Day 57-63
Carlile Adventures
Mark Carlile
Fri 8 Dec 2006 08:50
Day 57-63
The water rushes by as I make my way towards South Africa quickly with the wind on the port rear quarter. I have again made much progress over the last week. It has been my longest of the trip (820 miles) averaging five knots and a few days near 140 miles in 24 hours.
I am situated between a low and a high that is providing a steady winds. Although I am a little further north than I wish to be, the extra distance makes it worthwhile. I am 1750 from Cape Town, South Africa. It is still likely that I will round the Cape of Good Hope by Christmas.
It is now summer here in the southern hemisphere. As I make my way east now, I have started to notice that the time of sunrise and sunset is starting to change. I have gone through 1 time zone in a week. 11 to go.
As I near South Africa, I can now get weather from long distance radio stations on shore and I am receiving weather fax of the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans. Weather gets more tricky as I get further south. I am out of the trade winds and into low and high pressure systems.
Having almost travelled the length of the Atlantic Ocean, I know that the easy sailing is over. I am nervous about passing the Cape of Good Hope and then entering the Southern Ocean. Both have nasty reputations for large seas and foul weather. This trip was planned all around the fact that I would round South Africa at the most favourable time of year and enter the Southern Ocean at also the best time.
With access to multiple weather forecasts, it will be a combination of skill and luck to navigate around the worst weather that will ultimately get me to Australia safely. I've been sailing since I was a boy for over 20 years. This is the time when all my training and experience will be used. A novice or rookie sailor would be ill prepared to take on a trip such as this.
Over the next few days, I will go over the boat thoroughly checking for signs of wear while I have good weather, make sure that all safety equipment is ready, and that everything inside is secure.
My inspirations for this trip came from Sir Francis Chichester whom completed a circumnavigation of the globe with just one stop in Sydney at the age of 67. My trip follows the first leg of this trip 40 years later. There are many other sources of inspirations. Books written by Slocum and Knox-Johnston are notable others. I met Jesse Martin a few years after his circumnavigation as the youngest person to do so non-stop. His trip wasn't so much an inspiration for me as the earlier pioneers. He taught me two important lessons. 1. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Jesse came across as a normal teenager. 2. He said that it was easier than he expected. This was the point that turned the dream into a real possibility.
There have been other people I would consider role models. More on this later.
I continue to go well. I feel mentally and physically perfectly fine and the days pass by quickly. I am receiving hundreds of emails every week. This helps enormously to remain connected to the real world.
Today's every day adventure is to connect to nature. Take some time to appreciate the world around us. This might be as simple as watching a sunrise or sunset; winding the windows down in the car letting the wind blow in; go to the beach; take a walk taking in the different sights, sounds and smells; go camping; go fishing; watch the stars at night. Our lifestyles today are busy. Take the time out to watch the world go by. Do something different and have an everyday adventure.
That's a very good evening from Ingrid west of South Africa in the South Atlantic ocean.
Mark
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