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Voyageur - Log day 211 - Day 8 : Going up the Great North Road



15 January 2011

This is our seventh ocean crossing and now we realise that for the first time we are going in a north westerly direction, up as well as across east west. St Helena lies roughly halfway between Africa and South America and unlike the other oceans that we have crossed there are far fewer islands to visit en route, but this one probably fascinates me more than any other. The trip is tinged with a little sadness though. For one thing we are now definitely on our way home but more than that we will probably never experience such isolation at sea after this crossing is complete. We have seen only Tzigane and one ship in eight days. This has been the magic of the Pacific, Indian and now the South Atlantic Oceans. But we count ourselves lucky to have experienced it all......

My wandering albatross comes to visit me night and morning but I just cannot capture him on camera. He is too fast for my lens. We have christened him Albert. He teases me. Every day I am worried that I might not see him again. Every day I ask myself will you come to call tomorrow? He comes from astern, gliding effortlessly alongside Voyageur, banks steeply ahead of her bow. "Look at me", he says, showing off his whiter than white underbelly and before I click the camera shutter closed, he is climbing high skywards in readiness for another circuit of the boat.

Book a day David
David is 100% back into sea mode and is devouring books at the same rate that we eat up the sea miles. We have in excess of one hundred paperbacks. Like a "jobs to do" list it never reduces. As soon as we make landfall a big book swap takes place. The first one of the passage was 'The Mind of the Sailor', a Christmas gift from Sue and Donald, a wholly appropriate choice for our return to the sea. Next came a Claire Frances thriller followed by a Wilbur Smith novel, just to give a touch of South African nostalgia. Then we chose some light hearted humour although I did not hear too much laughter going on in the background. A thriller came next and now it is a sea shanty. I am thinking of slipping in a cookery book! No, I jest. Our roles aboard Voyageur are clearly defined. David is the skipper, navigator, fixer of all things. I cook and clean and mend. It works well for us and the author of 'The Mind of the Sailor', Peter Noble, clearly agrees. Of a husband and wife partnership he says 'this is one of the most common and successful arrangements for long distance cruising'. That is why it puzzles me that there are not more couples sailing two up on this rally.

After six superb days sailing we spent a frustrating and painfully slow day yesterday in light winds, everything crashing and banging round about us. It was horrible. It drove us a little crazy. And it was not good for the rig! We finally gave up the unequal struggle at just after midday today when the wind died to 6knots and reluctantly started the engine. Voyageur needs at least ten to fifteen knots to push her along. With under 500nm to go it is now uncertain if we will make landfall by Tuesday, our tenth day, as the forecast is for the light winds to continue. But it gives us an excuse to have one more day on the ocean. It gives me an excuse to try to catch the bird. And it gives David an excuse to read another book.....

Susan Mackay


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