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Day 39 Wednesday, October 31, 2007 06.40S 146.31W
Boat is travelling at 7.0 knots; wind is from the NE 15, wind waves are NE 1.0 - 1.5 metres swell is NE 2.0 metes @ 7 seconds. Temperature is 27 C wit;h 30% cloud cover. No bird sightings today. Enjoyed a little Halloween candy today. Listen to Glenn's radio report.
Day 38 Tuesday, October 30, 2007 05.25 S 146.05 W
Glenn covered 175 miles ( a new record for this trip so far ) in the last 24 hours.The wind is NE 10 - 15 knots, wind waves are NE 1.0 - 1.5 metres, swell is NE 2.0 metres @ 7 seconds. Barometer is 1012, temperature is 27 C with 30% cloud cover. He had rain today and filled up the water tanks AND have a fresh water shower. Used up one propane tank this afternoon. Will try his hand at some fishing today.
Day 37 Monday, October 29, 2007 03.03 S 145.15 W
Covered160 miles in the last 24 hours. Current boat speed is 7.5 knots. Wind is NE 15, wind waves are NE1.5 metres, swell is NE 2.0 metres @7 seconds with a steady barometer of 1011. Temperature is 26 C with 95% cloud cover. Petrels still following the boat. Listen to Glenn's radio report.
Note: In an earlier report, Glenn referred to an abundance of bioluminescence in the water. To view photos click this link.
Day 36 Sunday, October 28, 2007 00.20 S 144.56 W ON THE EQUATOR !
Glenn crossed the equator this evening at approximately 6 p.m. Victoria time. He watched the GPS countdown the miles until he was on the equator and describes going through the obligatory King Neptune ritual as he entered the South Pacific. Kim Chow continues to move along at a steady 6.5 knots with the wind E 15 and wind waves E 1.5 metres and a 2 metre swell from the E @ 7 seconds. He's sailing with 3 reefs in the main sail and the jib rolled in half way. Outside temperature is 26 C with 30% cloud cover and barometer steady at 1011. Glenn was joined by his loyal winged friends the Black Storm Petrel, Storm Petrel and Kermadec Petrel for the auspicious crossing.
Saturday, October 27, 2007 10:02 p.m. 02.16N 144.44 W
Boat speed is 6.5 knots. Wind is SE10, swell is SE 1.5 metres@ 8 seconds.Temperature is 27 C with 0% cloud cover. Kermadec Petrel is with him today. Today he enjoyed watching the spectacle of pelagic birds circling close to the boat and feeding on the schools of flying fish. Listen to Glenn's radio report.
Day 35 Saturday, October 27, 2007 11:26 am 03.23 N 144.28 W
Covered 85 miles in the last 24 hours. Boat speed is 6.0 knots. Wind is SE15, swell is 2.0 metres @ 7 seconds. Chop is SE 1.0 - 1.5 metres. Temperture is 25C with 30% cloud cover. Barometer is 1010. Kermadec Petrel has joined him this morning. Expects to cross the equator Sunday night or Monday morning.
Day 34 Friday, October 26, 2007 1:05 pm 05.03N 143.56 W
Boat speed is 5.5 knots. Wind is SE 10 - 15, swell is SE 2.0 @ 8 sseconds with a SE 1.0 - 1.5 m chop. Temperature is 26 C, barometer is 1010 with 75% cloud cover.
Day 33 Thursday, October 25, 2007 05.16N 143.53 W
Covered 85 miles in the last 24 hours. Boat speed is 3.0 knots. Wind is SE 10, swell is 3.0 metres @ 7 seconds with a SE 1.0 metre chop. Barometer is 1009. Temperature is 23 C with 40% cloud cover. A new species of Petrel has joined him today - a Black Petrel.
Day 32 Wednesday, October 24, 2007 10:13 p.m. 06.47N 142.34 W
Covered 30 miles in the last 24 hours. Boat speed is 2.5 knots. Ran out of wind at about 1700 Victoria time. Swell is 0.5metres @3 seconds and SE 0.5 metres. Barometer is 1011. Temperature is 27 C. There is 100% cloud cover and light drizzle. The Masked Booby, Storm Petrel and Kermadec Petrel have all paid a visit today.
It appears Glenn is on the edge of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) otherwise known as the Doldrums and is moving into the South Pacific.
Day 31 Tuesday, October 23, 2007 11:56 p.m. 07.02 N 141.25 W
Covered 45 miles in the last 24 hours. Boat speed of 4.5 knots. Wind is SE 2.0 knots, swell is SE 3.0 metres @6 seconds with a SE 1.0 metre chop. Barometer is 1008. Temperature is 28C with 90% cloud cover. Steady breezy this afternoon, on a port tack with full main and jib rolled in just enough so it doesn't catch the waves over the bow. Close hauled and doing 5 knots. Motion on board is akin to a scene out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. "I'm trying to tune in a New Zealand radio station on the Grundig radio. Saw my second ship today The Pacific Faithful that passed within a half mile. Talked to one of the crew on board who told me they left Vancouver en route to Brisbane via Tahiti. Have had two days of rain and today the sun is out so things are drying out. Topped up the water tanks. Granola and apple for lunch. Enjoying the CBC shortwave stations from Canada and ones from NZ and Australia."
Day 30 Monday, October 22 9:26 p.m. 07.47 N, 140.34 W
Covered 90 miles in the last 24 hours. No wind, no boat speed, no heading. Brometer is 1009. Temperature is steady at 26 C. He lost the wind at about 8:00 p.m. There is 100% cloud cover. Lots of dolphins swimming around the boat and a flock of kermadec petrels following behind. He saw tuna jumping in the water around the boat this morning. Listen to Glenns' radio report. Lots of birds close to the boat today; storm petrels, kermadec petrels, masked booby, sooty (?) and an as yet to be identified petrel. Difficult to identify pelagic birds from a moving boat in large swells. Binoculars not much help. Very busy on board today, lots of sail adjustments - reefed the main in and out about 20 times and rolled the jib in and out 10 times. Collected rain water to top up the tanks. Wind is from 0 - 25 knots and from every direction with 2 -3 metre swells. On and off again tropical rain squalls all day.
Day 29 Sunday, October 21, 2007 10:32 p.m. 11.14 N 141.34 W
Covered 150 miles in the last 24 hours. Boat speed is 6.0 knots. Wind is E 15, swell is NE 2-3 metres @ 7 seconds with an E 0.5 - 1.0 metre chop. Barometer is steady at 1012 and the temperature is a balmy 26 C with a 30% cloud cover. Petrels are still with him and he's had a visit from some dolphins for most of the afternoon.
Day 28 Saturday, October 20, 2007 10:49 a.m. 12.13 N 141.51 W
Boat speed is currently 7.0 knots. The wind is E 15 - 20, NE 2.0 - 3.0 at 7 seconds, swell is E 10. Barometer is steady at 1013. Temperature is 26 with 30% cloud cover. Kermadec Petrel stays with him.
Day 27 Friday, October 19, 2007 9:321 p.m. 13.48 N 142.38 W
Covered 150 miles in the last 24 hours. Wind is from the East 10 - 15, swell is NE 2.0 metres @ 7 seconds. Chop is E 1.5 metres. The ride is rough and it's a challenge to move around the boat but he is making good time and is happy with his daily progress. Flying fish on the deck is a regular occurrence. Click here to see a picture of a flying fish from the National Geographic's website.
Listen to Glenn's radio report.
Day 26 Thursday, October 18, 2007 12:04 a.m. 16.16 N 141.47 W
Covered 150 miles in the last 24 hour period . Wind is E 10 - 15, swell is NE 2 metres @ 7 seconds with and E 0.5 - 1.0 chop. Barometer is steady at 1017. Temperature is 26+ C with 20% cloud cover. Kermadec Petrel still with him. Listen to Glenn's radio report.
The following is from Wikipedia. "Storm petrels have a cosmopolitan distribution, being found in all oceans. They are strictly pelagic, coming to land only when breeding. In the case of most species, little is known of their behaviour and distribution at sea, where they can be hard to find and harder to identify. They are colonial nesters, displaying strong philopatry to their natal colonies and nesting sites. Most species nest in crevices or burrows and all but one species attends the breeding colonies nocturnaly. Pairs for long term monogamous bonds and share incubation and chick feeding duties. Like many species of seabird nesting is highly protracted with incubation taking up to 50 days and fledging another 70 days after that."
Click on the picture to learn more about the Kermadec Petrel.
Glenn's sailing on a beam reach with a double reefed main and a rolled in jib sailing at about six knots and enjoying the balmy 26 C weather with a slight cloud cover. He reports a bit of a challenge with the fresh eggs on board. No, they haven't hatched. To keep unrefrigerated eggs fresh without refrigeration, they can be turned over everyday which coats the inside and seals out the air. For this voyage, we purchased the best we could find locally - unrefrigerated, farm fresh, free range, extra large eggs (20 dozen in total) to keep him going for as long as possible. But because they don't perfectly fit in their containers, he reports a fair amount of breakage and a rather familiar barnyard aroma to the forward cabin. The upside is the omelettes are delicious and the last of the fresh vegetables, sauteed, add a nice touch.
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