4 October
First a hiss, then a growl, finally a roar. Crash, Bang, Wallop! An angry wave takes us on the stern quarter for the umpteenth time today. The wind is still furious, the waves even higher. Last night was horrible again. Frequent gusts to 31knots and rain, yet more rain. My antennae were on full alert. I could not listen to my music, I had to listen to the wind, I could not read , I had to be ready to reef. The ghostly moon came out from its hiding place behind black squall clouds for a few brief seconds as if to mock. It was the same scenario with the sun today. Here one minute gone the next as we steel ourselves for the next squall to sweep over us. But the silver lining is that we are now halfway! Hoorah! And.... there the latest Grib file indicates things might be calming down tomorrow. We remain optimistic. It has been one whole week now. It seems our trade wind sailing days are to remain a memory.
We still have our chat line going with Tzigne but have now lost contact with A lady. They have pulled too far ahead in the last couple of days and we just cannot hear Stephen any more. John and Jenny's arrival has added a new dimension to our trip. They really understand the concept of rallying but then we have done it before. They are having an equally tough time of it but remain upbeat. They play a daily signature tune through the SSB microphone before the chit chat starts. Yesterday's was 'Always take the weather with you', today, 'Have a drink on me"! It brings a touch of sunshine to our lives when the real thing stubbornly refuses to come out to play.
Fan mail!
I never thought I would receive "fan mail". Anne LaVin writes to me from North America, Voyageur's previous owners, Pat and tony Pellegrini follow our journey with interest, Marion Munch, who shared our boat trip in Galapagos writes to me every day at the moment. She knows we are having a tough time of it and we really appreciate her messages of support. The trouble with writing a daily blog is that if it doesn't happen for one reason or another people soon realise that something is up. Donald Fraser noted in an email shortly after we left Cocos that there was no new blog, hence as he rightly puts it, he suspected we are getting a 'pasting'. Donald who sailed his boat Spirit of Affric around the world with us five years ago is sailing the Richards Bay to Cape Town leg with us aboard Voyageur. I think that now that we have had a taste of what this ocean can dish up we will be very grateful indeed for that extra pair of hands.
Long, long range radio
The morning net drags on longer each and every day. As David puts it, 'you lose the will to live'! To have to sit at the chart table for 40 minutes with the boat being tossed around is asking too much? would try anybody's patience. We should have just kept it to within our own last group. We never have been able to hear any of the other two groups at any time anyway. The same goes for the listening watch. If people do not want to participate they why should the net controller waste time every night calling them up.
Susan Mackay