August 14

Palmerston is generally downwind from Rarotonga creating a problem. Wind is too strong to use drifter, not strong enough for any speed with yankee and it's too rough to fly wing and wing (any other configuration causes aft sails to shadow ones forward and anyway, most boats don't go dead downwind very efficiently), which means tacking. A set heading or course will cause sails to luff or stall as wind direction varies. However, autopilot has a cool feature that allows tracking the wind, so sails can be set for best angle on favored tack (the one that points closest to destination) to maximize velocity made good. Works for beating upwind, too. However (you knew there would be one, right?), Raymarine in its unbounded wisdom created a shifting wind alert that, under most circumstances, causes said warning to sound every several minutes, often for no apparent reason (perhaps because as mast rocks back and forth, wind vane does too). Shutting it off requires mashing (Southern for 'pressing') buttons on opposite sides of the instrument at precisely the same time or George (all autopilots were once referred to thusly) goes to standby and boat meanders off unsupervised creating all sorts of mayhem. There is no way to adjust parameters, mute the sound or just shut the alarm off entirely. Responsible party should be flogged, forced to eat lutefisk or locked in a room with this noise for a month. There. I feel better, do you?

If wind shows some inclination to be helpful, should arrive Palmerston tomorrow afternoon otherwise may try arrival after dark or heave to (not related to hurling) until Monday.

Jack