Cleone - Fw: CLEONE Leg 20 Day 4 - Wind over Current

Subject: CLEONE Leg 20 Day 4 - Wind over Current

An interesting day.

 

Bruce was right about everything except the exact time of the change in the weather.  We made good progress reaching on the starboard tack all yesterday afternoon.  We had put put a reef in the mainsail just before lunch, the seas were reasonably comfortable, and by and large we were making our six miles every hour.  But it was humid, and the current was behaving oddly.  Sometimes it was with us, sometimes against us, and sometimes half-way in between.  Feathers of Cirrus suggested that there might be some wind on the way, whilst some Cirrocumulus (mackerel) clouds spelt rain.  In short, the weather and the seas felt unsettled.  Well, this was just as Bruce predicted, and his lenghty explanation in his two forecasts so far were models of clarity, but too lengthy to reproduce here.  The bottom line is that the southern tip of Madagascar is a meeting point for currents moving westwards across the Indian Ocean, and southwards between the African Coast and Madagascar, and for weather systems that come up northwards from the Southern Ocean and westwards across the Indian Ocean.  These two great natural forces meet together in the area that we are sailing across.  They combine to make life interesting for most of the time, and dangerous at other times for the yachtsman.

 

As Alex was cooking supper, we put another reef in the mainsail, leaving ourselves slow but snug for the night; we were expecting the change in the weather to come through during the hours of darkness.  As it happened, the skipper slept undisturbed.  Towards the end of his dawn watch (0300-0600) he shook out the two reefs.  Maybe he had been distracted by the various ships that passed us; we seem to be travelling down one of the motorways of the sea.  Every few hours a huge tanker or container ship, too large for the Suez Canal, passes us.  And we heard one huge Chinese ship announce that he was carrying 45000 tonnes of Manganese Ore from Richards Bay (our destination) to China (and where on earth are they going to store this, and what on earth are they going to do with this lot when it arrives?  It's a good thing that China is a big place!). 

Anyhow, just as the Skipper had finished shaking out the reefs, he looked at the sky in front of us.  The dull black cloud spreading across the horizon suggested his actions were premature.  Putting the reefs back again took moments, and he was back in the cockpit just as the north-easterly wind died altogether.  Norfy and the Skipper looked at eachother for several minutes.  The black clouds moved closer.  Then a breeze sprang up, this time from the South East - the change had arrived!  Soon we were close-hauled on the port tack, and as it started raining, the skipper went below, leaving Norfy to deal with it.  And since then, the breeze has freshened, and even against the one-knot current we have been happily making six knots or so beneath hazy skies and in a lumpy sea.  Let's hope we can keep our speed up.

 

Our only other reversal has been that the faithful kettle has not stood the test of time.  It's handle finally gave up the ghost, and it expired in Alex's hands last night, just as he was preparing a cup of tea for the Skipper.  The burial was held immediately; the battered remains being committed to the deep without ceremony - Alex having assured the Skipper that the kettle was entirely agnostic.

 

We are now heading down the Rhumb Line (or rather the Great Circle Route) straight for Richards Bay. Bruce has promised some more moderate weather, with freshening winds towards the end of the week.  We have about 850 miles to run, and you will be the first to know how things go!