Day 552 [April 7/10] -- 150 miles out, and 5 miles "up"

Today's Report
April 7/10 0800 JST

Position:
15°27'S, 78°04'W (South Pacific Ocean, 1,477 nm from Valdivia / 1,829 nm to Equator)

Another nice day of favorable but light winds, with 107 nm under sail. He's sailing parallel to the coast of Peru about 150 nm out, and well out of the way of commercial ship traffic.

There's another distance you tend to forget about on the broad expanse of water, however. That's what's below you.

For the last week he has been sailing alongside the Chile-Peru Trench, one of the major trenches of the oceans. This sea chasm is the result of the collision of tectonic plates that caused the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in February as well as the towering snow-capped Andes mountain range that dominates the coastal view, although Saito-san is too far seaward to enjoy it. 

What might be disconcerting to some boaters traversing the trench is that its bottom in places is an incredible 26,480 feet down, or 5 miles -- that's roughly the cruising altitude of trans-oceanic jets!

***
Long-time Punta Arenas businessman Hitoshi Hanaoka, who provided assistance to Saito-san on the Strait of Magellan for nearly 10 months, has sent a message in answer to a request of friends of the missing Japanese sailor Keiichi Chinami. We received a cc and read that he has already alerted fishermen in the area and that he would investigate the rental cost of a search plane.  

If the 35-foot ketch "Kifu" was disabled there are scores of small inlets and islands where the solo yachtsman may have ended up on the rugged Chilean coast. Fishermen are being asked to keep a lookout for him. It's been almost a month (since March 11), but the relatives and friends of the Fukuoka, Japan, sailor have not given up hope that he'll be found alive and well.

The family has expressed appreciation to everyone who has tried to help, including a worldwide HAM radio network and several cruising web sites that posted notices. We posted the URLs earlier but here they are again in one place:

***
Distance in last 24 hours: 107 nm
Distance completed: 19,031 nm
To Yokohama: 9,239 nm (distance remaining: 32.7%)
Heading: 300
Reported boat speed: 4.8 kt (day's average: 4.7 kt)
Weather: Overcast 
Temperature: 22.0° C
Barometer: 1008 hPa (down)
Wind (from): Favorable 8-14 kt SSE -- expected to stay 11 - 16 kt mostly out of SSE
Waves: 1.0 m
Current (from): 0.2 kt S
Engine rpms: 0.5 hrs @1500
Generator: 8.0 hrs
Sails: Genoa 0%, staysail 100%, mainsail 1-pt reef

Position Map (click to enlarge)



Day 551 [April 6/10] -- Turning west ... and a mystery is solved

Today's Report
April 6/10 0800 JST

Position:
17°03'S, 77°15'W (South Pacific Ocean, 1,427 nm from Valdivia / 1,881 nm to Equator)

Saito-san made an unusual, off-schedule call yesterday a bit after noon. We're used to bad news when that happens. This time, though, he was delighted. "I called just to say that I'm in Peru! Not Chile!" he announced with a glee that came clearly through the broken Iridium signal. We told him congratulations and agreed that it's a huge relief to be finally finished with that chapter (several, actually) of his circumnavigation.

Within a few hours a brightly orange helicopter flew observantly past and one can only imagine that it was the Chilean Coast Guard making doubly sure they have seen the last of him, although it may have been a welcome by the good folks of Peru.

In any case, he's now beginning to turn more westward and gradually away from land, as he heads more in the direction of Japan and home.

***
Yesterday he cut off the tangled genoa sheet, replacing it with a spare, and was also able to re-rig the main with a new 1-point reefing line. So he is back to fully using the sails, although the winds were so weak yesterday that he resorted to low engine rpms to help his progress.

***
We learned something new yesterday, taking even Saito-san by surprise.

It turns out that the Humboldt Current, one of the world's most powerful ocean streams, basically goes on holiday during this time of the year. On previous voyages Saito-san remembered a strong and persistent northerly current at 1 kt speed. We have been surprised to find, over the last week, that the currents were highly variable in direction, and rarely were over 0.3 kts, as shown on ClearPoint and judged by actual observation.

A closer reading of Wikipedia indicates that the "free ride" on the Humboldt Express up the Chilean coast is closed for the fall and winter months.

It reads: "[The] upwelling occurs off Peru year-round but off Chile only during the spring and summer, because of the displacement of the subtropical center of high pressure during the summer." The Southern hemisphere is now about mid-fall.

Oh, ok ... mystery solved!
***
Distance in last 24 hours: 103 nm
Distance completed: 18,924 nm
To Yokohama: 9,346 nm (distance remaining: 33.1%)
Heading: 300
Reported boat speed: 3.5 kt (day's average: 4.7 kt)
Weather: Overcast 
Temperature: 22.3° C
Barometer: 1014 hPa (rise)
Wind (from): Favorable 8-9 kt SE -- expected to stay 8-9 kt ESE in 13 hr & SSE in 19 hrs
Waves: 2.5 m
Current (from): 0.2 kt S
Engine rpms: 6.0 hrs @1500
Generator: 7.0 hrs
Sails: Genoa 90%, staysail 0%, mainsail 1-pt reef

Position Map (click to enlarge)



Day 550 [April 5/10] -- Slowing down as he bids 'adiós!' to Chile

Today's Report
April 5/10 0800 JST

Position:
18°37'S, 76°27'W (South Pacific Ocean, 1,312 nm from Valdivia / 1,992 nm to Equator)

He comes abreast of the southernmost border of Peru today, and can finally say adiós! to Chile, where he has been a highly reluctant guest since April of 2009 (and then again in October). No one can blame him for feeling relieved after three Cape Horn passages, a very long Chilean winter, an emergency operation, and a major earthquake, among other challenges that met him there. He's had to renew his visa at least three times.

DMG under sails alone fell to just 87 nm for the period as winds eased to under 10 kts. The seas have subsided to a gentle 1 meter. He'll see winds fall even more to 5 kts tomorrow. Skies remain overcast.

He had no luck yesterday freeing the genoa sheet from its death-grip tangle around the stay, so he expects to completely replace the sheet as he takes advantage of the calm conditions of the next 24 hours. He says it looks like he'll have to cut it to free it.

Yesterday he awoke to discover a small squid and a flying fish on deck, both quite dead but still palatable (Saito-san seems not very choosy, after days of rice and canned goods). The galley served "poissons du jour" at lunchtime.
***
Distance in last 24 hours: 87 nm
Distance completed: 18,811 nm
To Yokohama: 9,459 nm (distance remaining: 33.5%)
Heading: 354
Reported boat speed: 3.0 kt (day's average: 3.6 kt) under sail only
Weather: Overcast 
Temperature: 20.0° C
Barometer: 1007 hPa (slight drop)
Wind (from): Favorable 6-11 kt SSE -- expected to fall to 5 kt S in 13 hrs
Waves: 1.0 m
Current (from): 0.2 kt NNW
Engine rpms: 0 hrs
Generator: 11.0 hrs
Sails: Genoa 0%, staysail 100%, mainsail 2-pt reef

Position Map (click to enlarge)



Day 548 [April 3/10] -- More of the same under warming conditions as he crosses into tropics

Today's Report
April 3/10 0800 JST

Position:
21°58'S, 76°11'W (South Pacific Ocean, 1,116 nm from Valdivia)

Virtually no change from yesterday, though the temperatures are starting to edge up in the past 2 days up by about 2° C, or 3.6° F. Yesterday he crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, at the 23° 26' parallel, so he has officially entered the tropics. At the present progress he'll reach the Equator in about 20 days. 



We had been under the impression that as he went through the Horse Latitudes he'd be caught in mostly windless conditions. Turns out the winds stayed brisk, and, in fact, this part of the world is not affected.

The Horse Latitudes are the subtropic latitudes between 35 and 30 degrees south (and north). In other oceanic areas this region, under a ridge of high pressure called the subtropical high, receives little precipitation and has variable winds mixed with calm. It got its name from the desperate actions of Spanish sailors who sometimes jettisoned dying horses after weeks on weeks of failed winds under searing, parched skies.

Instead, Saito-san saw winds of 15 - 19 kts, and crossed over the area under sails only, assisted by the engine only a few times when gybing. True to form, it never rained, though skies stayed mostly overcast.

He had a bit of good luck yesterday: after the sun came up he found a fresh squid on deck. It was quickly invited to breakfast.

***
Distance in last 24 hours: 117 nm
Distance completed: 18,612 nm
To Yokohama: 9,658 nm (distance remaining: 34.2%)
Heading: 356
Reported boat speed: 5.5 kt (day's average: 4.9 kt) under sail only
Weather: Partly cloudy 
Temperature: 20.0° C
Barometer: 1010 hPa (steady)
Wind (from): Favorable 15-18 kt SSE -- expected to be 13-17 kt SSE next 19 hrs
Waves: 2.0 m
Current (from): 0.2 kt NNW
Engine rpms: 0 hrs
Generator: 11.0 hrs
Sails: Genoa 0%, staysail 100%, mainsail 2-pt reef

Position Map (click to enlarge)


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