[Prabhakari]

Heading North now, towards India. Course heading 20 degrees. Now wind on stern. I shall set the Gennaker now. It is a light sail for these conditions.

[Prabhakari]

Sails reset and course for India. We are sailing the same route taken by the big ships of the Eat India Company. Such as The Lord Mornington. These ships were heavy and somewhat sluggish sailors, so this is why they tried to look like Navy Ships.

[Prabhakari]

There is some way to go. I set a rough course for Mumbai. It is 3279 nm. The time to get there is totally dependent on the wind. No engines for sail. Stil, we will do our best.

[Prabhakari]

We have had good weather for a few days. So the sky is a mixture of white clouds and blue sky. The Indian Ocean is also tranquil, blue and with a gentle, long swell coming from the East. Still on-course for India. I do not think this could be done for real, as being stuck in a wheelchair does bring limitations.

So on sails Wanderer III. At least I do not need a dentist.

2692 nautical miles to go.
Depth of water under the keel is more than 15200 feet just now. It is sad to know that all this ocean is heavily polluted with plastic.

[Prabhakari]

We have reached Mauritius. Now sailing to the east to pass round the island. Winds very light just now. It is hot here. Sea blue.

[Prabhakari]

Bel Ombre is just to the north of us. Winds still very light, from the West, so we are using the Gennaker. It is our lightest foresail.

[Prabhakari]

Winds continue light. I have made it a personal challenge to sail to India as it is tricky, due to the winds.
Makes me think of the slow, heavy Indiamen having to make the same journey. No wonder the Clipper Ships gained such renown.

Being peace, Prabhakari.  >wheelchair<

[Prabhakari]

I have been ill so missed India as the yacht sailed east. I am off the coast of South Sumatra, heading to Java. Australia is not far off.
Christmas Island is to the West. Weather fair, with some cloud and a stern wind, so am using the Gennaker. True wind speed is more than 12 knots just now. I may make for Tasmania. An Australian friend did a circumnavigation of the island, and it was a stopping point on the Volvo Race. A stop at Perth is a possibility. I have sailed a long way now. All the waters are new to me. It is sad to see plastic in the ocean.

With metta to all housebound. Prabhakari.  >wheelchair<

[Prabhakari]

Jakarta is just over the horizon to port. I have got favourable winds to take me to the N.W. coast of Australia, so am heading  that way.

True wind speed is just over 12 knots. Gennaker up to make the best of this following wind. Depth of water under keel is more than 16100 feet just now. The yacht is on the edge of the shoal of the island of Java.
Current weather is dry with cloud. The swell is gentle. Current from 248 degrees at 0.3 knots.

[Prabhakari]

I have just looked at the weather forecast for my current sailing area, and there is an area of light winds ahead. So it will be a slow sail to Australia. There is no bad weather forecast for the next day. There is a storm system off the North coast of Australia. which I can avoid by sailing to the south. The only snag with that is I shall be sailing into the Southern Ocean. It does tend to get strong winds and big waves down there.

[Prabhakari]

The Catty Snork is nearly becalmed but Wanderer III is doing well. There are 1046 Nautical miles to the nearest Australian landfall, so it will take a little while to sail there. I can look out for whales and dolphins. I last saw whales off Africa, and dolphins near the Carribean. Whenever land is near, we see some sea-birds flying around us.

[Prabhakari]

It is a beautiful night for sailing, with clear skies and a waning Moon. Winds are just right and the swell is gentle. Wanderer III has a TWS - True Wind Speed - of 10 knots. I have just trimmed the sails and gained an extra half knot.
Just to remind anyone who is interested: I have been sailing yachts via simulators for years. Sailaway is the latest. It is an accurate simulation with full controls of the sails and rigging. It is an ideal teaching aid. The weather is real. This means that it pays to learn to understand the weather in detail. The sim is young, and it has years of development ahead of it.

I am sailing a 38 foot Bermuda-rigged yacht. A boat that is perfect for solo voyaging in real-life. If I had been able to, it is the type of boat I would liked to sail in real-life. The yacht is not designed for speed but for comfort; think of it as a floating home. I have got 919 nautical miles before I reach the Australian coast, and it will take more than 8 days at the current rate of sailing.

I may meet some Australian friends. There are many Australians sailing.

Meanwhile I have the stars and the Moon for company. The navigation lights are the only lights showing on the boat. Red to port; green to starboard, and a white light on the stern. The red ensign is flying, showing that Wanderer is from the U.K. The boat is decorated with limes; the tree, leaves and the fruit; in pale green on a white background.


Here is a song for the traveller:

[Prabhakari]

My friend's yacht was a similar size but with twin keels. He used to advertise for crew each year, to sail to Holland. I could not go. I used to help with maintaining the yacht during the winter months and also updating the charts. Each night, we heard the shipping forecast for our waters. Now I can see the weather at any time and in any part of the world. G.p.s. makes navigation easy, compared to taking a sighting with a sextant on a moving deck. G.p.s. provides a wealth of information for both boats and aircraft. So I know exactly where I am to 0.5 of a nautical mile. It also provides a time of arrival, based on current speed and distance.

Just now the winds are fluctuating, so I am making small adjustments to the sails; it helps keep me busy.

I have got some hot coffee to help pass the time. The sound of the water running along the keel is soothing. No nasty reefs or rocks to worry about. Just a small drift to port that means altering course a little, or I will be taken into the Timor Sea.

[Prabhakari]

Just altered course. Wind is now more on starboard. There are two ways of looking at the wind. One is the speed and the other is the angle.  So we have the True Wind Speed and the True Wind Angle. However the Apparent Wind Speed and the Apparent Wind Angle are the ones that we look at. These are what we trim the sails to. Sails have got light ribbons on them, called tell-tales. They show the flow of the wind across the sail. When they stream out horizontally then the sails are most efficient. This is complicated by the extra ways in which the sails can be set. Such as the Vang, which opens and closes the top of the mainsail.

It all depends on the complexity of the rigging. Some boats are simple. Racing yachts have fine controls to alter the shape of the sail. Getting the trim right can make a big difference in the speed over a long distance.

I am not racing, but enjoy getting the most out of the yacht.

[Prabhakari]

Christmas Island is not far off. It looks like a Scottie Dog. The island is inhabited by humans. One of the coves is called Flying Fish Cove. This is the only part that seems to have some anchorage, although it does look exposed and not a place for a small boat to linger. The currents in this area are interesting as they meet in this area. They stream like snakes as one lot streams out into the Indian Ocean, meeting the currents from the ocean that are travelling in the opposite direction.

I suspect, from experience, that this is a rough spot in a storm.