape Horn by winter solstice, December 21, would be more reasonable.

Nereida is on the Longue Route 2018 tracking page...

https://maps.sail.cloud/home/event/19

View attachment 290232

That was mentioned last Monday - it looks like her position on that tracker is two days old?  20/11/2018



This tracker shows her most recent position - four hours of not good: http://www.gsattrack.com/Anonymous/svnereida

 

[Cisco]

' Making Cape Horn by winter solstice........'

One would hope she is down here well before then.... summer solstice maybe ?  

I seem to recall on previous trips she had some bee in her bonnet about needing to be at the Horn on a certain date.... as if any of the  other 364 days was certain death....

 

[Norse Horse]

Jeanne's boom kicker has let go from the mast. https://svnereida.com/blog

" not long after the boom had swung over, it jerked upward and I soon saw that the rod-kicker (that supports the boom) had come away from the mast - the connection had failed. I reefed the mainsail, as I'd intended anyway - and more so now, to put less stress on the boom while i investigated the situation and thought over my options - I was not a 'happy bunny' at this point.... The fitting had basically torn all the rivets out so one thing that needed to be done was to get rid of the remaining protruding rivet bits - out with the hammer! Clearly, the fitting was not going to go back snugly where it had been - but I decided I could lash it around the mast so that it would be more or less in place, moving very little ... So I set to - and by 6.30am was satisfied that I'd lashed it reasonably well, using Spectra line.. "

 

[solosailor]

Rivets no bueno.

 

[olaf hart]

Don’t get it, my boomkicker fits the luff groove on the mast.

instructions don’t mention rivets

http://www.boomkicker.com/1500in.html

 

[Ishmael]

Not a Boomkicker per se, but a rigid vang. Whoever installed it with rivets should be shot.

 

[cje]

Whole rig is riveted, don't just stop at the vang. 

 

[Ishmael]

Whole rig is riveted, don't just stop at the vang. 

I guess you have seen it. I thought the Najads were well built, not so?

 

[cje]

Ish, they are well put together and so are the Selden spars that come stock with the Najad.  Better custom spars just cost more $.  

While properly installed rivets should be sufficient for most, Jeanne has a few miles on Nereida and it would be easy to miss some loose rivets during inspection.  

Lucky the boat & rig isn't all busted up and it came off clean. She should have the tools to drill/ tap 8mm bolts, although a time consuming task on a nice day at the dock.

Monday morning I see my client with an unused 35' that monitors Jeanne daily log with plans to go offshore. Most of these issues don't show up till you slam them around a little.

 

[Norse Horse]

It seems like all the Najad come with a kicker from a google pic search. She mentions in this article she watched the boat being built. https://blueskyatsea.wordpress.com/jeanne-socrates/

 

[ProaSailor]

She didn't post a blog update yesterday - first time to skip one, I think?  Her speed has been very slow since she hove-to two days ago.  She has traveled only ~89 nm. in the last 49 hours, due south of where she was Thursday morning.  Only 70 nm. closer to the -56,-76 reference point, or ~35 nm./day.  Cape Horn is 67 days away at that rate, on the great circle route.

Saturday morning tracker update at 24/11/2018  13:45 UTC, Lat/Lng: -35.03,-115.52,  Speed: 1.9 knots, Heading: 160 degrees

https://www.windy.com/?-35.030,-115.550,6,iressure,m:cGKacWB

 

[ProaSailor]

She didn't post a blog update yesterday - first time to skip one, I think?

Jeanne belatedly posted yesterday's blog update ~3 hours ago:
https://svnereida.com/blog/4931-day-51-thurs-fri-22-23-nov-2018-winds-still-from-the-east-seas-a-lot-bigger-still-hove-to

And just now posted today's: "... still hove-to, waiting for better wind direction."
https://svnereida.com/blog/4932-day-52-fri-sat-23-24-nov-2018-big-seas-from-strong-weather-to-south-still-hove-to-waiting-for-better-wind-direction

... it took me a time to realise that the reason the loose sail was dangling far lower than usual, on the downwind side of the boom, was that the starboard lazyjack lines, that normally hold the sail in to the boom when reefing, were flying around - they'd broken... I managed to grab one end near the cockpit but saw the loose, higher section making a macrame pattern high up in the shrouds - it is still well out of reach and the eye at its end is totally tangled high up.
[...]
The wind does seem to be slowly backing more to the north but I'll not move away before dealing with those items - no rush.... I'm not in a race! My priorities are keeping 'Nereida' functioning well and staying safe.

24/11/2018  19:46 UTC, Lat/Lng: -35.20,-115.38,  Speed: 1.9 knots, Heading: 134 degrees

https://www.windy.com/?-35.200,-115.380,7,m:cGMacXu   (seas S 10' @ 11 secs.)