Friday, 5th November 2010 (Day 7 at Sea)
00.00hrs Skipper's watch until 02.00hrs, another beautiful night at sea. All those stars that never cease to enthrall us.
Flat seas, NNE 22 knot breeze, just magic.
01.00hrs We have a 1 knot current in our favor, an hour later, it was against us, such is the current situation out here (excuse the expression)
When it gets rough out here, Terry comes into his own with expressions like "why am I here in this? Why am I not at home sailing around the Yacht Club floor?" and of course he is singing it to a tune as well. All this when we are heading for a cauldron of boiling seas 100 miles off the coast of South Africa. The weather forecast is predicting strong to galeforce southerly winds from the south when we reach the "Agulhas Current" which runs north/south along the coast of South Africa. This current featured in the "Blue Planet" for the fish it has and the feeding frenzies produced there as a result. But, but, but, this current runs at a rate of anything up to 5 knots, and when the wind is blowing against the current, then it becomes very, very nasty, with steep breaking waves, and not a place to be in a yacht.
Skipper heard all about this 2 years ago from two retired fishermen in Monkstown Sailing Club in Cork. They spent much of their fishing lives down here on this coast, and the stories they had were scaaaarrey. Mind you, it did not stop us gulping down the pints of Guinness, and sailing around the yacht club floor.
09.00hrs Radio Call :- Today the net radio controller is Brown Eyed Girl but we could not hear her on the radio, so had to get Drammer to relay our position. We also spoke to Tzigane. They are having a lot of trouble, this time their furling mainsail is stuck, and they cannot roll it up. Now, this will present a major problem for them, as there are only two on board, John and Jenny.
Breakfast consisted of fried eggs on Aileens boat made brown bread, and a variety of teas.
11.00hrs We have covered 1059 miles since we left Reunion Island, and have about 400 miles to go to Richards Bay.
13.00hrs We have a spanking breeze and scooting along at 9.6 knots, a close fetch with the wind on the starboard side. Great sailing again, but very warm and humid, as well as being overcast.
Lunch consisted of more cheese and biscuits, tea, coffee and lots of water (drink lots of water and avoid kidney stones)
17.00hrs We have covered 1,110 miles. Its raining and we have 354 miles to our destination. But, with all the warnings, we have been advised to head for a waypoint (a selected spot on the chart) 100 miles NE of Richards Bay, and not to arrive there before 06.00hrs on Sunday morning. Sooooooo, we have to slow down, now that new for us. This position is 28 00S : 34.00 E and 240 miles away, so we calculate a speed of 7 knots is what we require to get us there for the desired time.
Dinner tonight in poor conditions is "Sweet and Sour Chicken" with rice, easy eating out of a bowl with a spoon, it was excellent!
We further reefed down the sails as we were going too fast, and the wind was picking up, just for good measure.
Not much shipping traffic tonight, so a more relaxed night, hopefully.....
That's all for now,
Signed :- Stephen Hyde (Skipper)