28:47.44S 032:04.95E

There are, we have discovered over the last few days, lots of rather scary stories about what happens when the Agulhas current which flows vigourously in a South West direction down the Mozambique Channel and further down the East coast of South Africa. Even the British charts published by Her Majesty’s Chief Hydrographer to the Navy (who, one imagines, is not to too much prone to drama in his publications) has printed down sections of this coast ‘Abnormal Waves’. Gulp.

These abnormal waves, which many publications on this subject assert can reach over 60 feet high, occur when the wind switches 180 degrees from the more normal South West in a sudden reversal to North East. These reversals can happen within hours from 25/30 knots in one direct to 25/30 knots in the other. With a South West flowing current opposing a North East blowing wind there is trouble on the way and these huge ‘abnormal’ waves are the result.

So the formula is to check your weather forecasts - of course simple really and standard practice ………BUT when on sails from Île de la Reunion, about the last friendly place one can depart from, the journey is 1350 miles and usually about 8 to 10 days sailing. Forecasts can be quite good for up to 3 days then the accuracy and the likelihood of a forecast being accurate drops rapidly until after about six days is is almost useless in terms of reliability. So one checks at the start and sets off in hope.

We decided to set off 14 hours before the rest of our friends because our opinion was that we got better wind at the beginning and so we got the advantage of greater speed for the crossing. Off we went. The next critical decision was to risk a bit by putting up as much canvas sail area as we dared and a little more. The result was a really vigorous sail, sometimes a little uncomfortable, at much greater speed than is normal for Carango. We were regularly and for long periods sailing at between 9 and 10.5 knots. Some of the smaller boats in our fleet had set off 2 days early and Carango soon caught up that difference and overtook them for the number one position.

 Carango in a major electrical storm on this passage - 2 days out from South Africa.

It became clear from the developing forecasts downloaded from the web daily that the pressure systems off South Africa were beginning got look less pretty and finally the forecasts all seemed to agreed that a 180 wind shift to the dangerous South West wind was due on Saturday. The remedy if you are caught out mid channel, and it is a big channel of over 600 miles, is the heave too and sit still and wait it out at sea in deep water until it passes. We are told that can be up to three days.

Carango made it in a high speed dash arriving on Friday morning and she and her crew are safe and sound. Good decisions - we drank champagne provided by the Zululand Yacht Club who have welcomed us here to their handsome marina.

We now wait anxiously for our friends and fellow yachtsmen to join us before Saturday evening.