Mauritius to Richard's Bay, South Africa - Day 5
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 26 May 2012 09:00
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26:11.946S 45:11.205E
May 26, 2012
Zooming.
Or at least we did overnight. The ESE wind picked up to
20 knots as expected, and we were swept along by a strong current reaching over
2 knots at times, resulting in an average speed over the ground of 9.5
knots. We zoomed through the night and passed the halfway mark earlier
than planned at 7am this morning.
Passing Madagascar.
We are currently sailing at a more moderate speed (7.5 knots)
40 miles south of Madagascar's southern coast. We should clear the
shallower waters (200m) south of Madagascar later this
afternoon, and deeper water (3,000m) will hopefully bring
slightly smoother seas. Not that the seas are that bad (only two waves
dumped a bit of water into the cockpit so far), but smoother is always
better. John keeps asking, "Are these waves like what you saw on the last
trip?". Don and I both shake our heads vigorously and say, "Not even close
- the waves we are seeing now are like the icing that was on the giant wave
layer cake we sailed through on the way to Mauritius!" So, although the
wind is up at the moment (26 knots), it is well behind us (140 degrees off
the bow), and is not generating the kind of waves that might take
your breath away were you to join us here on Harmonie today.
What's next?
Bruce says the wind will stay up around 20-25 knots for the
next few days, but will continue to move further behind us (always
comforting). Monday night the wind is expected to die off, which is good
because we might be ready for a break by then. Less wind on Monday is also
very good because at that point we will be approaching the dreaded Agulhas
current. If the wind were to die completely while we cross the current on
Tuesday or Wednesday, even our esteemed captain might be happy to turn the
engine on.
Speaking of the captain, after fretting yesterday morning over
fuel levels and engine wear, he wore a Cheshire cat's grin throughout the night
while surfing down waves at 10.5 knots. Going that fast on a sailboat
really is a thrill - even at night when despite the best effort of a sky
full of stars, you can't really see where you're going.
We haven't celebrated passing the halfway point...but we did
find room in the fridge for the bottle of champagne we plan to guzzle upon
arrival in Richard's Bay. If our speed remains high over the next several
days and no nasty weather pops up, we'll arrive on Wednesday. Otherwise,
we'll be there by Thursday.
In the meantime, aside from a pillow "creaking" problem
caused by excessive overnight boat motion as reported by John, all is well
on board Harmonie.
Anne
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