Today's Report
July 9/11 0845 JST
Position: 26°41'N, 141°40'E
Remaining to Yokohama: 536 nm (ETA: ? days)
Remaining to Ogasawara: 35 nm (ETA: 7-9 hrs)
At sunrise it appeared Saito-san was facing a hard and long upwind slog as the winds were blowing out of the NE, directly from where Ogasawara was waiting over the horizon about 40 nm away.
The seas were virtually flat at just 0.4 m, but the all-important winds were not cooperating. He called at 0600 to say he was on an oblique tack nearly 70 degrees off where he needed to go, making about 3.5 kts, but basically in the "wrong" direction. It had been like that for several hours and he was already exhausted.
The dismal prospect was for multiple tacking maneuvers throughout the day as he struggled to beat upwind...
...and then the wicked winds of the north changed to nearly perfect.
Judging from ClearPoint, the winds shifted to out of the E & ESE and will remain highly favorable at 8-10 kts for the rest of the day. They will blow off his starboard quarter, or even abeam, which are both very good points of sail while on, or near, the heading he needs – 045° – to Ogasawara.
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| Favorable winds arrive out of the ESE; Ogasawara (Chichijima) shown at upper right corner. |
At 0845 he called the fishing boat captain, a member of the Ogasawara Fishermen's Association, who has been arranged to do the final tow into port of the engineless NBSDIII. The captain then called us to report their conversation.
Saito-san gave his updated position as 34 nm away. They agreed to rendezvous at a convergent point in-between, and then Saito-san will either pick up the tow, or if the winds remain favorable, they will proceed on to port together.
Saito-san gave his updated position as 34 nm away. They agreed to rendezvous at a convergent point in-between, and then Saito-san will either pick up the tow, or if the winds remain favorable, they will proceed on to port together.
The estimated time of arrival: between 1400 and 1600 hours, give or take a bit of continued good luck.
UPDATE
They arrived at the fishing harbor in Ogasawara at 1630.
UPDATE
They arrived at the fishing harbor in Ogasawara at 1630.
***
Distance in last 24 hours: 61 nm DOG / 61 nm DMG
Total distance completed: 28,010 nm
To Yokohama: 536 nm (measured)
To Ogasawara: 36 nm (measured)
Average daily DMG over last 4 days of sailing: 32.0 nm (measured)
ETA, Ogasawara: 7-9 hrs
ETA, Yokohama: ? days
Heading: 330° changing to 040°
Reported boat speed: 3.5 kt
Average boat speed: 2.6 kt
Weather: Broken clouds, warm
Temperature: 28.0° C
Barometer: 1012 hPa
Wind (from): 7-9 kts E & ESE
Waves: 0.5 m
Waves: 0.5 m
Sails: Genoa 90%, staysail 0%, mainsail 3pt reef
Engine: 0 hrs
Generator: 0 hrs
[Weather and wind forecasts are from ClearPoint Weather, a Saito 8 Supporting Sponsor.]
