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Cleone - Leg 24 Day 4 - And on we go



Plainish sailing.
 
It has not been very spectacular sailing, but we are making steady progress towards Tobago, where we hope to spend a couple of days before making the short hop to Grenada, the official finish to this leg.  Bruce has majored on the thunder-storm activity in the ITCZ and over Brazil, and his advice has been to head north, so as to cross the ITC as soon as possible and get into the North East Trade Winds.  So far the predicted storms and squalls have loomed ahead and behind us and hovvered around us rather than upon us.  We have seen lightning over Brazil itself, and of the squalls at sea, we have either been able to skirt arount the black clouds promising wind, thunder and rain, or they have moved on or dissipated before our arrival.  To do this, we have sailed when the wind has allowed (sometimes it has been too light) and motor-sailed when it has not.  We have been unable to make as much to the North as we would have liked, but nevertheless, progress has been steady and we have averaged just over 120 miles a day.
 
The rest of the fleet has had similar conditions and are tackling it in similar ways.  Baccalieu left Recife a day early and has now crossed the Equator and reached the NE trades beyond, Kealoha 8 swept unseen past us a couple of nights ago.  Branec has sailed grimly on as she always does, covering the sea at great speed if not always in the preferred direction.  Annemare has vanished into her normal radio silence, but has faithfully kept us informed of her whereabouts by e-mail.  Talulah Ruby has cheerfully sailed as the wind has taken her, making good progress along the rhumb-line.  Northern Sky has chosen the Bruce option, motoring North and standing to win a crate of beer if she reaches Tobago before the Talulah Rubians.  Chantelle and Gray Lady - unlikely partners - have chosed different courses but have covered much the same distance, with Andante not far behind them.  Quasar V and Into the Blue have spent a couple of days visiting the idyllic island of Fernando, and hope to catch us all up at some stage.  The strong, mainly German, contingent of Viva, Windflower, Faraway, La Boheme and Strega left Recife a day after the main body, and we will soon see most of them pass us too.  Only La Boheme gives cause for concern.  The bolts on her propeller shaft have sheared, and she has decided to put into Fortaleza to effect repairs.  Hopefully this will be a relatively minor job, and she, too, will catch us up in Grenada.
 
Thanks to some hard work in the sun, Paul has started to blend in with us other tropical sailors.  Volker is teaching us a few words of German, but the fish have steadfastly refused to respond to his demands.  At this rate, Corned Beef will be on the menu tonight.  The skipper, meanwhile, keeps coughing and muttering away and tap-tapping at the computer.  For goodness sake, get a life, mate.
 
Meanwhile, all is well with us, and very best wishes to you all.
 
James, Paul and Volker
Yacht Cleone
01o43'S 38o11'W



 


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