Commander’s Weather Corporation
Tuesday, 02.06.2007

From: Commanders’ Weather Corporation
Route: Port Louis, Mauritius to Perth, Australia
Position: 36 30s/74 45e at 0000utc Tue, Feb 6
Prepared: 1230UTC Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Summary

Unfortunately you may be hearing more from us in the coming days!

Looks like the cold front passed you around 0600UTC +/- 2 hours and you must now be in a S wind

a) trailing high pressure is in a bad spot, near 43-45S/62-65E, which is S of you and this means you will soon have S-SE and SE winds, so upwind

This means you will have 3 options

a) motor straight E - the wind speeds/seas will not be that great, so will be able to do this, if you have sufficient fuel
b) sail upwind as tight as possible. Once again, winds and seas are not that bad, so should be able to hold a decent angle and not be forced too far N
c) can motor S and try to get thru the high and into the westerlies

There will be a series of monster cold fronts moving from the SW to the NE later this week into next, so I am reluctant to get you too far S, too early

a) I sailed/motor sailed the S-SE and SE winds E and ENE until the high pressure area moves closer, to you
b) this means another 24 hrs or so going E and then winds are more SE and ESE and quite light, so now we use the engine and get S and into the westerlies, but
c) only want to touch the westerlies and start going E or probably ESE. Basically, we keep working S until the wind speeds are strong enough for a quick sail to the E or ENE

Tropical Cyclone Dora will remain trapped to your NW, but always a good idea to keep an eye on her!

Series of big cold fronts will move quickly NE Fri - Sun

a) 1st arrives Friday
b) remember, these will be southern ocean cold fronts - very squally, even after the wind shift into the S-SW and in general, the worst conditions are 12-24 hrs after the initial wind shift
c) there will be a BIG surge of wind and sea on Sat, but Sun calms down
d) however this will be followed by another big cold front early next week

Good news, this fronts will extend right up into Perth, so if under control, it will be a fast ride into Perth

Routing

Prefer easting right now and let the high get closer before committingto the S

a) by letting the high pressure catch up to us, we don’t have to go asfar S to catch the trailing westerlies
2) Motor S when winds become E tomorrow
3) Once into the westerlies, fastest gybe to the E
a) maybe starboard gybe at 1st, but
b) once wind speeds are higher, then port gybe will be strongly favored, even if N of rhumb line
4) Once the cold front passes on Friday, only 1 option, as comfy as possible on starboard

Wind Forecasts
Wind direction TRUE, speed in kts, time is UTC

Tue, Feb 6
18: 170-140/10-15
Partly to mostly cloudy today and tomorrow, but more sunshine with time.

Wed, Feb 7
00: 170-150/10-15
06: 150-130/10-15
12: 140-110/ 8-14, near 37S/79E
18: 100-070/ 7-12

Thu, Feb 8
00: light/variable, going thru the middle of the high
06: light/variable
12: 240-270/ 7-13, probably on starboard, near 39 40S/79 30E
18: 240-270/11-16, over to port!!!
Partly cloudy.

Fri, Feb 9
00: 240-270/20-30
06: 230-200/18-24, maybe a squall or 2 to 35 kts
12: 220-190/20-30, near 39 40S/82 30E
18: 210-240/17-23
Increasing clouds with rain and squalls likely with the initial wind shift, but still a scattering of small, brief squalls 6-12 hrs after the initialwind shift. Seas becoming SW and increasing to 6-10 feet

Sat, Feb 10
00: 220-250/25-40, squalls to 50
12: 190-210/30-40, squalls to 50, near 39 10S/86 50E, being further N canlimit wind speeds by 5-10 kts
Fast changing sky conditions with numerous, fast moving, brief squalls to50 kts. Rough with seas up to 12-18 feet.

Sun, Feb 11
00: 190-210/26-34, squalls 40-45
12: 210-240/16-24, just a brief lull near 38 30S/91E
Squalls ending then partly cloudy, but more squalls likely on Monday. Seas up to 12-18 feet, but falling before increasing again on Monday.

37 South, 76 East

It is time to write again. It is colder now, I am wearing two sweaters as we are more to the South than the Cape of Good Hope, truly so far from everything. Being this far allows us to experience things that would never be possible without having left. Check this out: I just had an hour run in the bow hanging on to the halyards, watching the sunset, with about 20 albatrosses flying all around the boat. How cool is that?

On the top of the waves the setting sun was reflected so one side of the waves was a golden color and the other side silvery blue. The air is so pure here, I feel strong and free as if I were standing on the top of a mountain.

This trip is purifying and clarifying in every way. I have amazing dreams and visions. I feel as if I were on a pilgrimage in search of light and I think that in fact, I am. In addition, I think that in moments, I am finding it. I do not yet have words for it.

Location: 36° 57 S, 76° 12 E
Tuesday 12:00, 02.06.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 36° 57 S 76° 12 E at noon, February 6th. We are under all plain sail, making 6.2 knots close hauled, heading 160 degrees magnetic. The Southwesterly has come in for us, at 10-12 knots, the wind having backed all the way around from NE last night.

We have come 2421 NM from the Seychelles, and have 1988 to go to Perth. We are about 80 miles from the French Weather Station at Isle Amsterdam.

With this wind we can’t reach Isle Amsterdam unless we either tack up to it, or drop sails and motor. Right now we don’t know 1) if there is any safe anchorage there, 2) if they are friendly and welcome visitors and 3) how long this “the wind blows fair for Australia” will last. We will try to reach them by radio at sunset to get answers to #1 and #2. If we stop, we’ll get there about midnight.

We have had an occasional albatross follow us. Yesterday, when we were cleaning the tuna and tossing bits over, we saw two land in the water to gobble up some delicious tidbits. The word must have gotten around because today we have two squadrons of albatross, apparently waiting for the next fish-guts feed.

Which albatross? Not sure. Wing span about 4-5 feet, wings black across the top, white on the underside. Body and head white except for the very tail, which is black. Big head. Beak large and faintly hourglassed, orangish with black below. Anybody have a handy reference book?

One of our safety devices is a “See-Me” active radar transponder. It gives out a strong pulse as it senses ship radars, making us look very big. It also can “peep” when it hears a radar. We haven’t seen a ship since the French frigate near Mauritius, but we have been hearing a steady radar sound on the See-Me, which has remained rather consistent in pulse and strength. Think of the black sonarman in “Hunt for the Red October.” I have become convinced that it is the French frigate, tracking us, but staying just out of our visual and radar range. “Sacre Bleu! Cette goelette etrange vont direct a notre station meteo a Isle Amsterdam!! Ils doit etre mechante! Preparez les missiles!!!” Or: “Sainted blue heavens! This strange schooner is going directly towards our weather station on Amsterdam Island!! They must be evil!! Prepare the missiles!!!”

Paranoia? Maybe.

Last night the watches had tuna cerviche (lemon juice, tomato, onions and spices). For lunch we had fresh tuna flash seared in a hot pan with butter and garlic. Yum.

All is well.