Mauritius to Richard's Bay, South Africa - Day 8
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Tue 29 May 2012 08:43
|
27:40.995S 35:21.954E
May 29, 2012
Beating the clock.
Things are looking good. We were able to motorsail
throughout yesterday afternoon and most of last night before the wind died down
to nothing at five o'clock this morning. The slight negative current we
had yesterday for a time turned favorable at 1 knot last night around
midnight. All of this has led to a higher than expected
average speed, and a new ETA at the eastern edge of the Agulhas Current of
4pm today (a short four hours from now) instead of 8pm. We plan to
make good use of the extra four hours we've gained.
The second half of the good news is that the forecast hasn't
changed. The wind is still predicted to clock around from the east to
north overnight, then switch to a light southwesterly tomorrow around 8 am,
followed by 20-25 knots from the southwest a few hours later. Assuming we
enter the current at 4pm today, we should clear the strongest running parts by 5
am, giving us a good five hours to make way for Richard's Bay before the
strong southwesterly hits. At worst we'll have to battle a strong headwind
for the last 30ish miles to Richard's Bay - a small price to pay for a
relatively easy passage through some of the most notorious waters of a
typical circumnavigator's voyage.
It will be very interesting to see how far south the current
carries us as we cross it. We plan to point the boat directly west (the
current runs directly south in this area, so the shortest distance across it is
to head directly west), letting the current push us south, so our resulting
course will be southwest. This is all part of the plan as we will be
entering the current a full sixty miles north of Richard's Bay's latitude.
The current will push us a good way south, but probably not the full sixty
miles, which is why we'll have to battle the southwest wind
for the last 30ish miles into Richard's Bay. We could have targeted to
enter the current a bit further south, but we were advised by Bruce that a
counter-current eddy lies to our south, which would have worked against
us.
So, things are good. We had a beautiful motorsail last
night under a completely clear sky full of stars. The nice weather has
continued on into day and we are currently motoring on a flat sea under a
cloudless sky in 78 degrees. We expect an uneventful Agulhas Current
crossing tonight, followed by a slightly more eventful final sail into
Richard's Bay. Our arrival time will depend on how quickly we cross
the current, how far south the current pushes us, and how strong the
southwesterly is when we sail into it. If all goes well, we may get
to Richard's Bay before sunset tomorrow (Wednesday). If the final sail
proves more challenging, we may not arrive until 10pm or so. Either way,
we'll update the blog soon after we arrive.
Anne
|