Day 10 to SA
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Sun 10 Nov 2019 06:00
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27:03.164 S 34:18.014 E
Day Ten to South
Africa
  I got up to find the skipper settled
at the back, still hove to with the steering wheel locked, a chipper smile but
trousers on ??? a bit more nippy than what we are
used to. Since the system began at 16:00 yesterday we have ‘crabbed’ twenty five miles to the west. Suddenly, just
after ten the wind dropped and turned, out went the genoa and off we went on a
heading straight to Richards Bay some two hundred and sixty five miles away. The
sea was a little lumpy but we were happy to be on the move once
again.
Making lunch was an art. I passed
Bear’s makings – no intention of cooking – wraps, mayo, knives, bread board,
Chinese leaf, cucumber, tomato, corned beef, my yoghurt, apple and chia seeds
were all handed to Bear who had been asked to put the cockpit table up holding
his side flap up like a wall so everything was corralled. Wraps made, yoghurt
eaten it was time to ‘nurse’ the leak. Although the Leak System is successful,
water ingress still needs towel changes to prevent too much creeping under the
office mattress. To say my laundry pile is growing is an understatement. A bit
too lumpy to play backgammon I went to bed. Solid sleep to catch up in the
previous day.
Around 22:00 the sea was calm and we
were trotting along at five knots. Overnight the same.
Now we have 157 nmiles to reach the
port entrance of Richards Bay. Des has said nothing weather-wise to worry about
but the “clock is ticking and things can change”. We know the port closes when wind speeds are in excess of forty five
knots – we certainly don’t want any of that particular
nonsense...........
Late evening saw us put tee shirts,
leggings and sweat shirts on, when was the last time we did that ??? seems a
very long time and most strange for it to feel nippy.
Tomorrow I may even feed Bear a
cooked lunch. If I’m a lucky boy that
is....... Mmmm don’t push your luck......
  My ‘happy’ pictures at eight this morning and at a quarter to
seven this evening – even more clothes.........
Another thing we find very strange,
the night sky is not black but a hazy grey. Daylight happens (local time, we
have lost an hour since Madagascar) very early indeed. By half three the sky is
a light grey. A very pretty pink line just above the horizon at four thirty. I
cannot change my watch time until I get the internet so I’m still on Mada time.
I switched the nav lights off at five thirty and began typing this. A very small
63.8 nmiles done in the last twenty-four hours, but, we are safe, Beez is
undamaged and we are very happy with that. It could have been a very different
story.
ALL IN ALL VERY WELL
ABOARD
NEARLY
THERE |