Jessica Watson's Round-the-World Voyage

[RichardInMd]

I wonder how close to Cape Horn she will pass, and if there is a distance off that is optimal in terms of winds, currents, etc. I have read many voyage stories where people run into large seas off of Africa.

Richard W

[KiwiGuy]

Originally Posted by RichardInMd

I think she has been moving right along. She is a dinghy racer/instructor.

Here is a cool link I found posted by some cruisers who talked to her by radio near Norfolk Island

Meeting a Pink Lady | Around the World

Richard W

And here is Jessica's version of the same day.......

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2009

Cleared Norfolk Island
The comfortable routine I had been getting very used to fell apart today with the wind picking up to 25 knots. A short building sea has been making life, I wouldn't say uncomfortable, but certainly different to some of the quiet days we've had. It's nice to be guaranteed some good progress and even with two reefs in the main sail Ella's Pink Lady has almost been surfing
along in the swell at up to 8.5 knots.

This morning we finally cleared Norfolk Island which was a relief because I didn't get much sleep last night with land and a few boats around and have now settled onto a north easterly course that should take us straight to the equator!

This afternoon I was feeling a little down, so to cheer myself up I made a few phone calls, turned the music up, gave my hair and teeth a good brush, all the things that would normally make me feel on top of the world before realizing that I'd forgotten to feed myself! A good helping of tinned potatoes, fried into chips later and I'm back to my normal cheerful self.

No colorful sunset tonight with the over cast skies but it's a little too wet to be sitting around on deck enjoying it anyway.

Sorry but thats all for today,

Jesse

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by RichardInMd

I wonder how close to Cape Horn she will pass, and if there is a distance off that is optimal in terms of winds, currents, etc. I have read many voyage stories where people run into large seas off of Africa.

Richard W

I think you mean Cape of Good Hope, Richard. Jessica passed Cape Horn several days ago.

TaoJones

[paradix]

South of the continental shelf, weather permitting. She's unlikely to see land I would think. No need to get close to the SA capes, and plenty of reasons to stay away from that shallow water.

[KiwiGuy]

Originally Posted by RichardInMd

I wonder how close to Cape Horn she will pass, and if there is a distance off that is optimal in terms of winds, currents, etc. I have read many voyage stories where people run into large seas off of Africa.

Richard W

I think you mean Cape of Good Hope. My reading is that the shipping traffic is very heavy there, and she will probably want to stay well south, unless she really wants to have a look at the cape on the way through.

Looks like she will track close to Gough Island, a lonely but pretty spectacular mountain island that would have to be worth a picture or 2.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by KiwiGuy

I didn't get much sleep last night with land and a few boats around

Looks like she's learned her lesson

[Northeaster]

When Jessica refers to Parker, is that her electric autopilot, or a Windvane?

I believe she has both but am curious to know if she is using one much more than teh other, or both?

[rover88]

Based on following her blog almost daily, Parker is her windvane (slightly damaged in the recent storm). It appears she is using "him" more than the autopilot.

[KiwiGuy]

Originally Posted by Northeaster

When Jessica refers to Parker, is that her electric autopilot, or a Windvane?

I believe she has both but am curious to know if she is using one much more than teh other, or both?

She is using the Fleming Self Steer system 99.9% of the time, she loves it and named it "Parker" after the Lady Penelope's chauffeur in the Thunderbirds , good article here

Jessica Watson: Ella's Pink Lady uses Fleming windvane self steering system

and the manual if you are really interested

http://www.fujiyachts.net/manuals/Fl...g%20Manual.pdf

Probably the wisest gear choice on the boat as it has a huge reputation amongst cruisers and solo sailors, even bigger now I would imagine after surviving her force 10 storm and 180 deg knockdown. Although she used her autopilot during the storm, presumably because she can control it remotely while belted into her wet seat inside. She has to go outside to adjust her wind wane, not possible during that storm.

Note that Abby Sunderland elected to not use a mechanical wind vane, which caused some controversy as the autopilot uses precious battery power. Looks like she is already suffering from that decision as she has had no sun and has drained her batteries. This will be her archilles heel, as there is no way a solo sailor can manual steer for days on end.

Abby's Blog

[Gnitfar]

Originally Posted by KiwiGuy

Note that Abby Sunderland elected to not use a mechanical wind vane, which caused some controversy as the autopilot uses precious battery power. Looks like she is already suffering from that decision as she has had no sun and has drained her batteries. This will be her archilles heel, as there is no way a solo sailor can manual steer for days on end.

Abby's Blog

I noticed in her blog the other day that her wind instruments were out, that'll be a pain! I believe you are right about her achilles heel, although I think she mentioned she had a second auto-pilot system as a back-up.

[John A]

Originally Posted by Gnitfar

I noticed in her blog the other day that her wind instruments were out, that'll be a pain!

One could always align their head so the the wind blew with equal velocity passed each ear. Then observe which direction their nose was pointed, if facing the wind, that's the direction the wind is coming from.

[sailorboy1]

wind - that's why yarn was inverted to tie onto the stays to see

[conachair]

Originally Posted by John A

One could always align their head so the the wind blew with equal velocity passed each ear. Then observe which direction their nose was pointed, if facing the wind, that's the direction the wind is coming from.

One of the many benifits of wind vane self steering. No need to keep too close an eye on the wind. Just make sure boat is pointed in roughly right direction and is balanced then get back to the book Wonder what her resons were for going for an electric autopilot.

[surfingminniwinni]

We have the same model Fleming windvane. It never lets us down, even downwind in light air. We call our winni.

[John A]

Originally Posted by conachair

One of the many benifits of wind vane self steering. No need to keep too close an eye on the wind. Just make sure boat is pointed in roughly right direction and is balanced then get back to the book Wonder what her resons were for going for an electric autopilot.

Reduntancy.
As a singlehandler, I had both types of aids to steering. I thought of both of them as additional crew. Oft times, depending on the conditions, I'd disengage the windvane to do a tack and use the autopilot to hold my course while triming sails, then re-engage the windvane and put the autopilot back in standby.
When sailing within a few miles to land, the changing conditions of the wind would sometimes cause the windvane to alter the cog. When that happens, I'd use the autopilot. God forbid, when I had to use the "iron sail" I'd use the autopilot.

John