Sailing around the World
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Tue 30 Nov 2010 04:45
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MONDAY 29th
NOVEMBER 2010
The Barometer reading 1016
Distance to Cape Town.............................
285 n miles
Weather
forecast.................................... Favourable winds for
today, adverse light winds tomorrow. ( basically , it could mean anything
)
06.00hrs, skipper shook off last night and
got the rib onto the derricks while the other two sleeping beauties did just
that.
07.30hrs, Aileen made porridge , as we prepared the
boat to go to sea once more.
Sailing around the Cape is one of the most
dangerous stretches of water in the World, and the weather is totally
unpredictable.
We know from Dave & Sue on " Voyageur " that
they got an afull hammering, and said it was the worst sailing they have ever
had, Phew !
08.00hrs We raised anchor and motored down
the beautifull lagoon towards the entrance, known as the heads.
We also had Larry & Mary Ann on their boat "
Traversay 111" keeping us company, as they too are heading for Cape town.
A beautifull clear morning, and the seas at the
entrance were much less than when we arrived,
We both headed off out WSW into the deep blue sea
and found conditions tolerable, uncomfortable seas, but the 20 knot
breeze was from the east, so right behind us,
We set up a goosewing , but still kept the motor
running as we needed to maintain 8 knots, as the weather will change at Cape
Aghulas
and we need to be as close to that point before it
does.
The distance to Cape Aghulas is 165 n miles, and we
have a 1 knot current against us.
12.30hrs The barometer reading 1015 and
falling.
15.00hrs We are making good progress, The Rev
Mother is knitting , while skipper and Neil are busy checking and rechecking the
route and distances, plus what the book says about
each bay we cross.
18.00hrs, We have travelled 70 miles, the weather
is great and the seas have moderated, we are happy with everything,
We even have a collection of Dolphins around us,
lots of them , maybe 20 in all, and they remained with us untill well after dark
.
Distance to destination................215 n
miles.
20.00hrs We had a curry prepared by skipper,
We ate so much , that we could hardly get up when finished,
Skipper had a nap in the cockpit, The night was
clear and the stars were dancing in the sky.
We had lots of shipping traffic, some ships were
over 1,000 feet long, big boats and the bigest came within one mile of " A Lady
"
So far , so good,
Thats all for now,
Signed :- Stephen Hyde, ( Skipper
)
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