Munching our way around the World (presently at sea , SW of Madagascar )
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Sat 6 Nov 2010 00:20
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FRIDAY 5th
NOVEMBER 2010 ( Day 7 at Sea
)
00.00hrs Skippers watch untill 02.00hrs,
another beautifull night at sea, All those stars that never cease to enthrall
us.
flat sea's ,NNE 22 knot breeze, just
magic.
01.00hrs We have a 1 knot current in our
favour. an hour later, it is against us, such is the current situation out
here ( excuse the _expression_)
When it gets rough out here, Terry comes into his
own with expressions like " why am I here in this, Why am I not at home
sailing around the Yacht Club floor " and of course he is singing it to a tune
as well,
All this when we are heading for a cauldren of
boiling sea's 100 miles off the coast of South Africa,
The weather forcast is predicting strong to
galeforce southerly winds from the south when we reach the " Agulhas Current"
which runs
north /south along the coast of South
Africa,
This current featured in the " Blue Planet " for
the fish it has and the feeding frenzies produced there as a
result,
But, but , but, this current runs at a rate of
anything up to 5 knots, and when the wind is blowing against the current, then
it becomes
very, very nasty, with steep breaking waves, and
not a place to be in a yacht.
Skipper heard all about this 2 years ago from two
retired fishermen in Monkstown Sailing Club in Cork, They spent much of
their fishing lives down here on this coast, and the stories they had were
scaaaarrey. Mind you, it did not stop us gulping down the pints of
Guinness. and sailing
around the yacht club floor.
09.00hrs Radio Call :- Today the net radio
controller is " Brown Eyed Girl " but we could not hear her on the radio, so had
to get " Drammer " to
relay our position, We also spoke to" Tzigane"
. They are having a lot of trouble, this time their furling mainsail is
stuck, and they cannot roll it up ..
now , this will present a major problem for them,
as there are only two on board, John and Jenny.
Breakfast consisted of fried eggs on Aileens boat
made brown bread, and a variety of tea's.
11.00hrs We have covered 1059 miles since we left
Reunion Island.and have about 400 miles to go to Richards bay.
13.00hrs We have a spanking breeze and
scooting along at 9.6 knots, a close fetch with the wind on the starboard
side.
great sailing again , but very warm and humid, as
well as being overcast.
Lunch consisted of more cheese and buiscuits, tea,
coffee and lots of water.
( drink lots of water and avoid " kidney stones
)
17.oohrs We have covered 1,110
miles , Its raining and we have 354 miles to our destination,
But, with all the warnings, we have been advised to
head for a waypoint ( a selected spot on the chart ) 100 miles NE od Richards
Bay,
and not to arrive there before 06.00hrs on Sunday
Morning. Sooooooo, we have to slow down , now that new for
us.
This position is 28 00S : 34.00 E and
240 miles away, so we calculate a speed of 7 knots is what we require to
get us there
for the desired time.
Dinner tonight in poor conditions is " Sweet and
Sour Chicken" with rice , easy eating out of a bowel with a spoon,
it was excellent,
We further reefed down the sails as we were going
too fast, and the wind was picking up, just for good measure.
Not much shipping traffic tonight, so a more
relaxed night , hopefully.....
Thats all for now,
Signed :- Stephen Hyde, (
Skipper )
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