Galatea on the road again - Feb 1, 2017

S/V Galatea update
Neil Scott
Thu 2 Feb 2017 18:40
Hi all,

Here is our first update for the 2017 trip from Cape Town to Gibraltar.

Neil, Kevin, Chris and Galatea departed from Simons Town at 06:30 Jan 26. We had "no-wind" conditions getting out of the marina - great. Winds quickly built to about 18 knots on the nose as we got out into False bay. But the seas were calm and we motor-sailed southwards for 3 hours towards Cape Point. We cut the engine as we rounded the Cape, giving it a wide berth, making sure to avoid the myriad crayfish nets in the shallower waters that we had been warned about. We could not have had better conditions - no cloud cover, no fog, great visibility, phenomenal views. We then had a wonderful, fast, one-tack, 40 mile reach up to the Royal Cape Yacht club in Cape Town. Seeing the shoreline from Cape Point up to Cape Town was a treat. Of course, when we got into the marina the famous Cape south easter was howling 20 to 25 knots, but we were happy to have made a successful rounding of one of the world's more feared capes.

Friday to Tuesday had us running around making final boat preparations, provisioning, clearing customs and immigration and spending time with friends and family. We had wonderful support from our Cape Town based families this past year during Galatea's stop over. A special thanks to Iggs and Jules, Lynn-pin and Chris-tmasTree's Aunt Joan for the help and hospitality they afforded us.

We departed from Cape Town at 14:15 Wednesday, Feb 1. Once again we thankfully had very light winds getting out of the marina. As we got out from the lee of Table Mountain, the south westerly wind quickly built to 20 knots. After rounding Robben island to seaward, we decided on a course just west of the rhumb line (direct course) to St Helena. Forecasts suggested heavier weather west of the rhumb line, or closer to the coastline. Anyway we had good conditions and clocked 180 nautical miles our first 24 hours, one of the faster runs we have had. This was not without mishap though - the furling line for the genoa chafed through completely during the early hours of the morning. This due to a misalignment of the furling drum to the lead of the furling line. We should have noticed this problem while back in the marina. We spent a great part of the day, in quite sporty conditions, running a new line and working out a more favorable run into the furler. We will test it out once we get lighter wind conditions forecast for the weekend. In the meantime we are sailing on a broad reach with heavily reefed main and the staysail in 30 knot winds and messy, 3to 4 meter seas. Glad we are in the less windy part!!

Otherwise, all is well on Galatea. We are pleased to be on our way again and have a loooong journey ahead of us.

Neil, Chris and Kev.

- S/V Galatea
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