RG650 Mini Transat 816 Qualification Passage Day 4

Date Sunday 05 May 2013Location Sardinia East Coast

While we sailed some great miles over the first few days in the RG650 the last day has been light, variable and frustrating. It is forecasted that the wind will pick up today so we can sail to our next waypoint in the qualification passage Zanoni island.

0630 Position 39 08N 009 40E Sunrise Brg 074.
What a night! Once the sun set the batteries went from 12.7V to 12.2V I switched off all non -essential equipmentto save power. The wind is rotating 360 deg and ranging 0-10kts in strength. While Sardinia looks like a very beautiful coastline, so far I am not a big fan of the sailing conditions!
I spent last night resting in the cockpit through the lulls and changing sails with the changing winds to catch every gust and zephyr of wind. Most of the night was spent bobbing around of the islands of Sardinia. I fell asleep at the helm at one stage through the night only to wake up to find the boat drifting towards rocks!
At one stage I turned on the NKE and pilot so I could fix the spinnaker and it did not work – I really need to investigate the wiring thoroughly on completion of this passage, definatly before my next race and the Mini Transat.
0933 Position 39 18N 004 56E Took a sun sight, calculated and plotted it to find it only 5nm from my current position which is quite acceptable when using a basic sextant in a 21 foot boat thats moving around in the choppy conditions.
1005 Position 39 18N 009 59E Weather N 3-4 backing NW 3-4. Outlook Sardinia – Genova NW-W-SW 3-4
1332 Position 39 23.9N 010 16.7E Radio contact with CSL Perfect. REquest they relay my position to Class Mini but they were not allowed to use their satphone. I have had 2 hrs sleep this morning and feeling great! Auto pilot zapped power while I slept, and batteries now back to 12V
1355 Posiiton 39 24N 10 17E Hoisted code 0
1521 Position 39 26N 1023E Becalmed, furled code 0
1837 Position 39 35N 10 44E Sun has been obscured all afternoon so no good for an afternoon sun sight. Good reaching conditions with code 5 since late afternoon. 2 Manta rays jumped very close to my boat, pretty cool way to spend an afternoon!
2226 Position 39 47N 11 10E Battery voltage down to 11.9V even after very limited use through the day. Dolphins come and play with the boat, their phosphorescent trails making for some psycadelic patterns – I must be very tired!
No moon and thunderstorms later in the night, wind veered so dropped code 5, and now its dinner time and another strong coffee.. no sleep tonight! as gusty winds due to thunderstorms.