Day 3 to Cape Town
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Mon 30 Dec 2019 06:00
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34:52.185 S 19:35.389 E
Day Three
to Cape Town
  My happy pictures
for today and a sneaky win at backgammon in pretty smooth conditions.
Growling.
  We are happily placed mid-way between
the west and east chum lanes and as they go by so
frequently, we just enjoy them. Sunset seemed to go
on for ages and millions of stars shone after dark.
 I was in bed when Bear took us past
Cape Agulhas, one hundred and five nautical miles from Cape Town. The lighthouse is just visible to the left of the skippers
picture. Cape Agulhas (Portuguese for Cape of Needles) is the southernmost
headland in Western Cape, South Africa, also the geographical southernmost tip
of the continent and the divide between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Yay,
back in home waters.......
Wiki says: The sea off Cape
Agulhas is notorious for winter storms and mammoth rogue waves, which can range
up to 30 metres (100 feet) high and can sink even large ships. Over the past few
hundred years it has been believed that around 150 ships have been sunk around
Agulhas. These conditions are caused by a number of factors. The naturally
strong winds of the roaring forties, which blow from west to east) and the cold
Antarctic Circumpolar Current come up against the warmer Agulhas Current in the
region of the cape. These conflicting currents of water of different densities,
and the west winds blowing against the Agulhas Current, can create extremely
hazardous wave conditions; these are further exacerbated by the shallow waters
of the Agulhas Bank, a broad, shallow part of the continental shelf which juts
out 250 kilometres (155 mi) south from the cape, after which it falls steeply
away to the abyssal plain.
Hence, weather windows are pretty
critical along this coast. I have really been enjoying listening to old Desert
Island Discs and really thrilled to say I have something in common with Bill
Gates. He chose to take all the recordings of the professors I have many of, and
very much enjoy listening to.
A pleasant night, winds slowly
getting a little bigger and at six this morning we have completed 325.5 nmiles.
ALL IN ALL ANOTHER GREAT
SAILING DAY
FINISHED THE INDIAN OCEAN
YEHAA |