Rhumbrunner's Web Diary

Up North

Rhumbrunner

Mon 6 Feb 2017 12:22

At 1140 this morning we crossed the equator, back in to the northern hemisphere. We stopped at the visitor centre, had a coffee, stuck our heads through the Neptune photo stand for a comedy snap. I thought of sending y'all a postcard, but I couldnt choose, they all look the same. We made offerings to Neptune, I forked out tuna from a can, curtesy of James Moller (thanks Molly). Chris got the good champagne out (free on entry to Richards Bay, SA); Neptune got a slurp and we had the rest. Good celebrations.

Just before crossing the wind swung north to NE and picked up. So we flew across at 8knots, the fastest we've been for a while.

Lots of cloud today, all types and heights; very warm sun lifting the water off the sea. Looks thin all around the horizon, but overhead just thin layers of whispy cloud.

2030 Spoke to soon. Wind below 5 knots, so we're motoring.

So, the wind came back 30 minutes later & stayed around 10-15 knts from the ENE.
The GFS Grib (weather) forecasts have been showing no or very little wind for the past couple of days & continues to show it for the next 400 miles as we travel through the doldrums. I am very pleased to say, that so far the forecast has been totally useless and we are getting some fantastic sailing conditions, flat'ish seas & steady winds on or in front of the beam. It makes a really nice change to sail upwind. The motion on the boat is steadier & life is good. Still very hot though....

Current Position 06/02/17 12.05 UT 02:33.0N 019:10.0W

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Blog Entries

2017

May 2017

Sun 7 May 08:00
- That's it. All done. Final destination - Portland
Wed 3 May 15:24
- And so back to England
Tue 2 May 04:04
- Ushant
Mon 1 May 12:15
- Biscay with Gales, part 2
- Biscay with Gales

Apr 2017

Sun 30 Apr 02:45
- Porto
- Figueira da Foz
Mon 24 Apr 06:32
- Passing Lisbon
Sun 23 Apr 07:15
- Land, almost ahoy!
Fri 21 Apr 05:16
- 21th April
Thu 20 Apr 03:59
- 20th April - Sailing
Wed 19 Apr 07:59
- 19th April - We're off again

Mar 2017

Wed 8 Mar 17:13
- 7th March
Sat 4 Mar 20:05
- 4rd March - Smelling land
Fri 3 Mar 18:59
- 3rd March - Strong wind finish
Thu 2 Mar 22:02
- 2nd March - Genoa furling problems
Wed 1 Mar 19:50
- 1st March

Feb 2017

Tue 28 Feb 10:16
- 28/2
Mon 27 Feb 18:40
- Interesting 24hrs
Sun 26 Feb 11:24
- Crossed my track across the Atlantic
Sat 25 Feb 09:47
- Departure from Mindelo Cape Verde
Wed 15 Feb 18:21
- Land Ho!
Mon 13 Feb 12:09
- 2 days out
Sun 12 Feb 12:45
- Plain sailing
Sat 11 Feb 12:11
- Hard on the wind
Fri 10 Feb 12:08
- Wind
Thu 9 Feb 12:29
- Last day or so in the Doldrums
Wed 8 Feb 13:24
- Not sure the gribs work around here
Tue 7 Feb 14:26
- In like Flynn
Mon 6 Feb 12:22
- Up North
Sun 5 Feb 10:21
- Doldrums & squalls
Sat 4 Feb 12:36
- Equator here we come
Fri 3 Feb 10:18
- Lows and highs
- Into the groove

Jan 2017

Tue 31 Jan 11:46
- Departing for Cape Verde
Fri 27 Jan 15:38
- 200nm to go to Ascnesion
Thu 26 Jan 16:22
Sat 21 Jan 17:23
- St Helena
- (no subject)
Tue 17 Jan 14:05
- Day of Chocolate
Sun 15 Jan 15:04
- An eventful day
Fri 13 Jan 14:37
- Yellowfin Tuna
Wed 11 Jan 13:35
- 11/01/17 F4 in the sunshine
Tue 10 Jan 13:57
- Day 2 to St Helena
Sun 8 Jan 20:25
- V&A Cape Town - Check out woe's

2016

Nov 2016

Wed 9 Nov 03:46
- Hout Bay, Cape Town
Mon 7 Nov 05:31
- Indian to Atlantic Ocean & most southerly point
Wed 2 Nov 14:45
- Mossel Bay
Tue 1 Nov 14:42
- Heading for Mossel Bay
- Port Elizabeth

Oct 2016

Sun 30 Oct 08:48
- Port Elizabeth
Fri 28 Oct 06:32
- Still trying for Port Elizabeth
Thu 27 Oct 05:05
- Richards Bay
Wed 19 Oct 06:51
- Richards Bay
Mon 17 Oct 05:41
- Southerlies kicked in on approach to Richards Bay
Sun 16 Oct 06:40
- Planning our approach to Richards Bay
Sat 15 Oct 07:12
- Planning our approach to Richards Bay
Fri 14 Oct 07:41
- Clear of Madagascar in a F7
Thu 13 Oct 07:11
- Rounding the bottom of Madagascar
Wed 12 Oct 03:29
- Rhumb Runner on route to South Africa fixing blocked head!
Tue 11 Oct 01:34
- Rhumb Runner on route to South Africa in light winds
Mon 10 Oct 04:43
- Rhumb Runner on route to South Africa in perfect conditions

Sep 2016

Fri 23 Sep 10:45
- Rhumb Runner Winds 15-25 SSE
Thu 22 Sep 01:15
- Rhumb Runner Winds 15-27 SSE
Tue 20 Sep 02:05
- Rhumb Runner Winds 15-30 SSE
Mon 19 Sep 01:38
- Rhumb Runner Winds 15-20 SSE
Sat 17 Sep 02:01
- Indian Ocean between Cocos & Rodrigues
Thu 1 Sep 08:14
- Indian Ocean on route to Christmas Island

Jul 2016

Mon 18 Jul 15:43
- Goodbye Pacific
Sun 3 Jul 05:14
- Crossed the other side of the world & visited the Tanna Volcano

Jun 2016

Sun 26 Jun 00:47
- Tonga & onwards
Sat 11 Jun 02:52
- Fakarava & the Society Islands

May 2016

Thu 19 May 05:53
- Goodbye Marquesas
Sun 8 May 17:09
- Marquesas - land of King Kong
Thu 5 May 01:55
- No wind & motoring last 500 miles to Hiva Oa

Apr 2016

Wed 27 Apr 00:57
- Downhill in light winds
Thu 21 Apr 23:50
- Half way in 12 days - could be a fast crossing
- position correction
Mon 18 Apr 10:57
- Crossed the Equator & good sailing
Wed 13 Apr 23:20
- Sailing towards the Galapagos, even though we'd like to go south
Sun 10 Apr 22:30
- Goodbye Panama & Hello Pacific
- Grib Request

Mar 2016

Wed 23 Mar 00:00
- Waiting in Las Playitas

Feb 2016

Sun 21 Feb 16:26
- Portobello & all change
Thu 11 Feb 02:25
- San Blas

Jan 2016

Wed 27 Jan 12:06
- Dinghy stop in Shelter Bay, Colon
Sat 23 Jan 12:26
- Isla Del Rosario - First real dive
Mon 18 Jan 02:56
- Cartagena, Columbia
Thu 14 Jan 23:16
- Half way to Cartegena & one crew down
Sun 10 Jan 22:00
- Santa Marta, Columbia with the OCC Rally
Sun 3 Jan 18:44
- Aruba Aruba
- Greetings from the deep blue sea - somewhere west of Saint Lucia

2015

Dec 2015

Tue 29 Dec 04:40
- And we're off again
Fri 25 Dec 08:33
- We made it at 07.00 this morning
Mon 14 Dec 11:49
- Marigot Bay
- St. Lucia - Life in the slow internet lane
Tue 8 Dec 22:21
- Enjoying St. Lucia
Sat 5 Dec 22:24
- 'T'was the night before St. Lucia
Fri 4 Dec 20:49
- The second last supper
Thu 3 Dec 04:58
- Fish back on the menu
Tue 1 Dec 20:32
- Plain sailing
- night sky

Nov 2015

Sun 29 Nov 22:59
- The Boat that rocks
Sat 28 Nov 22:19
- The wind is back but gentle
Fri 27 Nov 19:57
- Light winds & squalls
- Just passed half way
Wed 25 Nov 23:46
- Rob's first blog
- Fish & rain
Tue 24 Nov 01:02
- Go West
Mon 23 Nov 02:07
- Sailing & fishing - who said men can't multi-task?
Sat 21 Nov 23:03
- The one that got away
Fri 20 Nov 19:12
- Still heading south till the butter melts
Thu 19 Nov 16:12
- day1 update
Wed 18 Nov 16:07
- Tracking
- We are off across the Atlantic
Mon 16 Nov 11:24
- Crew have arrived
Fri 13 Nov 17:04
- A few pictures of down below
Thu 12 Nov 20:38
- Back in the water
Fri 6 Nov 17:48
- Day 4 on the hard

Oct 2015

Sat 31 Oct 08:54
- First SSB email sent & recieved
Thu 29 Oct 12:10
- Pictures from Arrecife
Wed 28 Oct 11:03
- Arrecife

Up North

Blog Entries

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Tue 20 Sep 02:05

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Thu 11 Feb 02:25