Made 147nm for the 24 hours, not bad given we were thrashing ourselves into wind, sea and current. Winds dropped to below 10 knots at midnight and went dead on the nose. We are still motoring under triple-reefed main. We are heading for Dolphin reef, 45nm to go. Should be there by 4pm. At our current rate of progress we’ve done about 1,000nm per month since leaving Sydney on 28 April last year!
Position 23° 32.897′ N 36° 28.757′ E
COG 327T
SOG 6.2kt
Log 11,001 nm
Engine 353.1 h
The latest GRIB weather looks much less attractive (or maybe I’m just reading the, through the eyes of someone who’s beaten to windward all day!). Consistent northerlies are forecast for at least the next week, with some periods of fairly strong wind on Wednesday. We may have to re-group to Plan B and day sail up the Egyptian coast until we see a decent window of calm or more favourable wind.
Position 23° 05.625′ N 36° 48.846′ E
COG 327T
SOG 5.1kt
With Zabargad Island and some offshore reefs to the West of our course and up to 30 knots gusty NE breeze pushing us towards it, I gave up sailing around 8pm. Still, we averaged just over 6 knots to windward for 15 hours. Motoring with 3 reefs in the main.
Position 22° 47.857′ N 37° 01.145′ E
COG 328T
SOG 5.9kt
We’ve made 73 miles in the first 12 hours, under sail except for the first couple of miles getting out of the reefs. It’s been hard work though. We’ve been close hauled for most of the day in a pretty messy sea and with up to 1.5 knots of current against us. So we’ve regularly seen boat speeds of over 8 knots, yet averaged just over 6. At 8 knots into a lumpy sea we are launching off waves half the time, and half under them the other half. At least the dust has been washed off the decks!
Position 22° 37.429′ N 37° 08.984′ E
COG 325T
SOG 6.9kt