GOLD COAST 220600ZAPR12 SKED SANFRANSISCO – PANAMA

LAT 19 23.852 N
LONG 108 16.167 W
DTF 1878
ETA 13 APR 12
COG 113 degrees
SOG 6.6Kn

WEATHER Wind 310@10kts, Sea Slight, Swell NW 1/2m, Cloud 2/8, Baro 1008

Some bizarre and unexplained natural and un-natural occurrences are happening around Gold Coast Australia over the past few days. AIS and VHF signals appear to travel over 100nm, far further than we have ever seen before. There are positives to this as we can talk to and monitor the fleet up to 100nm away, but on a negative it results in lots of useless information being heard on the radio.

The possible eruption of a volcano in Mexico may possibly cause more strange disturbances over the next few days, and who knows what a cloud of ash could do to the predicted weather systems and possible sea breezes that will hopefully take us down the coast when the gradient pressure diminishes. Only time will tell what the effect of the Volcano will have Team Gold Coast Australia send our thoughts to those living near the volcano and hope they are safe and that the disruptions it may cause them in the future are minimal.

The winds in the area are a little unpredictable at the moment, as today we expectantly experienced winds from a westerly direction which gave us a fantastic course throughout the day. The wind was meant to veer throughout the afternoon yet only swung towards the north before midnight. It will be interesting to see what the grib files show for the next few days. The wind on the course also appears very patchy, and some of the yachts behind us are having a fantastic ride making up some good miles on us. At the point of writing Gold Coast Australia retains a good cover on the fleet but as we head further south the wind will become even more variable making it extremely important to work hard and sail smart to stay ahead of the pack.

Richard Hewson