Author: Ulrich Fingscheidt

The line on the photo is not a fishing line. It is connected to my hydrogenerator at the stern of Easy. It tows a propeller through the water, generating 50W of electrical energy. Then I have solar panels and a windgenerator. The propulsion of Easy is by the wind. I only burn diesel to run the engine when there is no wind, when docking or during difficult reef passages. When at anchor, we use our dinghy to get to shore. This dinghy has a petrol outboard engine. I will miss this green lifestyle when back at home.

Perfect sailing conditions. I am ready for the night. Time to pour some boiling water on one of those excellent dessicated meals from New Zealand and enjoy dinner.

This is the first sunset on my trip from Nouvelle Calédonie to Australia.

After three days on the bicycle I now know everybody who works on hydraulic systems here in Nouméa. Many hours later, in the cramped space of the aft locker, the new pump is finally installed. The old fittings did not fit. I had to get new hoses and adapters. After I was covered in hydraulic fluid all over, I finally learned how to properly bleed the pump, cylinder and the hoses (remove the air). All is up and running now. A reliable autopilot is the most important piece of equipment for long distance solo sailing. Easy is equipped with three independent autopilots.

Too bad, I did not check the windlass in New Zealand. I cannot find a replacement here in Nouvelle Caledonie that matches our anchorchain. So no anchoring at the beautiful small islands. And a long wait for a shipment to arrive.

The chains of mountains of Nouvelle Caledonie look promising. I made it! I really enjoy arriving in a new country where I have never been before.

In crazy waves the hydraulic autohelm started making strange noises. I switched to the windvane in the middle of the night. This purely mechanical device did a better job steering easy when reaching in turbulent waves. I had replaced the delrin bearings of the windvane selfsteering in New Zealand. I had also made a new bolt for the hinge of the watervane. This fixed the issue with too much play in the connection. The windvane now works like a charm. The plan is to order a new hydraulic unit in Nouvelle Caledonie and install it before crossing the Coral Sea to Queenslabd/Australia. The photo shows the windvane in action in pleasant downwind conditions this afternoon.

Modern sailing involves a lot of technology. Multiple sensors, computers, chart plotters and communication devices have replaced sextants and paper charts long ago. The log measures the distance travelled in the water. Today the log showed 22.222 nautical miles (blue mark on the photo). Five years ago, we cast off the lines for this trip. Then, the log showed 3702 nm. So far, I have sailed 18.520 nm on this trip. This equals 34.299 km. That is roughly 1/10th of the distance to the moon.

This fisher switched on his AIS when he was just 2 nautical miles in front of my bow. My procimity alarm went off. Guess what, the callsign on his class B AIS was “@@@@@@0”. The name of the vessel was “Shun663-3-70%” He then went off further southwest to meet all his friends. You see them on my screenshot of their AIS signals close to me, in several rows catching all the fish they can possibly get. The whole Pacific is full with thousands of these fishers, accumulated in large clusters. Check yourself on Marinetraffic. I wish there was a way to stop this industrial fishing!

The fight is over for now. I can actually start enjoying parts of this adventure. I listened to two albums by Ed Sheeran, ÷ and =. Fabulous music, fabulous musician. Also some creativity arose. I wrote a new podcast, will try to record and cut it tomorrow. Have a very nice Sunday morning all of you on firm land!