27 February 2011
If only I had read the pilot book a little sooner. The answer was there for all to see and guess what? Our perverse little current is called the 'Brazil Current'! It is created by the part of the South Equatorial Current that is deflected south as it approaches the coast of Brazil. By mid afternoon after thirty hours of motoring, a real soldiers wind came up and hey ho, we were off. With full main and genoa we were averaging between six and seven knots, double our speed of the last day. Off with the engine and on with the generator. We needed to make water and lots of it. We had deliberately kept the tank low as the water in Salvador was questionable and we prefer to drink from the tank rather than bottled. The rio water was too muddy and murky so this was the moment we had been waiting for. We close hauled for a lovely six hours, then when opposite the estuary of Aracaju tacking out to clear the many oil and gas installations, we found to our dismay that not only we were going a little backwards but we actually couldn't make any headway against a savage spring flood tide. The sails came in and we fired up the engine. I spent the most wretched three of my watch watching the boat speed at between two and three knots as we clawed our way back out seawards. On many occasions we actually dipped under 2knots. Voyageur felt so slow and sluggish as if towing some great weight. Finally released from its grip around dawn, we continued to motor sail until late this afternoon. From now on we will remain well offshore. Alas poor Sandro informed us on this morning's 9am radio net that he had become entangled in fishing net but happily Lady Lisa suffered no damage. John on Tzigane had to go 5nm out of his way around a fishing net to avoid it. Tonight we must be alert and awake....
So now the four American hostages aboard the Quest have been slaughtered by their Somalian pirate captors. The day before yesterday the 25th, Blue Water Rally finally made a statement, the one we had all been waiting for, the one we knew had been coming. It is now official. Their next rally has been cancelled due to lack of numbers/support. Only then do they mention the safety aspect of the route or lack of it. It comes as no surprise. Nobody wants to go these what has become pirate infested waters any more. People have voted with their feet. The shipping companies that transport yachts have been quick to get in on the act. They are now offering new pick up points all over the North Indian Ocean. I should imagine that they will be inundated with enquiries. They must be rubbing their hands with glee but it is an expensive way to get your boat back to the Mediterranean. The only other safe option is to go around the Cape of Good Hope. Well I suppose you could always get a delivery skipper, provided that he was quite prepared to risk his life.....
Susan Mackay