can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Charm - To S Africa 6



We are 18 miles from our destination at Richards Bay and the Indian Ocean did not disappoint! After a week of mostly great weather, we started to get the “spicy” winds and seas that Joe predicted. Winds have been in the 20-25 knot range all day, with gusts up to 30 knots and a period of sustained 30-knot winds. In addition, we encountered the Agulhas Current that has been pushing us southwards at a rate of 6-8 knots. This means we were pointing the boat at a right angle to our desired direction of travel in order to make the bearing to our final destination. Basically, we’re sailing sideways.

Incidentally, one of the reasons we spent so much time motoring a few days ago was because of another current south of Madagascar. In order to make any kind of decent headway against the current in the light winds, we had to motor. I think another reason was that our skipper might have been a little tired. It’s hard work to do watch after watch while hand steering, thinking about sail changes, worrying about who is at the helm and what they can handle, etc. Sometimes you just want to turn on the motors and rest.

Most of the boats in the World ARC have motored similar amounts or more but a few have managed to keep their engine hours very low. One boat that typically leads the pack is called Lunatix. We were more or less neck and neck with them for a while until they headed further south. That was about the time we started motoring. We quickly went from 5 hours of engine time to 39 hours, probably the most we had done on any leg. During our motoring time, Lunatix lagged well behind us because they were under sail power alone. I thought, “Well, we had to deal with the motor running for a long time but at least we don’t have to worry about racing Lunatix any more.” Then this morning, I heard Freddy’s cheery voice on the radio, chatting with Joe!

You have to be within 25 miles to chat on the VHF which meant they had caught up. And their motoring hours hadn’t changed. Joe reminded me they had three sailors on board who have been racing their whole lives. It’s very impressive! Freddy and Inga (father/daughter) went canyoning with us in Reunion and we got to know them a little better. They are very kind people and it will be fun to see them again in South Africa later tonight.

While today was spicy, it was also exciting and fun, mainly because we knew it probably wouldn’t last forever. It’s one thing to steer in 30-knot winds for 15 minutes and another to do it for 5 days. Carl said he’s happy the autopilot broke so he could have the thrill of hand steering in these conditions. I’m not sure Joe would agree since he is the one that has to fix it, but Joe did mention that he was happy to get to know Charm better by spending so much time at the helm. I enjoyed my hand steering sessions although the ones when Joe was doing something at the mast were always stressful. He would be clambering around, reefing or adjusting and would say, “Keep her steady,” which, of course, was impossible. So I would stare ferociously at a cloud or some landmark on the horizon and do my best to get Charm to stay on that course.

I got to do my share of messing around by the mast because, for several hours today, Joe was the only person he trusted to helm Charm. So the rest of us got a chance to do the tasks he normally does himself. Basically, Joe takes on the most dangerous or challenging tasks and lets the rest of us assume a lower level of risk with the other tasks. During the challenging driving conditions today, he assessed that driving had the biggest potential for disaster and working by the mast (normally fairly risky) was acceptable for the rest of us. When the wind hit 30 knots, he said we needed to reef (reduce the sail area) the main. We already had two reefs in but he wanted a third.

I put on my life vest and clipped into the jack lines. Charm was bouncing around and waves were breaking over the bows but it wasn’t impossible to move around. I made my way to the mast and clipped in to a shroud. One of the most annoying things about the tethers we have is that they are very unwieldy. I believe that they have the potential to cause more accidents than they prevent. It is difficult to clip in and out and the tether often dangles annoyingly where you least need another dangling line. I tethered in such a way that I couldn’t reach the snap shackle to feed the reef line to the winch. Once I had managed to clip and unclip so I could reach everything, my tether was long enough to allow me to maneuver the lines but was so long that it almost got caught up in the winch as I ground in the lines. In addition, I kept whacking my hands on the carabiner that was holding me to the boat. Carl has a much nicer version on his life jacket (it’s more sproingy) that I think would be worth the additional investment.

I finished reefing, then later Carl and I dropped the main while Joe drove. Meanwhile, the kids worked on invitations to the school show we are doing in a week and generally killed time. While it wasn’t an official “wave day,” it was definitely not a normal school day, mainly because I lacked the energy to keep up with the increased boat needs and run school. None of the children complained. We spent a number of hours listening to C.S. Lewis’ “A Horse and His Boy” at Joe’s request which was a fun way to pass the time.

Now I can actually see Africa and it’s hillier than I expected. Right now it’s just a gray fuzzy outline in the distance but it looks as lovely as any other gray fuzzy outline we have visited. I doubt we will be able to clear Customs and Immigration tonight so we will look forward to setting foot on land tomorrow morning.

I am very pleased that our Indian Ocean passage was so pleasant and hope our trip around the Cape of Good Hope (also normally a challenging passage) will be equally as enjoyable.



image2
image1
image3

Previous | Next