The big questions
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Sat 10 Sep 2011 13:32
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Saturday 10th September 1244 UTC
33:32.31S 017:49.84E
Well not wishing to speak to soon but here I am
with Africa having slipped out of view over my right shoulder, and it would
appear there is no turning back now.
I have 23 knots of wind up my chuff and I am
barrelling along at between 9.5 and 10 knots.
This morning I woke up early to meet the rigger for
a last couple of jobs but most importantly to contact Avis to sort out the key
cafuffle. All of this inevitably delayed me a little and though ready to go at
the back of nine the cantilever bridge closing the marina would not be opened
until 0945. So I cast off and doddled around the marina just getting fenders
away etc and tidying up the deck and below. Heading off out through the narrows
at the bridge, as always there is a crowd - I think, admiring the yachts as
they go through and friendly waves are generally exchanged.
There is a little pressure on the skipper always I
would say to "look the part" in front of the crowd and most importantly not
taking out the mast by allowing a spreader to hit the raised bridge. Today the
mutual stand off was broken by one South African woman who shouted very clearly.
"Good morning sir!" "Good morning" replied the skipper still trying to look
cool. "How are you today?" she enquired with me. After a pleasant exchange
between us and heard by all hundred or so people there, she shouted; " hey
man, when you gonna take us all for a trip and dat little ting?" I replied
"you can come today but it is for two months and seven thousand miles!" The
whole crowd had a laugh and my sparring partner quickly withdrew her
interest!
At sea I cleared Robben Island at 1200 and settled
into a steady breeze with all sail up and chugging along in the big rolly swell
just nicely. I guess with a mixture of apprehension and having spent the
best part of two months ashore I felt just a tad queezy. The swell here
rolls in from the constant lows passing through the South Atlanic between Cape
Agulhas and Antartica. It shelves up onto the continental shelf and can be
felt building all the way into the Capetown
breakwater.
The Rhum line was 304Deg True but I decided to sail
at 315 T which though deeper down wind should help me move north of the forecast
headwinds if all works out to plan. It will take a couple of days or so to move
into the SE trades running off the back off the South Atlantic or St Helena high
pressure system. If I can hook into that and avoid the messy weather from the
constant easterly moving lows then I should get a decent run to St Helena.
It is however going to be very hard on rigging as
though it will hopefully mostly be down wind for the first couple of thousand
miles. We (me and Rhiann Marie that is) will suffer constant rolling and
there will be great flogging of canvas. I shall have to pay attention to chafe
all the time. I really can't afford to be faced with a situation where I need to
go up the mast. Number one, I don't have the means to get up there anyway so
would have to jury rig something but secondly and thirdly I just don't want to
be doing that alone.
It will take a couple of days to settle into things
and for today I just want to get clear of shipping lanes and potentially fishing
grounds too so that sleep will be easier later on.
I will try to blog at least once day and try
to cover the things I know you may be interested in. Wind speeds and angles,
average speed per "watch", Velocity Made Good etc etc. Naw just joking - we
will sort out the meaning of life, how a country should really be governed,
whether religion adds value to our lives, whether there is really Global Warming
or not and if so what's causing it and most importantly whether I have a
job when I get back to Scotland or not. All the big questions. All of that
is assuming I have time. Today has been non stop and in fact I have to head out
to the foredeck again just now having finished my lunchtime soup to insulate me
from the cold and get the genoa out on the pole to windward as I am nearly dead
down wind now. I am wearing a lifejacket with Personal EPIRB and lifeline
fitted as I have already been knocked sideways today by a wayward
pole.
Finally I gave the wrong web site adress the other
day for those of you wanting to relieve Gael Force of some stock. Duh! It
should of course be www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk
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