Cleone - CLEONE Leg 20 Day 1- Currents

You may understand why this is Leg 20 and not 19, but I don't

 

So we will park that one, and get down to business.  This leg is probably going to be dominated by currents.  The Big One is the Agulhas Current.  This flows southwards down the East Coast of Africa, and is particularly strong in the gap between Madagascar and Africa.  And just to the south of this is Richards Bay, where we are headed.  Looking into this further, our guru, Jimmy Cornell, writes: "During the passing of a front, when the wind shifts suddenly from E to NE to SW, conditions in the Agulhas Current can become hazardous, especially around the 100 fathom line."  Our charts rather ominously mark areas of Abnormal Waves near the South African Coast and just across our intended route, and also directly South of Madagascar.  Jimmy goes on to advise a route 150 miles South of Madagascar, which is where our current way-point is set.  So what does Bruce have to say on this?  Well, almost inevitably I suppose, the front is around, and he is predicting a change in the wind to the South, at about the time when we will enter the current.  But as he says, it's a bit early for accurate predictions, and we - and he on our behalf - will need to watch the situation and see how it develops.  We will keep you posted.

 

Meanwhile, it has been a slow and disappointing first day.  Such wind as there has been has been dead against us.  And to add to our woes, there is a steady knot of current driving us back towards Reunion.  So we have been using the engine most of yesterday afternoon, and all night, with no sign of a decent sailing breeze yet.  This is all exactly as Bruce predicted, and we don't expect much better until some time tomorrow.  Only the Yanmar is enjoying it.